Alfie02

Agreed Thanks everyone on DOL for being so helpful!

Thank you for the suggestions of breeders, that is sooo helpful!!! I am not intending to get a puppy untill the later half of this year as I want to be really prepared, so I am willing to wait as long as it takes for the perfect puppy to come up for me

Thanks for all continued responses . I just want to clarify for everyone that I am not wanting to get a chocolate labrador just for the colour. I love the labs temperament, their appearance and their exercise requirements fit my life style perfectly. If I was to go to a breeder that had all colours of labs and found that the puppy that would suit me was black or yellow I would be more than happy to take that puppy into my family, as temperament and suitablility is far more important to me than colour. On saying this, if I were to say my favorite colour of lab was black, no one would mind, so I wouldnt really judge people because their favorute colour may be the same as many other people. However, I do agree that there has been a very big popularity surge in chocolate labs and that irresponisble breeders are over breeding this colour with not much consideration for temperament. I in no way mean this post to be insulting or anything, I really appreaciate all the comments from, everyone

Thank you so much for all your responses guys, they have been sooo helpful, I think I will do a bit more looking around at breeders that breed more than just chocolates and I will also contact a few in person (over the phone) to get an idea of what they are like. Thank you again! ;)

Yes Corvus you should hire him out! He sounds like a wonderful dog . Ignoring other dogs when they are unsure is such a great quality for a dog to have when meeting new dogs! Thats so true about the little dogs pairing up with the other little dogs untill they realise that hanging out with the relaxed and chilled out big guy seems like the better option .

Hi alpha bet , We have tried to do all the right things since he was a puppy like puppy preschool and constant socilization with people and other dogs, but with still no sucess. The sad truth is that he is from a backyard breeder. When we picked him up we were not aloud to see the mum because she was sick from a spider bite...(later on we found out she was agressive, we were sooooo dumb I know). His agression started from a puppy, with strangers and dogs (he bit someone at puppy preschool ). He has also been attacked twice by lage dogs roaming the streets when we were out for walks which did not help him in anyway. But I definatley agree with you, today showed us that there is still hope and I hope I can use this chance to keep socilizing him gradually with more and more friendly dogs. Thanks for the luck

Its great to watch two dogs run around like wild things isnt it , it makes me happy to see dogs having so much fun, especially my mum's usually anti social dog!

Yeah he was a really nice little dog and I guess it was just good signals, I hope we run into this little guy again :D . Im just so happy that he made a new friend !

Hi everyone ! So today I was out walking with my mother and her dog when we came across a very cute little papillion cross dog and of course it came running over ignoring the owners calls. My mothers dog is an 11 year old desexed male maltese cross who is dog agressive (despite our best socialsation efforts, we even hired a specialist who couldnt help us). So we kept walking pulling our dog along (who was on leash and always is) while this off lead dog follwed us. We eventually stopped as the off lead dog wasnt going to give up, and to our suprise our dog liked this off leash dog and stared to play! Now here is the real suprise, when the owner finally came over, who was actually very nice (the dogs payed whilst we had a conversation with him), informed us that his dog was an entire male. Can anyone tell me why a dog agressive dog would choose to like another dog that is entire? He never likes other dogs, im so amazed! lol. :D

Thanks heaps for all the responses guys . Im glad that the 'show' type labs are still able to do agility if there kept in tip top shape and not overwieght, thas really good to know. I can imagine alot of labs are loving doing agility!

Yes, good point, the club that I am near does obedience for younger dogs up to high levels before you can graduate into their agility classes which is really good i think That means I will still be out and about with my dog socializing and learning basic obedience untill I can saftley train my dog in agility. And I will definately wait untill the dog is fully grown before even considering entering him/her in agility

I found that to be a problem too, the dog walking me instead of the other way round . But by putting the collar up higher it was much easier to control him and he responded to corrections much better. Even if you dont want to use a check chain, you can put the flat collar up high and see if that makes any difference?

I am in NSW, I wont be getting my Lab puppy untill hopefully at the start of next year, but i thought I better start finding these things out now so I can be organised and prepared. There are quite a few dog clubs around where I live so I should be able to find something that suits my Lab, like retrieving. But thanks you heaps for your help, I will keep this in mind when it comes to selecting a breeder and I might just end up PMing Lablover or FHRP when it comes closer to choosing my puppy

Thats a good idea, there is an agility club near by where I live so I will go check it out and look for any labs there and have a chat to the owners

Thats a really good point poodlefan, as I have been researching this for a while now and alot of people say that any breed can do agility. And while that may be true, how good is it for the dogs health to be doing agility if the dogs breed makes it harder for it to compete due to body size, weight, shape etc. I wasnt aware that there are clubs for retrieving, I will look into that as this might be a more sensible option for a lab

Thanks, I will post this question in the Lab thread too. Thank you for your answers

Hi I had the same problem with my little dog, he pulled so hard on the lead and was terrible at walking. However over the past 6 months I have consistantly been correcting him every time he pulls. I use a check chain, worn high up on the neck (like in dog shows) and evey time he pulls away from my side i correct him but pulling gently side ways on the lead, this gets his attention and he walks right back next to me. He also has to sit and wait untill I tell him its ok to smell a certain spot etc. I find that this controls his excitment and keeps him focused on me. This took alot of time and effort, but it was worth it as now we can walk side by side with his lead loosley draped on my shoulders without me even having to hold it. Hope this helps and was what you were asking about . I also have a problem with my dog barking like you described in your post and would love to know how to stop it! lol.

Hello everyone I was just wondering, can Labradors do agility? Can their hips handle all the jumping? I love labradors and am hoping to get one at the end of the year, but I am also interested in doing agility, would this be possible with a lab? Thanks

Hi, Our 10 year old dog just had a leg operation and the vets recommended he go on either Sashas Blend or fish oil. We chose fish oil because it was cheaper and we just put it on his dinner each night. He is doing really well, no problems at all with his joints and he has a nice shiny coat from it too :D

Thanks heaps for all the replies guys, very helpful. I will contact the breeder and ask about the puppies that this stud dog has produced and look into the dogs grabdparents etc. Im sure the breeder will be happy to discuss all this with me and if not i will go else where. Very helpful thanks

Hi everyone, I am looking at a lab breeder who's stud dog has hip score of 8/8 and an elbow score of 0/0. The bitch that they are planning to bred this dog with has a hip score 0/0 and elbows 0/0. I was wondering since they are breeding a dog with a higher hip score with a bitch with a low hip score would the puppies be expected to have good hips? (assuming the grandparents etc had good hip scores)? I am new at this hip and elbow score talk so sorry if this question seems silly Thanks

I went to this event and it was wonderful! Well done all the Hunter Animal Rescue team, what an excellent job you guys do ;)

brigidstarr - she will definatley be going to a respectable registered breeder, i can promise you that :D

Great info guys, thanks! Tilly, you mentioned bushwalking, are there clubs you can do that with? Do local GSD clubs do that? Or is it just something you like to do for recreation? Thanks PS. Poodlemum you have beautiful poodles! How handsome!

Thanks, I will let her know about the seperation anxiety issue, hopefully since she already has another dog that wont be to much of a problem