black sooty

Beau sounds gorgeous! We have a little lab too who is about 7 months now. Here what our breeder told us about exercising labradors, though I know how easy it is to play with them more than this because I know with our, she didnt show any signs of wanting to stop and they look like they are having so much fun. "A few minutes practice on the lead every day or two five to ten minutes of play several times per day is all that is required until about 16 to 18 weeks. Gradually increasing exercise by 8 months to a 20-minute walk. Labradors are a moderately heavy boned dog and can be subject to repetitive strain and stress. Long runs, running up and down steps, slippery floors and excessive play or play with larger dogs is not recommended until fully grown. Too much exercise can cause lameness and may lead to shoulder and hip joint problems such as osteochondrosis and hip dysplasia." I guess its a bit like real kids, you just gotta be the unfun parents sometimes. Though you can stimulate with overexurstion. eg: lamb/pigs ears, kong toys filled with different stuffing. We sometimes scatter charlis dry food on the pavement and she acts like a little sniffing detective trying to find all the pieces!

Charli didnt think much of her kong when she first got it but instead of feeding her dinner in a bowl sometimes we would put it in her kong toy and she would roll around with it and soon caught on (esp because the pathway to her heart in via her stomach!). We also semi taught her how to play fetch with her kong and gave her a lot of encouragement and reward when she played with a kong. We did that with all her toys and now she barely gives anything other than her toys attention. In fact when she enters the house she has to find one of her toys (many of which are laying about in the house somewhere!) before she will contemplate sitting on her mat. but every dog if different. Charli is also a huge fan of stuff toys and still has the ones from when he was a pup in mint condition. but my friend has a dog whom stuffed toys would like 10 minutes without being ripped a part!

My friend gives my grief for feeding our 7month old lab twice a day. But I think it is up to personal preference as we spend 2-3 mins bonding/training time with her. We feed Charli twice but smaller meals. If were both at work, her morning meal might be a big meaty bone which also doubles up as entertainment. We also measure charli's food to ensure we dont over feed her and take into account any treats/bones. It would probably also depend on the dog as my friend's dog just isnt interested in food and barely eats her one meal a day but Charli would eat herself sick if given the chance.

Here is a photo of charli. Now that I look at it a again, your dog's eye looks fine!

Hey there, Hope that your pup is well. Our little lab, Charli who is 7 months has a similar thing. in the morning she will wake up with sleep/gunk in her eyes but it always cleared up after she woke up. This the vet said was fine but just to keep an eye on if and to come back if it got worse or started to smell. I don't know if the next thing is similar, but Charli was playing with another dog when her third eye got pulled out and wouldnt retract back. Unfortunately this was also because she had a slightly deformed cartilage in her eye when she was born (though vet couldnt tell this until he operated as at first he thought it could have been cherry eye) so she required surgery and an Elizabethan collar which she HATED!. I cant tell by your photo too clearly but her eye looked a little but like that but the eyelid was quite a bit bigger. (I will try upload a photo if I can figure out how) I would say if the eye looks like it is bothering you puppy definetely get it checked out. Our vet is great and if it turns out to be nothing, they dont charge us.

I know that a few people on here do not like the Fulham gardens vet, but from my experience I have found them to be very thorough. We take our all our animals (birds, dog, rabbits) to the Findon Vet usually though (its their sister vet) and then to the Fulham one if its after hours. From our experience, we've been really happy with the service and advice they have provided. However, I must also mention that the only operation/serious surgery we've had to have done is desexing. We've never a a serious problem with our dog, but with our rabbits, because we were so comfortable to take our animals there, even for a small thing, what ended up being a potentially serious thing for our rabbits, got nipt in the but early, in the end saving us a lot of $ and potentially a life. This is just my own personal experience, and like most things in life, people will probably agree and disagree. The most important thing is to find one that you are most comfortable with. If you don't like what you get, keep looking until your happy! all the best! P.S. the Fulham surgery has recently moved and upgraded, not sure if it from a change of ownership or not.

My friend had a border collie who would do the same so when we got our pup we decided to do the same thing their trainer advised and it has worked on both her dog and our pup; ** ignore the dog until she settles down. We just stand there and cross our arms until she sits and reward her when she does. I think the hardest bit is to be patient and also to get the guests to do the same thing as its so easy to visit someones place and want to give the dog the attention. Also get your guests to acknowledge you first so she knows that she isnt the leader of the pack. I do the standing arms crossed all the time during the days, esp when she excited. this could be for all sorts of reasons including when she's about to be fed, when Ive come home from work, when she's about to go for a walk... so she always associates being ignored and arms crossed with time to settle and I'm not encouraging accidently to jump on me. good luck, and hope that your trainer is of help!

I have a little lab, she's still only young but I give her a "puppy kong" with peanut butter and dried dog food and she loves it and even when its empty she now associates the kong with good stuff and will chew on it. I don't find she gets frustrated at all. infact its like a game to her. I also try make it fun by using it as a fetch toy. I know of german shepards to chew the black "extreme" kong XL which are still intact. dicount department stores tend to be a bit cheaper than pet shops because they can be rather expensive toys. Or I also make what i call the "ghetto kong". i get a plastic soft drink bottle (i use a 600ml for my pup but would use a 1.25L for an older dog) and cut the end where the ring is off so she cant chew on that and add a few bits of food and my pup will spend ages trying to get the food out and loves the sound it makes when she chews it. they don't last heaps long but REALLY cheap (10c if you live in SA!) Another thing i find useful, BONES! plus its good for their teeth and nutrition! These are just a few examples from my own experience but I guess all dogs are different. good luck and all the best!

congratulations on your first night. I remember the first night we had our little lab she cried and barked for about 30mins and it was so heartbreaking. and we worried that are neighbours were going to hate us! but persistance and not giving in was the key. and giving her practice runs of leaving her alone in her crate by herself without me helped a lot. also giving a different toy each day so she didnt get bored. also leaving the radio on so she didnt feel alone in silence also help. within 3-4 days r little pup could be left with minimal fuss. now she's a bit older and doesnt need the crate she loves it! we've left it in the hall way and if we walk past it she'll go it in by herself and be confused as to why is it not full of toys!

R pup accidentally shut herself in the toilet the other day for about 20mins before we noticed but she thought it was great and made a great mess with the toilet roll (ironically enough, she is a lab, just like the Kleenex ads!) so puppy proofing the room is essential! I do 5 hour shifts so our pup was left a lone in the sunroom but we found as long as the room is puppy proofed and we give her a few chew toys and she's fine. My life saver has been the puppy kong filled with peanut butter and dried dog food! she doesn't even notice me leave her! or a lamb's ear!

We had our puppy meeting other dogs by 12 weeks but only because we didnt get a chance to see other dogs before hand. Our vet said that she was fine to start socialising with other dogs before that we knew were fully vaccinated before but not to places like a public park until her final vaccine had kicked in (puppy school was also fine as you will find that most puppy schools will not let you attend unless your puppy is vaccinated). With our pup, our vet suggested the C5 at 12 weeks that can be given nasally instead of by injection which meant that she didn't have to go back when she was 16 weeks and could go in public sooner. hope this helps!

hi, I have a little Labrador who is 13 weeks who we introduced to our brother's 6month old border collie last week & they would have wrestled and puppy played with with for at least 2 hours non-stop. Would this type of exercise be similar to the long walks? normally at home when I play with er its usually only for about 10 mins each time, but she looked so happy playing and in fact, i think she was the starting it and tiring the border collie out! Should I not be encouraging so much play?

Thanks K9 force for this post. We had recently had a little Labrador as a new addition to the family and prior to getting her we had done months of research, but I think that this post has been the most informative and to the point piece of information I have read so far! Though this is my first post on a dog forum, so I look froward to learning much more for our new best friend.