A little Labrador coming to live with us next month

[Drago]

As you do GBB, I find Lemmy so gentle with my 5 year old. He adores her, clearly thinks she's a puppy and needs protecting.

He's also very protective, particularly of Mini D and Mrs D. He's got a real big boy deep growl. Mrs D does some volunteer work, and the manager of our local community centre turned up at our door with some kind of beef. Lemmy sat in front of Mrs D and made his displeasure very apparent. He got a treat and an attaboy for that.

Being a gundog fireworks, thunder etc don't faze him. He just looks bored!

They're physically good looking dogs, proud looking and noble, with very expressive faces. They're hardy and tough, and the water resistant coats shrug off any weather.

They're amazing companions, and I don't have the words to describe how amazing they are. You'll love him.

 

[rugby bloke]

Also check out his retrieving instinct. Our lab is from working stock and is a natural retriever - he just wants to spend all day finding tennis balls. The harder the find the more his tail wags, he will then bring the ball straight back and drop at your feet. It looks like we have trained him but it is all pure instinct. It is a great way of exercising them as they cover around 3 times as much ground as you do !

 

[Cubist]

Also check out his retrieving instinct. Our lab is from working stock and is a natural retriever - he just wants to spend all day finding tennis balls. The harder the find the more his tail wags, he will then bring the ball straight back and drop at your feet. It looks like we have trained him but it is all pure instinct. It is a great way of exercising them as they cover around 3 times as much ground as you do !

That pic of Willow with a muddy face is a result of digging a ball out of a boggy patch up on the moors. She must have spent four or five minutes rooting for it. How she knew it was in there is a mystery of dogs' scenting abilities.

 

[Crackle]

Mine's exactly the same. I've posted about it before. I discovered it quite by accident and have made it a game now. Nothing he loves better than being directed to look for something and he's amazingly good at it.

 

[Drago]

Labs are excellent natural ground scenters, and because of their intelligence and willingness to please make excellent air scent trackers too when trained. They make superb SAR dogs for that reason.

 

[SteveF]

I hate to quibble, but whilst on the right track with terriers, the best dogs in the world are, in fact, short haired Jack Russells

If you're lucky enough to find one, a short haired jack russell/possibly staffie? mix, rescued by dog wardens in Wrexham makes a super companion

View attachment 353794
Eddie by Jacques LeSinge, on Flickr

Alf agrees with you...

 

[Cubist]

Labs are excellent natural ground scenters, and because of their intelligence and willingness to please make excellent air scent trackers too when trained. They make superb SAR dogs for that reason.

Back in September I was training her with a frozen partridge inside a sock. She'd done some really good seen and unseen retrieves with it so I decided to let her get a feel of the feathers. I cut the sock off as the knot had tightened and threw the partridge for a couple of retrieves. As she was retrieving it her head shot to the right and she stared hard at a small patch of bilberry. Once she had presented me with the retrieve she turned and sat staring back at the bilberry patch. Thinking it might have been something 'orrible I made her stay while I went to investigate. It turned out to be the knot off the sock which had fallen out of my pocket. It clearly had enough scent for her to nose it as she ran past with the whole bird in her mouth from about eight feet away.

 

[Cubist]

Awww, lush! Our puppy will be one soon and the time has flown by. I found the puppy stage really difficult- when they say their teeth and claws are like needles, they aren't wrong! Once he got his big boy teeth and nails I was utterly in love. He's still a baby now really but a big goofball baby.
Have lots of fun with him

Teeth like razors...... 8 weeks old and in Piranha mode:

 

[Drago]

Labradors love to please their humans, and have an endless capacity to learn new tricks. Lemmy now howls like a wolf to the command "Diane Abbot!"

That took some doing, but he did it.

You'll have hours of entertainment teaching him the standard obedience stuff, in addition to the mad tricks.

 

[RWright]

Tennis balls are fun to the labs i have been around. They also like Frisbees (when they are a little older), watching them leap to catch the frisbee is pretty cool and you can't help but smile, just don't leave the frisbee laying around where they can get at it or you will soon need a new one. The first time I saw a lab dive I thought uh oh, I might have to go in after him, but he came back up as if nothing had happened. They are great fun and are great hunters, I don't hunt but have been around hunting labs while their owners show off their search skills. They are impressive.

 

[The Essex Spurs]

Thanks for all the photo's of this lovely breed (and others) plus the advice.

 

[Kajjal]

Terriers are crazy and very impulsive, we have a Westie that if it met a Polar Bear it would fancy its chances.

Joking aside with puppies pepper is very useful to protect furniture and other areas from their attention. It is easy to clean off again and as long as you don't use it like CS spray has no other affects. Labs are lively but easy enough to train just make sure they know who the boss is and be careful not to over walk them for the first few months. Standby for the attack of the needle teeth while they learn how to play and don't bee worried about giving them some down time in a crate if needed until they get used to things.

Have fun

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

Top tip
In winter and you come downstairs and smell shoot on the floor somewhere from the dog

Always turn the light on and secondly put shoes on

Getting dog doo off between your toes is not pleasant

 

[ufkacbln]

What you going to call him? I find rock stars or film characters make excellent names for Labs.

Ozzy, Rocky, Jethro, Apollo...

And he'll need a silly middle name, so when the vet writes to you the envelope reads "Lemmy Hairyballs Farquhar", as it does in my case.

I'm strangely excited. Labs are amazing beyond belief. View attachment 353787

I had two overactive cats, so we called then T3 and T4 after the Thyroid hormones


When we took them to the vets the first time she thought to was hilarious

 

[ufkacbln]

Hip Dysplasia is a common problem in many dogs which have a ;long history of breeding and is a congenital problem. Labradors are one breed where Congenital Hip Dysplasia (CDH) is prevalent

As I understand it, dogs with CDH should not be bred from but there are unscrupulous breeders

The above steps are a way of minimising the issues and preventing problems inlayer life, but do be aware hat it is an issue.

Your vet should be looking for CDH in your dog at about 6 months so you know where you are