The Labrador Retriever - part four - the squeakers

Over the years we, together and individually, have had a special relationship with a series of four legged companions, but the Lab tops the lot…

Mar 17, 2025

Hummock, nearing thirteen, and Bobby, almost eleven have been part of our married life since the beginning. The thought of losing either of them to old age was unbearable.

Hummock was showing signs of ageing, becoming particularly curmudgeonly. We decided to bring some youthful energy into the house by adopting two puppies. Our focus was on finding companions for Hummock, Bobby, and us.

If you have missed the previous hound related articles, check more by clicking the button below. If you are looking for part three, its not been released yet. It’s just how we roll.

All about the hounds of rock

We initially contacted Val at High House Labradors in Cumbria, where Hummock and Bobby came from. However, due to Brexit and the complex regulations for bringing dogs into Europe, this option proved impossible.

Undeterred, Starlite began searching online for breeders of athletic, working Labrador Retrievers within Europe.

The first website she found was for Elevage Black Soldier, located in Egreville in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. A promotional video showcasing their dogs immediately impressed us with their intelligence and athleticism. We instantly felt it was the perfect fit.

Simon emailed Christophe Chambre, a highly regarded and multi-award winning breeder, using the excellent DeepL app's translations of French and English.

Breeders don't simply sell puppies to anyone and typically have a thorough screening process to ensure their hounds go to suitable homes.

We provided Christophe with all our information, explaining that we already had Hummock and Bobby and were looking for two black female puppies to join our family.

After reviewing our details, Christophe approved our application, and we moved forward with the process. We anticipated a wait until around late August for a litter to be born.

However, we received a pleasant surprise. Christophe contacted us much sooner than expected, announcing that our puppies—the two on the left—were born on February 21, 2024. They were two sisters in a litter of ten adorable puppies, and their close bond was evident from the very beginning.

Three black labrador puppies — Edith, Françoise and their sister

We were thrilled and started planning our road trip to southern Paris to pick up our new family members!

Day one | Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain

It was a strange feeling driving in the Van of Rock (VOR) without our hairy beasts but we knew that in a couple of days we would be in full-on puppy mode so like young lovers on a romantic break, we set off for Ciudad Rodrigo, a picturesque town just across the border in Spain.

As we have mentioned in other posts, the tolls in Portugal, Spain and especially France are monstrous and after a lot of travelling and expensive mistakes, have developed a methodology on planning the quickest and most cost effective way to traverse the Continent.

It’s a delight to walk the cobbled streets and we relaxed over a delicious lunch at Bar El Sanatorio in Plaza Mayor: Spanish wine isn’t as good as Portuguese!

Day two | Bayonne, France

We stopped overnight at Hôtel Les Genêts in the Basque town of Bayonne. It was a pretty disappointing experience.

Unless there is no other option, we never eat in the hotel and in the morning, went in search of our favourite French breakfast - croissants, pain au chocolate and coffee d’accord!

We did a quick search on Trip Advisor and drove to Lionel Raux, a pâtisserie and chocolatier described as the meeting place of the Basque and Landais gourmands, serving a mesmerising array of chocolate creations and pastries.

These were the best croissants and pain au chocolate we have ever tasted—and, having lived in France, we don’t say that lightly! They melted in your mouth with heavenly buttery chocolatey delight — we were intoxicated and ordered two more each, deciding that to avoid any guilt, it would serve as our lunch as well :)

We did feel a bit sick afterwards; the child in you never learns when to stop, but it was so worth it.

An absolute must-taste experience if you are ever visiting Bayonne. They also have a shop in Biarritz too.

A bakery with croissants, coffee, pastries and chocolates — Lionel Raux Pâtisserie, Bayonne

Day three | Bourges

Europe is fucking big and try and make the travelling experience as good as we can so every day is an opportunity for a new experience, so we decided to stay overnight in the lovely city of Bourges, which would give us a short two-hour drive in the morning to collect the pups.

We booked St Bonnet, a small private flat that has parking nearby—always important when travelling in the VOR. It was clean and perfect for our needs, so we dropped off our cases, changed and immediately went out for dinner.

Au Rez de Chassée

One of the things we really enjoy is going out for dinner, especially on a date night. I had read a fabulous review of Au Rez de Chassée and promptly booked a table.

We arrived to find the place packed and ours being the only table left.

There were about thirty-five people in the restaurant and the atmosphere was effervescent with the sound of people laughing and chatting with that distinctive musical lilt of the French accent—it felt so good to be amongst people again.

The menu was written on a portable long blackboard which the waiter presented to each table of diners. Together, with the help of a couple sitting next to us, we managed to translate the menu and place our order. The evening transformed into a fabulous enchanting experience — one of the best we have ever had together.

This is a must-visit restaurant if you're passing through Bourges. You will need to book ahead!

A restaurant with people, wine, music and a bar — Au Rez de Chassée

Checking in with the woofers

We don’t like leaving our girls when travelling but it was the wise thing to do this time as we needed to give our whole attention to our new puppies and give them a secure and loving space, so we booked Hummock and Bobby into Hotel Canino da Quinta de Santa Maria run by Rita, our cool vet.

As you can see, they are really happy—which makes us happy.

Day four | bonjour Edith & Françoise

After three days of travel, we arrived in Egreville, France, right on time. We were both a little nervous but of course incredibly excited about meeting our new puppies.

Christophe didn't speak English, which was perfectly fine—we were in France! "Je m'appelle Suzy," and so on... "merci... merci." We managed to get by with our basic knowledge of school-level French, naturally interjected with a few words of Spanish, German and Portuguese that popped into our heads.

The adoption process was seamless and professional - we don’t like to think of it as a sale. Christophe led us to an outdoor pen, picked up the puppies, and cool as a cucumber plonked them in our arms. “Okay?” he asked. We were more than okay—we were overjoyed, astounded, delighted, amazed - our hearts instantly won over!

We also asked to be introduced to their mother and father who were magnificent. We told them we would look after their girls and then headed off to complete the official paperwork.

We had already chosen names for the girls to honour their French heritage — Edith (Piaf) and Françoise (because we loved the sound of the name). What we hadn’t decided was who was who.

Christophe resolved this by completing their pet passports, which matched their microchip numbers.

But how could we tell them apart? They were sisters and looked identical. Again, Christophe came to the rescue, finding a string collar that was given to Edith. We could take it off after a few months when we had got to know them better.

Three people and two labrador puppies — The wonderful Christophe Chambre and our girls

The first year

When we put them in the VOR, Edith started squeaking, not barking or growling, but squeaking. This led to the collective name, squeakers.

Hummock and Bob don’t squeak, they woof and hence are named woofers.

The squeakers have changed our lives - they are the most loving, hugely intelligent, wonderful Labradors you could ever wish for and we are so grateful to Christophe for breeding such amazing hounds— truly magnificent!

We speak to them in English with a little Portuguese, German and French for good measure—important if they ever need help, love, or be warned of any potential danger by people other than ourselves.

The squeakers are great with children and adults and we take them with us as much as possible, including their first-ever concert at the Caldas Beer Festival a couple of weeks ago.

Recently we relocated our home and Supertone recording studio to Foz do Arelho in Portugal overlooking the Òbidos lagoon and the Oceano Atlântico - about an hour north of Lisbon on the Silver Coast.

You can imagine the joy we all have when we take the girls for a swim in the lagoon. Hummock grins like she has taken some psychedelic compound, Bobby has started swimming again, fetching her favourite sticks and the squeakers (Edith and Françoise) adore racing out into the water to retrieve their favourite orange surfboard toy.