Lyla

My 4 labs are on Great Barko (but mostly raw / bones) and are doing really well. My boy has a sensitive tummy and it agrees with him, and my girls in whelp have done well on it to, saves having to chop and change. Check out: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/ It breaks down what the ingredients are, so you can make your own decision. From memory Euk scored 1 star, not sure about Advance.

Gorgeous!

We have caller ID and it says Overseas on the phone. I generally give the phone to my 2 or 5 year old. They hang up pretty quickly! And yep, Oakway, there isn't really a paypal transaction, just a fake page with your details. Google earth is always handy when checking fake addresses. ;)

I just got a weird overseas call from "Telstra" telling me my bill will be halved. I asked if I could recieve that notification in writing. Apparently it would be better if I heard it over the phone I'm told. I replied that he could be anyone, and I'd believe it if I saw it on a Testra letterhead. He hung up! I guess this thread is making me very suspicious...I hate overseas telemarketers anyway. Anyone get the phone call telling them they had won a family holiday to Miami? All you had to do was supply your credit card details to pay for the airfare, and you got accomodation, transfers, tours and some theme parks free! All because I entered some online contest I forgot about. :rolleyes:

I actually got an email from Muhammad Ali- who's apparently moved to Africa, set up an oil business and just needs me to transfer him a small fee so I can collect the eleventybillion dollars he borrowed off me once. Yes, i don't use one of my email adresses for this reason anymore! If I do sign into it, there are 500 emails telling me how rich I am!! It's either some overseas lottery, a long lost dead relo, some millionaire dying wanting to gift their millions to me, the russian mob needing me to move money for them....it's endless! One of my more recent dog-related ones was requesting boarding.. I guess they figured out people weren't buying the yorkie puppy scam anymore.

Why on earth though would someone transfer money back to someone, without the cheque first being cleared and you have it as CASH, not uncleared funds. Maybe they deserve to be scammed That's why they use paypal, as they have fake paypal pages which they email confirming that they have deposited the funds. Looks very similar to the real one, it is just the web page address which gives it away. If you're not on the net a lot, then I can see how someone would think it was legit. I'm too suspicious these days and assume everything is a scam, until proven otherwise! You reminded me Dust Angel (yours is pretty freaky!), I got one by snail mail too. A letter from a Spanish law firm requiring my details as I was a beneficiary to some fancy well to do relo. I googled the company, and it's legit, but the address and phone number were different (and from Portugal not Spain). They were asking me to email them, and their dodgy email address incorporated the name of the firm and one of their lawyers, so at a glance it looked pretty convincing.

Well done!

I actually got an email from Muhammad Ali- who's apparently moved to Africa, set up an oil business and just needs me to transfer him a small fee so I can collect the eleventybillion dollars he borrowed off me once. Yes, i don't use one of my email adresses for this reason anymore! If I do sign into it, there are 500 emails telling me how rich I am!! It's either some overseas lottery, a long lost dead relo, some millionaire dying wanting to gift their millions to me, the russian mob needing me to move money for them....it's endless!

I had a heap of these type when we sold our car. They offer more than asking price, supposedly pay by paypal (but send you scam paypal emails - always read very carefully the email address), then ask you to pay back the extra via Western union to the third party who supposedly will pick up the goods. There is never any intention to get the dog or item off you, just for you to transfer the difference via western union. One we got was from Paul FISH who was an oceanographer who needed a third party to pick up our $50 000 Prado that he was buying as a gift to his son. The name had me suss straight up. I then recieved about 3 nasty emails from Western Australia Police (another fake web page they had done up) threatening legal action if I did not send money to the third party. Might have been a bit more believable if someone with English as a first language had written it though. Was quite laughable after I got over the hide of them. I think emails asking for "your final asking price" are always a give away. I recieved one yesterday: Dear sir, I am a labrador retriever lover and breeder in Macau and Hong Kong. Now I am looking for champion labrador retriever black young male . I am very interest in champion labrador retriever black young male. How much are you asking and shipping to Macau? Thank you for your attention on this e-mail, look forward to hearing from you soon. Hmmm, if someone was really after a champion dog, I think the first question would relate to the parents or health testing, and as the price is in my ads and on my website, it is generally not something I get asked.

How could you resist that face perse?

This scenario is becoming way too common. Definately second opinion. Just a question: Could you deliberately get an iffy x-ray if you didn't pull the dogs legs tight enough during xray?

They are kept out the back of the shop in wire crates stacked on top of each other.I have seen these a few times.

