Tips for Labrador Puppy
Discussion
Wow, this thread has taken off. Still don't understand why there is no 'Pets' forum...
With regard water, leave access 24/7 - for (some) dogs those 'nappy pads' work when you are toilet training them. I think they have a certain scent that attracts the dog to urinate on them. Over time you can move them closer to the back door until they work it out themselves. Always heavily praise when they 'go' outside and never, ever rub their face in it or similar. Just stop them and take them outside so they learn 'I need to wee - I go outside'.
As said above, only ever punish as their mother would do.
Dry food may be better as another poster said but as a puppy, mine always had wet food. I found wet food easier in the beginning as 20 minutes after eating they will definitely need to go outside which reinforces the toilet training. Don't give them too much choice/quality though as he may become a fussy eater.
Most important thing which I can't see has already been mentioned - get him micro-chipped and tagged up. Puppies are curious things, take your eye off him for a second and expect to be hunting high and low for the next hour.
With regard water, leave access 24/7 - for (some) dogs those 'nappy pads' work when you are toilet training them. I think they have a certain scent that attracts the dog to urinate on them. Over time you can move them closer to the back door until they work it out themselves. Always heavily praise when they 'go' outside and never, ever rub their face in it or similar. Just stop them and take them outside so they learn 'I need to wee - I go outside'.
As said above, only ever punish as their mother would do.
Dry food may be better as another poster said but as a puppy, mine always had wet food. I found wet food easier in the beginning as 20 minutes after eating they will definitely need to go outside which reinforces the toilet training. Don't give them too much choice/quality though as he may become a fussy eater.
Most important thing which I can't see has already been mentioned - get him micro-chipped and tagged up. Puppies are curious things, take your eye off him for a second and expect to be hunting high and low for the next hour.
tomash said:
When you have to discipline him which you will when he is young then do'nt whatever you do hit him.
Take a leaf out of the dog book of discipline, grab him by the scruff of the neck lift his front feet off the floor give him a quick shake and then flip him onto his back (he will squeal like a stuck pig during this process). Afterward you can put your face/nose to his stomach area just to let him know that you could, if you wanted, eviscerate him. I have trained several labs over the years and you will probably not have to do this more than a dozen times in the whole of his life. Whaterver he just did he will never do again.
Above all he has to know that everyone else in the household (pack) is above him in the social structure or you can end up in serious trouble.
Basically you have to be a complete b
d to him for the first year or 18 months and then you will have a well trained dog who will have a marvelous life and will be a pleasure to take anywhere.
Personally I wouldn't advise this.Take a leaf out of the dog book of discipline, grab him by the scruff of the neck lift his front feet off the floor give him a quick shake and then flip him onto his back (he will squeal like a stuck pig during this process). Afterward you can put your face/nose to his stomach area just to let him know that you could, if you wanted, eviscerate him. I have trained several labs over the years and you will probably not have to do this more than a dozen times in the whole of his life. Whaterver he just did he will never do again.
Above all he has to know that everyone else in the household (pack) is above him in the social structure or you can end up in serious trouble.
Basically you have to be a complete b
d to him for the first year or 18 months and then you will have a well trained dog who will have a marvelous life and will be a pleasure to take anywhere.Too easy for a novice to get it wrong and generally not necessary. You do not have to be a complete b
d to any breed of dog (except Skye Terriers!!) as long as you are firm and consistent with your training and discipline.The above advice can work I know and I'm not saying it is absolutely wrong (though wouldn't be my approach) but it is not the sort of thing to recommend to first time dog owners. If they are not assertive enough dog may get upper hand or may panic and bite..too many potential negative scenarios.
Further to Overrun's post..
Food: Ours only eats Baxter's dried food. (One bowl a day, after his morning walk). (When I say "only", that's what we buy because it works so well for him - given the choice, he'll eat anything!)
Time on his own: Days vary, but he often has a day like this: a walk in the morning, 4 hours on his own, walk around lunchtime, 4 hours on his own. If my wife's working from home he'll spend the day sleeping anyway. It's a routine he's happy with.
He is extremely well mannered, has a wonderful personality, no behavioural problems, is brilliant with kids, responds to commands (unless he sniffs a bh on heat and then all bets are off!), travels long distances very well and looks the perfect image of a pedigree gundog in perfect fitness with a fantastically shiny coat.
Food: Ours only eats Baxter's dried food. (One bowl a day, after his morning walk). (When I say "only", that's what we buy because it works so well for him - given the choice, he'll eat anything!)
Time on his own: Days vary, but he often has a day like this: a walk in the morning, 4 hours on his own, walk around lunchtime, 4 hours on his own. If my wife's working from home he'll spend the day sleeping anyway. It's a routine he's happy with.
He is extremely well mannered, has a wonderful personality, no behavioural problems, is brilliant with kids, responds to commands (unless he sniffs a b
h on heat and then all bets are off!), travels long distances very well and looks the perfect image of a pedigree gundog in perfect fitness with a fantastically shiny coat.Soda water is your friend if they have an accident in the house.
Simply mopping up the puddle won't get rid of the smell and they can go back to where they've been before....put soda water on the mess then clear it up, it neutralises the odour and should help stop repeat visits to the same place.
Simply mopping up the puddle won't get rid of the smell and they can go back to where they've been before....put soda water on the mess then clear it up, it neutralises the odour and should help stop repeat visits to the same place.
OnTheOverrun said:
If you can feed them fresh meat, fish and eggs in preference to dog food, do so. If you must feed dog food use a quality dry food that is wheat and gluten free like Burns and supplement it with as much fresh meat, fish and eggs as you can adjusting the amount of dry food pro-rata. Many labs don't get on with wheat gluten so avoid anything that contains it.
