Duchess Meghan & Prince Harry named their black-labrador puppy Oz

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This is just a reminder: we’ll be seeing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex twice this week at events. We’ll see them on Tuesday, September 4th, at the WellChild Awards, because Harry is the royal patron of WellChild and he attends the awards every year. We’ll also see them on Thursday when they attend the charity gala for 100 Days to Peace, which will benefit Heads Together. If it’s about Heads Together, I kind of wonder if Kate and William might attend as well? That would be interesting.

Meanwhile, as we learned last week, Prince Harry and Meghan have added to their family: they adopted a dog (or puppy?) at some point this summer, in between their travels to Canada, Scotland and Italy. And now we know what kind of dog and what they named him:

And, according to Sally Bedell Smith, the American writer whose biographies of the royals are best-sellers, they’ve adopted a new dog – a black Labrador named Oz – who joins her rescue beagle Guy as part of the Sussex family. With a much-anticipated international tour Down Under coming up in the fall, it looks like the future is gold for Their Royal Highnesses.

[From USA Today]

I LOVE that they got a black dog. I had a black dog for years (may he rest in peace) and people always thought he was going to be so fearsome because of his coloring. Too many people overlook black dogs and black cats in shelters too, they’re seen as “difficult to adopt” and there are superstitions about black cats too (I have a black kitten!). I don’t know if Oz was a rescue or if they got him from a breeder or what. But Oz Sussex is a lucky puppy. I hope he gets along with his big brother Guy.

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Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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83 Responses to “Duchess Meghan & Prince Harry named their black-labrador puppy Oz”

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  1. Reese says:

    Love the name Oz!

  2. Millenial says:

    Meghan seemed very “adopt don’t shop” pre-Harry, so I would be surprised if they got a dog from a breeder. That being said, pregnant labs gets dropped off at the pound all the time, so rescue puppies are sadly a thing.

    • sommolierlady says:

      I volunteer at a shelter. We are overloaded with older dogs and pregnant dogs. Many of us have a constant stream of wormy foster puppies going through our houses. I’d bet they adopted.

    • Veronica T says:

      Yup. Even purebred puppies are killed in shelters in the south. It’s brutal.
      Black labs are the best dogs. Period. I hope they didnt buy him.

  3. Becks1 says:

    Aw I hope we see pics soon! I love labs. And yes black labs are notoriously hard to place for rescue groups. We have a yellow lab and while I adore him (we got him 8 years ago), at the time I didn’t realize how hard it was for black labs to get adopted and I wish I had looked at them more.

    • Guest says:

      You have a warm, loving relationship with your adopted yellow lab. No sense going backwards. It’s all about the dog’s energy level matching your own, not about colour, and before Buddy gets too old, you may/might consider bringing in a younger dog and then you can choose with eyes and heart wide open for the best match. Please, Becks1, don’t beat yourself up. I’m so glad you adopted without shopping 🙂

      • Becks1 says:

        Oh don’t get me wrong! We love our guy (and we have an older golden as well so lots of retrievers here ha). I don’t beat myself up lol. I just wasn’t aware of the issues when we adopted.

  4. Addie says:

    I hope Oz is a rescue dog, given Meghan’s stance on adopting shelter animals. The article fudges the issue which makes me think perhaps not. That’s a shame given the unresolved questions about her dogs. So easy to clarify.

    I love black cats – they’re lucky! So Kaiser, you have luck on your side in the form of a little black ball of fur and love. All cats (and dogs) are wonderful. It’s their souls that matter.

    • formerly known as amy says:

      What unresolved questions many owners of old dogs have had to leave them behind with family or friends, if the travel was going to be too traumatic. I mean she is hardly the first.
      She doesn’t owe you an explanation coz am sure she loved that dog more than you ever did.

      • Nicknameduex says:

        The dog was 7. 7 is not considered old for any breed of dog

      • BearcatLawyer says:

        Seven is quite old for large breed dogs. We do not know what sort of health or temperament issues her dog had. Perhaps leaving him with loving friends in a familiar environment was the best choice for him.

      • hershey says:

        Getting a dog into the UK is incredibly hard. By plane, they can never go in the cabin. I have a puppy that just turned one, and he’s in perfect health.

        I skipped my summer in the UK this year because I could not bear to think about putting him in a part of the plane with luggage. Pets are not luggage. Thinking about frank in a box in turbulence in the cargo hold was unbearable.

        No idea what was up with her dog situation, but I am glad her little beagle made it over safely.