I understand why you would want to breed, but your little girl being gorgeous is not reason enough Everyday so many dogs are put down in shelters, unless you are adding something to the breed e.g. 'raising the bar' with your litter then I think it is a bad idea. Also bringing up a litter is an ENORMOUS amount of hard work, you will have many sleepless nights and many early starts. You could end up with a litter of 10 or so pups. How would you manage with 10 or so 7wk old labs tearing up the place ;) A lot of people don't realise the risk to the bitch as well. Bitches do die giving birth and sometimes even with the best planning things go very very wrong. What if there is something wrong with the pups? Could you have them put down or keep them yourself if they ended up with a problem meaning they could not be rehomed? A member of DOL is going through this very scenario right now. Good on you for asking the question though Many people feel like you do and I am glad your girl is so special to you. Great response! Breeding certainly isn't all roses. Add to that scanario the Saturday night trip to the emergency vet to deliver your pups which are too big for mum to deliver. Then losing 2 in the ordeal. And mum having a ruptured uterus due to the stress of birth, so after paying for all the health testing, your best dog only has one litter. No it's not an exaggeration, this was my experience 7 weeks ago. Make sure you have some spare cash stashed away, because they want the $2500 bill paid for on the night or they don't treat the dog. I have 5 seven week old lab puppies at the moment, the mess I get up to in the morning could be rivalled by a clydesdale! Most people love their dog so much that they think it "should" have a litter to share some of the dog's greatness. If you are serious, lots of research is a good start, and an objective set of eyes to tell you if your dog is really up to breed quality. I would be wary of breeders who sell whole litters on main reg to pet homes, their dogs aren't always the best specimens themselves, sometimes it's just a marketing gimmick to sell the pups, and usually for a bit more cash. Feel free to PM me if you want further info.

Hahahaha!! Love it. at lipstick dogs. The labrador tart is adorable! Mine just put their ears back, and look like they're in trouble.

Could she just go outside for an hour to play by herself?

I have had a couple who got two males from the same litter a couple of years ago, and it has worked out fabulously for them, and they are so glad they did it. That being said I have a gundog breed that is very easygoing, never had any pack rank issues (I have no top dog), and the couple have put the effort into the dogs. Both owners do a lot with the dogs, it's not just one person doing everything. They don't have kids either, so all their time is for the dogs. There was never any intention initially for them to get 2, but after being on my waiting list, then meeting my dogs and the litter, and doing lots of research, they asked me the pros and cons of getting 2 dogs. I discussed the good and the bad with them, I considered them to be responsible people who didn't just do things on a whim, so the decision was made. Had there been an issue i would have taken the pup back, but there has been nothing but happy updates and lots of family pics from them. I would consider them in the top 2 puppy owners I have sold to. In my breed I don't see an issue with having littermates. I also bought a pup at the same time that I had a litter and kept one of the pups, and while the are good mates, they certainly didn't bond to each other over me. I'm sure in some breeds it would be an issue, but in mine, to responsible owners, I don't see the issue.

Personally, the best method of bonding puppy to the new home IMO involves spending lots of time with the puppy, (inside if at all possible) and training it. A dog can't form an effective social bond with new owners if they only spend time together for a couple of hours a day. All the other things you describe are great for entertaining a bored pup but they won't take the place of that social bond. Thanks poodlefan, but the point of the post WAS for entertaining a bored pup, not bonding a pup to it's owners. I want a list of options for people to refer to because they cannot spend 24 hours a day with their pup. My pups are currently 6 weeks old, and while I spend masses of time with them , and so do the kids the minute they are home from school, I still leave them stuff to do when I'm not with them. Not sure if my wording was unclear, but just looking to create a puppy entertainment list to put in puppy folders, to go along with a feeding chart, training info, health info etc. Just thought it might be helpful to some people.

I am doing up a sheet for new puppy owners for ideas to keep young puppies distracted, and to help get a new puppy settled into their new homes. Obviously being removed from the litter situation is a big shock to a baby puppy, so what are the things you would supply to puppy to keep her happy? Or what do you leave puppy to do when you are at work? Here's a couple to start off: Bones Softdrink bottle with kibble inside Kong or similar filled with any of the billion combinations possible Doggy iceblocks Toys (rotated daily)

Excellent point!

Wow! Your pics are getting heaps better, I really like the shading. Great job with Kyojin. Love the ears in the 2nd, but 3rd one is my fav. It's a great pic. Love it. PS: Keep 'em coming. ;)

I take deposits at about 2 weeks old when I have had people waiting on a litter.(I never take deposits before birth, as you never know when something wont pan out) Mostly, it just weeds out the timewasters. I also state on my website that the deposit is non-refundable, which basically stops people from stuffing me around, but if there is a genuine reason for someone deciding to not take the puppy, I do actually refund the deposit. It takes a lot of effort to give pictures and updates to people who aren't going to follow through when you factor in that you still have kids, other dogs and a household to take care of. As an aside to the deposits, I am happy to provide lengthy, informative emails to anyone who happens to email me. I don't mind if they are not specifically interested in one of my pups, just as long as they don't pretend they are just to get info. I'm happy to help, I'm just sick of B.S. artists.

Awww, that is lovely.

Hope the rest of the year is kinder to her.

54kg! Holy crap! My girls only get to about 32kg with a belly full of pups! AL I think Mindy looks great. As long as you can't see her ribs I'd stick to what you're doing. She'll appreciate when she's older and hasn't had all the extra weight straining her joints. I bred a litter from lines which also produced this style of lab. They are lot more agile and easier to keep trim than their stocky counterparts.

My girls do it to each other. Can be dominance. Try distractions to stop the humping.