Minimum two hours vigourous exercise per day including as much swimming as possible - most labs live to swim.
Finally, never agree to name it anything you will be embarrassed shouting in public!
DO NOT feed fresh meat etc to your dog as the main part of its diet, treats are prob ok, but please feed it the best quality food you can, as you will see below, I have three labs, and they have been fed Royal Canin/Eukanuba all their days, and now at 8 yrs old, the "pups" look better than any lab I've ghad previously, and their sister who is fed rather plainer food, looks twice their age. Like cars, put in good oil and fuel, they will run better for longer.Minimum two hours vigourous exercise per day including as much swimming as possible - most labs live to swim.
Finally, never agree to name it anything you will be embarrassed shouting in public!
DO NOT exercise a young lab for 2 hours a day, up to a year old, they are being run in, they grow fast and so their bones are soft, over-exercise will probably give you a dog with arthritic problems later. 30 mins a day on a lead up to 12 months is more than enough. This also contributes to dog learning to stay close to you.
Names, well mum is Foggy after Carl F, "my" pup is called Peewee after the US bike drag racer PW Gleeson, so shouts of "peewee" are frequently heard by the neighbours
that pic was front the snowy winter this year, seems a long way off now.
Thevet said:
OnTheOverrun said:
If you can feed them fresh meat, fish and eggs in preference to dog food, do so. If you must feed dog food use a quality dry food that is wheat and gluten free like Burns and supplement it with as much fresh meat, fish and eggs as you can adjusting the amount of dry food pro-rata. Many labs don't get on with wheat gluten so avoid anything that contains it.
Minimum two hours vigourous exercise per day including as much swimming as possible - most labs live to swim.
Finally, never agree to name it anything you will be embarrassed shouting in public!
DO NOT feed fresh meat etc to your dog as the main part of its diet, treats are prob ok, but please feed it the best quality food you can, as you will see below, I have three labs, and they have been fed Royal Canin/Eukanuba all their days, and now at 8 yrs old, the "pups" look better than any lab I've ghad previously, and their sister who is fed rather plainer food, looks twice their age. Like cars, put in good oil and fuel, they will run better for longer.Minimum two hours vigourous exercise per day including as much swimming as possible - most labs live to swim.
Finally, never agree to name it anything you will be embarrassed shouting in public!
DO NOT exercise a young lab for 2 hours a day, up to a year old, they are being run in, they grow fast and so their bones are soft, over-exercise will probably give you a dog with arthritic problems later. 30 mins a day on a lead up to 12 months is more than enough. This also contributes to dog learning to stay close to you.
Names, well mum is Foggy after Carl F, "my" pup is called Peewee after the US bike drag racer PW Gleeson, so shouts of "peewee" are frequently heard by the neighbours
that pic was front the snowy winter this year, seems a long way off now.
Any excuse to post pics of mine...!
Re toilet trainging the cage is excellent to learn him, he won't do anything in there (unless it's a last resort) so when you take him out, straight outside.. if you see him start to squat pick him up and outside, then on an evening we let him out every 20mins or so and when he wee'd broguht him straight back in. It paid off in the end as we only had accidents in the house for about 3 weeks.
Before he's allowed out try to teach him recall in the garden, this needs to be drilled into him young.. Zack is great at it but it took me and the OH lots of patience in the garden stood at opposite sides (with treats) and the same on the fields when we could take him out.
Here's Zack, anyway at 7months.
and a few of a pup, when we brought him home
Love him to bits
Re toilet trainging the cage is excellent to learn him, he won't do anything in there (unless it's a last resort) so when you take him out, straight outside.. if you see him start to squat pick him up and outside, then on an evening we let him out every 20mins or so and when he wee'd broguht him straight back in. It paid off in the end as we only had accidents in the house for about 3 weeks.
Before he's allowed out try to teach him recall in the garden, this needs to be drilled into him young.. Zack is great at it but it took me and the OH lots of patience in the garden stood at opposite sides (with treats) and the same on the fields when we could take him out.
Here's Zack, anyway at 7months.
and a few of a pup, when we brought him home
Love him to bits
rhinochopig said:
It surprises me how many vets have labs. Like taxi drivers owning jap econoboxes
It shouldn't surproise anyone, they are a great compromise, brilliant stomachs on legs, my best friend was probably my 1st lab, hoover, a truely amazing friend who I would have given almost anything to have grown up with, and to have back, I miss her still. Almost all dogs are "man's best friend", just some are more appealing than others, just like people, and some are better in some situations than others. I wish more people could be like my mutts. Thevet said:
rhinochopig said:
It surprises me how many vets have labs. Like taxi drivers owning jap econoboxes
It shouldn't surproise anyone, they are a great compromise, brilliant stomachs on legs, my best friend was probably my 1st lab, hoover, a truely amazing friend who I would have given almost anything to have grown up with, and to have back, I miss her still. Almost all dogs are "man's best friend", just some are more appealing than others, just like people, and some are better in some situations than others. I wish more people could be like my mutts. 
Coco H said:
colin! That is such a cool name! We had friends who had a cat called Nigel...it seems quite incongrouos but I am considering using that name.
Named after my father. When we got the second dog he said we'd regret it and that he'd never dog sit again. So we tricked the old bd by naming the dog after him. He now thinks he's great 
Moose. said:
Mr Darcy said:
get him castrated (labs tend to roam looking for a bit of female dog action)
Don't do this!! How would you feel? 
It's part of his personality which if you remove, you'll be removing part of him. Ours is coming up for 10 years old now and he's never been a problem around the ladies
Mine was a right git when it came to the women dogs, god knows how many puppies he fathered, but it was part of his personality, coming home at 4 in the morning puffing and panting, scratching the door to be back in for a drink and food
Poor little chap was exhausted.Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff