mrs tornsocks

Our (lab) pup was frightened by ANY loud sharp and unexpected noise for the first week or two when he first came home and he's perfectly fine 7 months later (and got used to similar noises really quickly). I wonder how much of this has Lucy been exposed to ? At 9 weeks, I assume not too much I'm interested for my own education more than anything why a working dog would be regarded as having a temperament fault if (as a baby) was initially startled by a loud noise (not sure whether barking is different to say a car horn blowing). Obviously if she didn't get used to it and accept it quite quickly there would be an issue - but if a baby pup has never been exposed to this stuff, should it be somehow 'natural' not to react ?

stumpy, I concur with labsrule and some of the other posters here, you can still work towards getting her used to it, 22 months is pretty young to train. With our lab pup, I spent a bit of time in the early days grooming treating using the clicker. He thought it was a bit of a game at first and tried to eat the brush etc., but I tried to make it a really casual 'quiet' time (if there is such a thing with a lab). I sat on the ground with him on a towel and just patted, talked to him, but did a bit of brushing in between. Brush, no reaction = click & treat. Brush, reaction (eg trying to mouth brush or wriggling around), no click or treat. I also found the 'stay' command useful in this circumstance. He knows it as a signal to stay still, whatever position he's in. As Labsrule says, pop over to the lab forum for some more anecdotes about the lovely doggies ! We have never taken our boy to the groomer (7 months) but he stands okay in the clam shell while I wash him. Haven't tried blow drying too much yet, I towel him & just let him round around to dry. He lets us clip his claws, again, using the 'stay' command. We got the vet to show us and bought some doggie nail clippers.

:p Too right. We set the alarm for twice a nite for about the first two weeks, then once a night, for maybe two more weeks. All pups are different in terms of how long they take to toilet train .... but ALL pups have small bladders that need to be emptied more regularly than dogs. Just like babies.

I can't see the pics BM ! :D

totally concur on this too corvus. sit is our default command - and we use it now on walks etc. to settle him if he gets excited by approaching people and dogs. He's pretty much over the excitment of approaching people, although his tail wags like crazy and if they excite him, he tries to jump up ... and the approaching doggies are a work in progress. Bottom line (scuse the pun), as soon as I see potential excitement, he gets the sit command, and sits immediately.

Hi Seven, know you posted in labs but short answer is ... normal puppy. And even more normal lab puppy. Retrievers are notoriously 'mouthy' dogs and puppies 'discover' stuff via their mouths. This is a sometimes lethal combo. We had massive problems with our first lab pup, not so much on our current boy. Have a search through and you'll find quite a few threads but I'll go have a look as well at some of our old posts. It WILL get better. Give him something else to shove in his mouth besides your hand, toy etc. Give him a time out if he's not listenting during excitement. You basically need to tell him that it's not a game, and if that means excluding him from the 'game', so be it. Put him in an another room, even for 30 seconds or 1 minute til he calms. We used to put our boy in the toilet for 1 minute, nothing to do, no-one to play with, no fun. Calms down, nipping calms down.

FT, there's more recent posts on the lab forum on how much is good to feed. Archie is a bit on the lean side (even for a lab), we feed him 2 big cups of Royal Canin, twice a day, he also gets (additional) bits of sardines (we bought fresh ones the other day he loved em), RMBs including lamb flaps, plus chicken frames etc. etc. He weighs about 23kgs now at 6 months old and is developing his muscle nicely although could still perhaps be a bit heavier - we are happy right now erring on the side of caution though, rather have him a little slim than a chunkles.

guys there is a pup school that was recommended to me at Austral - I'll get the name for you

loving this thread. Archie is only six months - his 'half birthday' today. But here is here aged about 10 weeks ...... and six months ...

Actually my vet said it WASN'T vacc related but I think it was. But it doesn't sound like your pup had the KC nasal spray anyway on the last vacc ? When you go back to the vet, check all your vaccs and exactly what he was given. I must admit, I didn't even think to ask until the third when I questioned whether KC was included. It generally isn't as far as I know but the vet offered it once I questioned the full details of the vacc and we took the KC (nasal). Good luck with it, I'm sure he will be fine. If you don't get a satisfactory answer from your regular vet tomorrow, I would take him elswhere after that.

So if I'm reading this right, your baby has his last vacc a week ago ? What did he have for 12 weeks ? Did he have the nasal KC vacc at all ? It doesn't sound like he had C5 ?? Reason I ask is that our fella had a similar infection after his last vacc - snotty nose, snorty cough and very runny eyes. I got some creme from the vet for runny eyes (he said it was conjunctivitis) which didn't seem to help - plus the cough didn't go away after about a week, so I took him back, got anti biotics which cleared things up. Doesn't sound like your ABs have done the trick yet - but finish them for sure. Vet maintained it wasn't vacc-related but I still wonder. I would take him back to your vet. edited to add the thread I posted at the time http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...=172418&hl=

Hi, did a search on this but could not seem to find any opinion. I need to get 6 mnth old Archie back to obedience asap ! Last classes we did were canine kindy at four months. Has anyone been to Sydney all breeds in Concord ? Or I have heard of somewhere in Homebush ? Any inner west recs would be greatly appreciated.

hi envy congrats on your new pup ! Do you have any pics ?? We have had two lab pups, and crate trained both of them. I really do recommend it - just to confirm, you have him in a crate, with the hessian bedding, is that right ? You should be able to get away with not taking him out so often, he will simply hang on. By 11 weeks, our pup was only needing one pit stop during the night and by about 14 weeks, none. All pups are different of course but the crate training really helped with toilet training. We started our boy at 8 weeks sleeping in crate in the bedroom, then after 2 weeks or so, gradually moved him out to the laundry, literally moving the crate a metre or so a night after that, down the hallway and eventually into the laundry, where he still sleeps now at 6 months. You just have to learn to let him whine/bark, otherwise you're creating a rod for your own back. They are smart little buggers ; if he knows that he makes a noise and you'll come pay him attention, he'll do just that. In terms of the noise he makes while he gets used to being alone at night, we took our boy into the neighbours next door during the day and introduced him (all cute n fluffy) and apologised in advance in case he makes any noise - they were very understanding and his cuteness overwhelmed them of course - who could be cranky ?

I freaked when my boy swallowed a chicken neck whole so never fed again. I feed him frames though, in fact these were great to help him to chew (and he's a lab !). I give them to him all the time, cut the wishbone out but he loves them and I feel comfy with them - just the shape and size 'fits'. I tried turkey necks the other day - they were quite small and I was a little nervous with those too, so I give him turkey drumsticks with skin removed.

Hi juno's mum What a sweetie !!! Yes,very normal to sleep alot, puppies need it and will sleep after even short play. How much to feed - if you got her from a breeder, this info should come from breeder and they are best person to ask. If she's a guzzleguts that may have something to do with your previous question (ie how much to feed) - she may be a food driven dog, in which case, not unusual to be licking the bowl ! What are you feeding her ? We used a crate, and I think blocking off is a good idea, crates are great for toilet training and giving her a 'safe' place.

Oh Shaun & Gaylene, I only just saw this thread, how horrible and sudden for your boy. Condolences and thoughts as you come to terms with his passing. RIP Fraser, taken way too young. My choc lab pup Bosley (RIP March 09) will be waiting at Rainbow Bridge for a big play with Fraser.

thanks cav and pointee .... Aside from caution in over-exerting the youngsters (plus good diet, supplements etc.) are there any other preventative measures ? And is there an average age when it can be recognised/diagnosed ? Finally, if a good score for parents can still mean HD in offspring, does this in turn mean offspring could just as easily NOT pass it on ? No breeding plans here, this is purely 'educational' info for me. thanks again

Mokha and OP, I am sorry to hear about your furkids and what they are going through. So glad you got a 'mud roll' Mokha ! That must make you smile. I hope you don't mind me taking this slightly off posted topic but I am wondering. Mokha do you know your lab's parents hip/elbow scores ? This is something I am very paranoid about wiht our lab and although he's fine at the moment aged 5 months, I'm keen to prevent it happening (we watch his level of exercise / impact / jumping etc). But I know we do everything we can to avoid -but sometimes it's just unavoidable. This might be a really obvious question but I'm interested to know whether sometimes - can the sire/dam's hip scores be ok but the offspring still suffers ?

