Posted on 01/15/2007 4:42:58 PM PST by ExpatCanuck
We just picked up a beautiful black Lab puppy (9 weeks old as I write this) last weekend. He is devilishly handsome and too smart for his own good right now - hopefully the brain power will serve him well when he has the capacity to use it responsiby (the same descriptoin and hopes apply to my 2 human kids :)). He has a hunting dog's pedigree and is a purebreed, and I am reluctantly considering the neutering option for him when the time comes. Any suggestions from experienced dog owners would be greatly appreciated.
Deer are unafraid of Labs. Mailmen are unafraid of Labs. There isn't a creature made by God that is afraid of Labs.
As the former owner of an IT consulting firm, I am ashamed to say that I don't know how to post pics on FR - I had employees to deal with details like that :). Can you point me in the right direction to figure out how?
I should add one more thing. If you are a husband, buy your wife the most powerful vacuum known to man. If you are a wife, start knitting. You'll have plenty of Lab Wool. Tons in fact.
The deer got used to my dog.
We are on our second yellow lab male. I agree that exercise is extremely important. Indulge his natural urge to retrieve (and retrieve and retrieve) with a lot of running. A lot. Otherwise he will take his physical frustration out on everything he can get to.
Good luck--you have two to three years til he'll be "more mature."
They are GREAT dogs!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Labs are the BEST dog -- PERIOD! Much enjoyment and love to you!
Yes. No matter how adorable it may seem now, if he starts mouthing, biting, and licking toes and feet, nip it in the bud immediately. I'm dealing with this with my boyfriend and his now 7-month old dachshund. (If I have to hear, "He's only a puppy" one more time, I will scream.)
Just got through boarding a 18 month old female lab that could have pulled my Dodge Ram pickup truck up the local ski slope. If she'd been mine she'd have been wearing a prong collar.
I'm off to the chiropractor.
If you don't intend to breed him then neutering is probably best. Consult you DVM who can advise you on the benefits. I can tell you from experience that it doesn't make them sedate or lazy, so not to worry about that sort of thing.
He has taken to munching on their droppings - ughhh! - I am considering camping out a few evenings with my boys and letting the deer feel the wrath of some paintball slugs on their backsides to condition them to stay away from my yard. Think that will work, or are deer too dumb?
Deer are hungry in the winter and nothing will deter them.
Labs are puppies for close to ten years.
And, they are the best dogs God ever made. You'll be in love forever with yours.
Keep the food, all the food up higher than he can jump or climb. Labs are notorious liars. When you feed him make sure you tell everyone in the house he's been fed otherwise he will go to each and beg as if he had never been fed in days. When he wants to go out, he wants to go out, take him out or you will regret it. When you get ready for bed make sure you say something like "Oh, I think I'll get something to eat in the kitchen" and then make believe you are going in that direction so he will run ahead of you, then quickly run and jump in bed, otherwise he will beat you to it and get his share across the middle. Keep plenty of Pepto Bismal around, not for you but him. They love acorns and mushrooms and that will clean the house out. P-M will help.
Other than that, they are fun. When I got my yellow Lab, I got it from the same breeder that I used to get my Standard Poodles from. I was told you tell the difference by watching them around a table obstacle. The Poodle will go around it, the German Shepard will jump over it and the Lab will go through it, especially if there is food to be had somewhere.
>They are dumber than a box of rocks.<
LOL! Want a smart dog, get a German Shephard or a Poodle.
Smartest dogs I've ever had - a GS and a pekepoo. My daughter has a Bichon Frise - too smart!!! Into everything even after a $1500 stint at boot camp! Actually, I think he knows he's Alpha in the household. I wouldn't put up with him for five minutes.
My Shorthair is 1-1/2. Last Sunday morning, I heard rustling in the dining room at the crack of dawn. Went out to check; she was standing in the middle of the dining room table.
Despite the ruined carpeting, chewed-up shoes, and lost socks...I've laughed more in the last year and a half than at any time since I was a little kid.
No, the deer are smart enough to stay away when the paintball people are out, and come back when they're in.
Sorry.
And, if you decide to walk him on a lead, start buying shirts and coats with one arm longer than the other. My right arm is now three inches longer than it was before my Lab.
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