        Supposedly it’s to prevent rabies that pets have to travel in cargo. But a vaccination and waiting period would take care of that.

        I get that not all animals would travel well in the cabin. But airlines could provide an area for their kennel to sit in the cabin but not in a seat. And than charge for the spot like a ticket.

        I take care of frank and keep him safe in the same way I do my kids. He has health insurance, a car safety bag, and I would pay full fare to fly him in the cabin to the UK.

        It really bums that I can’t.

      • Nicknameduex says:

        @bearcat 7 is old for Great Danes and St. Bernard’s not the breed Meghan had, which would be considered a “medium” breed dog.
        @hershey please don’t get all high and mighty with me about bringing dogs overseas. I loved my dog and refused to go to Japan without him. A country further than the UK and MUCH stricter. He could have come by sea (safer but longer) rather than commercial airline but we were able to get him over by MAC where my husband was in eye sight of him the whole time. Are you telling me the BRF couldn’t find a way to bring the dog over that wasn’t commercial airline freight? Oh and we did all of that for a two year deployment not a permanent stay.

      • CairinaCat says:

        5-7 is old for big breeds.
        My parents Dalmatian was an advanced senior at 6
        A lot of big dogs only live at Max 8 years
        My dad’s dog was 7 when he died, and he was well taken care of.
        At 5-6 he was not allowed to fly, it would have killed him
        So for people pearl clutching about her not flying her dog over, you have no idea about large breed life spans or the health issues that go with them

      • LahdidahBaby says:

        Hershey, I love your post, and love your consideration for your dog. Dogs are family members. I don’t get why some don’t understand that. I would never consider myself a “pet owner” of my aging rescue (whose breeder kept her in a cage in a dark basement with a larger dog who ate the food they were given–it became clear to me what she had subsisted on when I had to train her not to eat her own feces). I often do have to acknowledge, though, the fact that she owns me.

      • Heather says:

        I adopted a (at the time) approx 18 month old orange tabby cat. Now he’s probably about 6. He has some health and temperament issues. He looks healthy but his time on the streets in his youth have left a mark inside and out. I couldn’t travel to England with him. Or heck Massachusetts (I live in NY). I’m sure Meghan made the right decision for Bogart.

      • Veronica T says:

        Her dog was not old. She left him behind, but not due to age. No one knows. And now, if she bought this dog? She needs to shut up about “adopt, don’t shop.”
        Another belief she gave up for Harry if she bought this pup.

      • hershey says:

        @nicknameduex,
        Not high and mighty at all!!

        Could not bring my beloved doggy in for my long summer stay in UK.

        Wish so much we all could bring in the dogs we love.

      • hershey says:

        @ladidababy,

        I love my little baby dog so much. I wish the entire world understood that a pet is part of a family.

        Thank you for replying like you did. Am hoping to be able to buy my little guy a full fare ticket to UK some day.

      • Endoplasmic_ridiculum says:

        Queen E 2 cruise from NYC to Southampton uk allows pets. It’s a lovely trip and the animals are well cared for. It’s a few hours to NYC from Toronto. Surprised she didn’t consider this option.

        https://www.pettravel.com/cruiseship_ferry/QueenMary2.cfm

      • hershey says:

        @endoplasmic ridiculum

        Thanks for that link!

        Im not a fan of boats, but will look at that option anyway. If it would get Frank to UK for summer visit, some seasickness might be worth it.

    • Clarisse says:

      I expect we’ll get pap photos of her walking the dogs or maybe we’ll get a cute Christmas card photo with the two doggies to silence the rumors about the Beagle with the broken legs.

      The other dog is still in Canada “with friends”.
      I doubt he’s with the ex… We would have photos by now and tabloid story “Meghan’s heartbreak: The chef with the dog”.
      We’ll never hear the true story about the dog’s fate. They’ll bury the story for whatever reason.

      • Natalie S says:

        We don’t even know where they went on their honeymoon. The default with them is privacy. Why would they share details?

      • guest says:

        Privacy? Since when? We know everything they did during their courtship, the places they visited, and all the other little details. That hasn’t stopped now they’re married. Will and Kate have a privacy default because we really have no idea of the things they really do together, with the kids, with their friends, or where they holiday.. hence people calling them “boring” lol. For example, their summer holiday plans are usually told to the press, but we never have private information on the ski resorts they frequent with the kids.

      • guest says:

        Britain is a dog-loving nation. Meghan and Harry bought up the dogs in the official Public engagement interview. If they didn’t want questions, they shouldn’t have talked about her dogs, simples.

      • Natalie S says:

        I would say Meghan and Harry have a stronger lockdown on their activity. We knew about Kate being in London while William was in Wales, Kate shopping, Kate being in Buckleberry. The dating years for the Cambridges were full of pap shots (deliberate pap shots too) and articles.

        We didn’t even know that Meghan and Harry managed to meet up every two weeks while they were dating. We know a handful of details but I think most of them were deliberately leaked to set how they wanted to be portrayed (the Cambridges did the same thing).

        Seven years in, we have fewer genuine candids of the Cambridges but it was different during the first few years of the marriage. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any genuine candid shots of Meghan. I could definitely be wrong about that so someone please correct me (lol).

      • Natalie S says:

        No one is telling anyone not to ask questions but feeling entitled to answers is a different matter. It just makes those people look silly and over-eager to ding her about something.

        What happened to Bogart? Did Guy disappear? Is Meghan actually cruel to animals? (Well, she abandoned her father, best friend and first/actually second marriage so is it so difficult to believe she’s a terrible person?)

      • Sam says:

        Britain is an animal loving nation but come off it,a lot of people here rehome their dogs/animals.I also find it so weird people being this nosey and wanting to know every details about a dog/dogs that isn’t theirs and they don’t know
        She gave the dog for good reasons to a good home and that’s a loving thing to do as a owner.Just because you would give up your life and chance of happiness/success for an animal doesn’t mean others should have.

      • Tina says:

        I have no opinion about this animal drama but we know for a fact that Meghan’s father is a terrible person, and her “best friend” sold her out to the Daily Mail, so I’d be willing to bet that she’s a terrible person too. Marriages and relationships also fail sometimes, it doesn’t mean that the people involved are bad people. I don’t think Meghan is the person who comes across poorly here.

      • Natalie S says:

        @Tina. I don’t think Meghan is in the wrong for cutting ties with any of those people. I was just questioning the motivation behind some of the comments about what happened to Bogart and whether they’re actually a way to insinuate that Meghan is a careless user. We have a quote from a named source about Guy running around on the day of the wedding and people are even questioning what happened to that dog. And it’s why I also mentioned the conspiracy theory that Meghan was actually married twice before.

  5. Other Renee says:

    Yes to black dogs! My two black dogs were born in a shelter after their mother was dumped there three days before giving birth to five puppies. All were rescued by a local organization. After they were weaned we adopted two and the rest got loving homes too including the Mom. My last dog was an abused black pug who was rescued by some kind soul. All are/were the best dogs ever! So loving and sweet. YES to adopting rescues!!

  6. Beth says:

    All of my dogs in the past 40 years have been black (Dobermans, greyhounds, chihuahuas), and 1 of our 3 cats was black, and I had no idea they’re seen “difficult to adopt,” or fearsome. Most of my friends and family have black pets as regularly as any other color animal

    • Becks1 says:

      they tend not to photograph as well (at least that’s the issue with labs). You can clearly see a yellow lab’s features in a picture but not so with a black lab. And that makes a big difference when it comes to rescue and adoption.

  7. Peg says:

    The story said they adopted a black Lab named OZ, who knows if the dog already had a name.
    Daddy dearest, must be on holiday, or drying out somewhere.
    Scammy price is down to 1000.00 for an interview, but getting turned down, because they know her info is useless, hence the drumbeat for the Duchess to get in contact with loose lips dad.
    Northwestern is using a picture of The Duchess in their recruitment brochure, wonder if KP will send out a cease and decease notice.

    • Leigh-Klein says:

      Her info is useless, yes. More to the point it’s pure BS. I’m still laughing at the clothing line, the bogus car accident and especially, “Trevor is still devastated.” Apparently everyone in this family is estranged. Scammy and Tom Jr. don’t even talk, and Scammy only started talking to her dad when the wedding was approaching, Jrs.’ kids don’t talk to him, and Scammy’s mother and her own children have no contact, yet she’s all “family is family” when Meghan marries a prince. No more to be said here, really. A $1,000.00 to trash her half-sister? As they say, LOL.

    • Clarisse says:

      “Girls, you want to marry well? Come to Northwestern!”

      • Veronica T says:

        You get your Mrs. with a crown from Northwestern!!!

      • Clarisse says:

        The worst thing is they don’t even mention her acting career, the thing she did on her own. Her actual work. No they basically advertise her as rich man’s wife doing charity work.

        It’s like calling Angelina Jolie “Humanitarian and Mrs. Pitt”.

  8. Pokello says:

    They all seem quiet this and am also wondering what they are up to.jerks

  9. Aerohead21 says:

    All of our pets (aside from the 3 stray cats we “adopted”) are black. I’m not trying to rush them having a baby but a puppy?? Aww 🙁 yet still cute 🙂

  10. Jessica says:

    I still don’t believe this story.

  11. Clarisse says:

    Black Labrador? Sounds familiar. I remember a story a few years ago that Pippa wanted to gift Harry one of her black lab puppies.

  12. SallyJay says:

    Aww, really happy to read that their puppy is a black lab! I have a black lab and he is the most loving, affectionate creature – and such a steady, kind temperament. I’m sure Oz will bring them a lot of joy!

    • Natalia says:

      Same here! My black lab girl is now 8. She loves me intensely as well as people in general. She’s an amazing Frisbee and ball girl. I once thought I couldn’t handle her when she was about a year old. That’s when I found out that black lab rescues are full and the dogs are hard to place. Go figure. Guess there aren’t enough people who want a super loving, active companion.

    • hershey says:

      I have a tiny little guy who is just 10 pounds. He is a little cautious at first with big dogs.

      But he seems to know that Labs are kind gentle dogs. We’ve never met one that was too rough or unfriendly.

  13. aquarius64 says:

    Love the dog story and Meghan was named Tatler’s Girl of the Year (don’t like the title). The tabloids aren’t wasting their money on the Markles anymore because they have no new info. The Windsors have thoroughly ghosted them.

  14. Julia says:

    As the proud owner of a black lab adopted from the side of the road outside Houston, hooray for black labs. Can’t help but hope Oz is also an adopted buddy, too

  15. TheOriginalMia says:

    Heard Oz was a rescue puppy. Lucky boy! Don’t envy them potty training the little scamp, though.

    I doubt we’ll see Kate before October.

  16. Karen says:

    On a side note, I wonder what they do all day?

    It’s not like they have a full working schedule, far from it (even if they outperform the Cambridges). And there are very few paparazzi pictures of them out and about in London, like shopping or lunching. The heavy security must make spontaneous outings difficult. They must be spending most of their time at home or visiting friends in private, I assume.

    It must be a strange transition for Meghan after having had a busy filming schedule for years. Endless free time at home sounds nice in theory, but I’m not sure I would like it in practice once I realized it was for the rest of my life. I quite like spontaneity, city walks, pub culture and not knowing where I’ll be career-wise two years from now.

    • Clarisse says:

      I looked the “Fab4” up. Yeah much of free time.

      Current count for 2018:
      Harry: 90 engagements (they now finally count Invictus and Sentabale to push his numers I guess)
      Meghan: 20 after wedding, 24 before (not official counted).

      William: 140
      Kate: 51 (46 for Jan-March before maternity leave) + 5 while on maternity leave (f.e. Trooping, Wimbledon)

      • Pamm says:

        What we mere mortals do in our spare time( going for gala, Hamilton, Wimbledon, and so on ) is counted as work for the royals. Many many people, including myself work, do businesses and also run effective charities and do tons and tons of humanitarian work at the same time.

        Beyonce, Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Cher, Madonna, Wendy, LeBron James and so may others all have very successful careers and successful businesses and still run ground breaking charities.
        But we are supposed to cheer for the royals for attending Hamilton, Wimbledon, polo games, Art exhibitions, memoris, etc in very expensive outfits and we call it “work”.
        . As far as I’m concerned, the luxury which the royals especially the young ones live is not in any way commensurate with the “work” they do.

      • guest says:

        Agreed

    • Veronica T says:

      I wonder that also. I guess they sneak out to go work out, visit friends, eat at private clubs, but without jobs, what do adults who cant roam freely do all day? I bet this is a tough transition for her.
      What happened to Meghan “ hitting the ground running”? TWo engagements this week? Poor dears, they must be exhausted!
      I always believed she would work as little as they do, not the other way around. 20 engagements in almost 4 months. Meghan isnt setting the world on fire, is she?

      • Sam says:

        “Boots on get ground”…which she’s actually doing.She doesnt have any partonages so goes to a lot of his own events and (not from my own month but form some charity spokespeople) does a lot of researching and background working.Ill say shes doing very well but then again,I don’t have a hard on and irrational hate against her like you do:)

    • Princessk says:

      What do they do all day? The RF plan things months ahead. Meghan has at least two or three households to coordinate, constant moving between properties means you have to be well organised. I am sure clothing selection takes a lot of time. They have to attend a lot of meetings to prep up on what to expect during engagements. They also have to attend private luncheons and dinners with donors and potential donors and other influential people. There is also correspondence to deal with. Staff duties to coordinate. Speeches to be written and rehearsed. Financial accounting to be monitored. I also believe Harry and Meghan do most of their own cooking and shopping. They know how to move around without being seen.

      Do you want me to go on?

      • Tina says:

        Charles, Anne, Sophie etc manage all of that and do a hell of a lot more work than the younger ones.

  17. Citresse says:

    Dat FAM (BRF) is in da black ($) not red.

  18. MB says:

    Seven months ago, my fiancé and I adopted an 8 week old black lab mix puppy from a rescue organization that had pulled her litter from a high kill shelter here in North Carolina, and it was the best decision! Rescues are wonderful.

  19. koko says:

    I never knew people felt that way about black dogs/cats. My parents have a black lab, Teddy and I have 3 cats, 2, that are black, Raven and KitKat. Honestly who cares about the fur color, it’s all about the love they give.

    • guest says:

      It’s very prevalent in many cultures. Black cats/dogs are often seen as bad luck.

      • Beth says:

        My black cat and dogs walked under ladders plenty of times, but never brought bad luck. Some of those superstitions are so silly, and most people don’t take them seriously

    • sa says:

      I didn’t know that black dogs or black cats were unpopular either. I do know that some shelters won’t allow people to adopt black cats in the fall, for fear they’ll be adopted as Halloween props and either hurt or returned after Halloween (because people are terrible).

      I adopted a black cat in the fall directly from a family that was moving to Europe, and it only took a few days for her to be mine. Just the idea that someone would adopt a cat and let the cat bond with them, just to bring them back to the shelter makes me ragey. I don’t understand how people can take home an animal and do anything other than love and care for him/her.

  20. TeamAwesome says:

    Proud member of the black dog club! We got a shirt that said so when we adopted our shih tzu. Black dogs also have a problem with literally being seen in shelters. They are harder to photograph, and visually they can he overlooked for lighter colored dogs.

  21. SJhere says:

    I just came by to say, “Black Labs Rule!” 🙂
    Actually, all pets are cool.
    But, Labs really are great, big, fun, goofy, easy-going, friendly, warm bundles of love and messy kisses. Also, in my personal experience..never leave a ham sandwich out, and unwatched within a 1 mile radius of a Lab. My old boy was a big sweetie but he did love to swipe food every chance he got. Then the “who? Me? I would never eat your lunch!” Look.
    Still miss him. Labs rule! 🙂

    • Becks1 says:

      Ha, we call our lab a velociraptor. Because he reminds us of that line from Jurassic Park….”they remember.” (Think of Muldoon saying it ha). We can have something on the counter for hours, He ignores it, and then as we are getting the kids ready for bed he comes in, looks at us, sees we are busy……..and then goes and gets it.

      Once he ate an entire butternut squash.

      Once he ate the buttons off my wedding dress (post wedding lol).

      And yet, we still love him 🙂

  22. Ms. Turtle says:

    I own a black dog, and I can tell you: they are hard to photograph!! But she’s adorable and sweet. The Cambridges also own a black dog, Lupo!

  23. Tai says:

    I’ve read on here (only a few times) from commentor(s) that this is Meghan’s third marriage. We know of Trevor and Harry but the commentor(s) never says who the third dude is. I believe she’s only been married twice. Who is the supposed third husband?

    • Clarisse says:

      I don’t think it’s true. More a Tumblr story about her having her first marriage annulld.
      There are people online who even call her Mrs. Engelson and not Meghan Markle.

  24. Busy Bee says:

    Santcamonis dog owners are the worst. Without knowing the details for her dogs health you pass judgement on her as a human being.

  25. Rianic says:

    If the dog had a history of heart worms, could he travel? I know my 9-yo beagle rescue had them, and she has co festive heart failure from it. She’s on daily digoxin and monthly Lasix.

  26. hershey says:

    @rianic

    Further up @endoplasmic ridiculum posted a link for travel by boat to UK. It sounded like a vet would need to sign a health form saying the dog was healthy for travel.

    The cruise line indicated the boat could be stressful but better tolerated than other transport.

    When I was looking into flights, it sounds like a flight in cargo can be unsafe for dogs w health problems.

    And when looking at risks and stress for my healthy 1 year old puppy, I opted to skip my annual summer in UK. Risks of flying him in cargo just not worth it.

    I’m going to look into boat thing for next year.

    Domestic flights in us often allow small pets, but have seen horror stories in news about disasters in cabin as well.