Sounds like the children require "reeducation". Maybe when they've retrieved enough of their clothes from the back yard, they'll learn to put them in a laundry hamper. Agree. Not for us to tell you how to run your house but maybe when the grown children find their favourite t shirt destroyed it might be motivation. Today, I heard a noise in the kitchen and went out to find 5 month lab boy licking some foil on the ground - he'd jumped up to my leftover moussaka and managed to get the foil covering it in his mouth. Thankfully it wasn't the whole dish. They grow quickly and it's hard to keep up with them !!!

You might notice my name/ID. Well it's kinda in fun but our lab puppy inspired it. I echo what the others said - keep the washing away from pup or vice versa. When we bring our load of washing out, Archie looks like all his Christmases have come at once - or if we leave clothes on the bathroom floor, he pops his head in there and grabs the best looking item - usually a bra or pair of undies. We can always tell when he's got something because he trots off down the hallway with glee and his claws on the floorboards are a dead giveway. We just don't leave our clothes around, or shut the door, or put the puppy out. In the same way that you wouldn't leave your gold chain, your dinner, your favourite book, a hundred dollar note in her reach, you need to move the clothes out of temptation's way. The best thing as others have said, is to teach her to 'leave it'. This can be done with clicker training and a toy. Give her the toy, play with it a little and give her the command to 'leave it', when she relinquishes, click and reward with food. Repeat this and practice it heaps. There are other methods to this as well. Replace the 'bad' items with his toy or good item quickly and praise her. Our 5 month old does this now even with bones and (most) food. It really does work.

so sorry to hear about buddy. from a lab lover, may he run free.

We go to a guy called Matt at Quakers hill - if that's not too 'greater'. He's awesome, worked at guide dogs for a while so knows labs well. There's also a vet at Russell Lea (near Five dock) that uses 'natural' therapies that I think a few DOLers have been to. Others will have reccs I'm sure - but please don't let $ drive your decision too much. I know they can be expensive but your dog's health is obviously v valuable.

HI there Congrats on your impending arrival and your decision to join the wonderful world of labs ! Do you have any pics yet ? We crate trained our boy (lab) and it's worked wonderfully. There are quite a few threads here on DOL if you search under puppy problems thread and 'crate', however this is what we did. 1. started out with airline crate that my SIL had left over from her pups ( pretty small) which we introduced him to early. Fed him in there quite a bit, put favourite toys in there, generally encouraged him that it was a great place to be. The idea is this becomes your pup's 'den' where he feels safe and secure. You need to make sure it's big enough for him to be comfy but not too big that he'll soil it. Pups don't like going to toilet in their own 'bed' but if it's big enough, he'll find an area inside the crate that he feels is far enough 'away' to toilet. If not, he'll hang on as much as he can. We also popped him in there for 5, 10, minutes at a time during the day, to get him used to it. he would also go in there when we couldn't keep an eye on him (eg showers, just doing other every day stuff ) 2. for sleeping, had him in our bedroom for first two weeks or so, (in crate), gradually moved the crate out down the hallway to the laundry where he slept. Had to get up 2 times per night for the first two weeks for toilet from 8-10 weeks, then down to once around 10 weeks, and nonce from about 13 weeks or so. 3. Once he got too big for that crate, we bought a large hard wire crate (around $150). We put lots of lovely soft bedding in it (along with the main bedding from his smaller crate) and he transitioned no probs. We considered dividing it because it's for him to grow into but he was pretty much toilet trained anyway, so didn't soil. At 5 months he still looks quite small in it but he can sit and stand up and stretch out as much as he wants. He now goes in there for sleeps and he loves it. We take it away with us as it's collapsible and it means we know we can have him sleep in there, or if we have people over and just want him out of their hair, we can safely put him in there and he's happy as larry. If you come over to the lab thread ('those crazy labs' under the breed sub forum page) - there's lots of other experiences that owners can share.