Olivebaby

Ok hahaha so I must of measured wrong. She isn't great at standing still and she had no idea what a tape measure was. I just measure her again agaist my leg and she is 49 cm. Does that sound better hahah? Avaunt it's probably a bit out as I'm not quiet sure of the exact right spot. I'll get the vet to do it for me next time I go.

You are absolutely right showdog. She is almost 11 months, is it too early to tell whether her physical characteristics and structure meet the breed standard. To me she seems to be a short Labrador. She doesn't have particularly long legs and she had a nice solid body. I specifically chose her breeder because of this. I love the look of short, stocky labs. She is approximately 65cm from floor to base of neck and currently weighs about 27kg. She does have the right tail. The only thing, and I'm not sure if it is a fault or not is she seems to have slightly longer hair than a lot of labs I have seen. It doesn't hang down or anything and it looks normal but when you get close you can tell it's longer. She also has a slight wave to her back. But she has a beautiful shiny coat. She is black and carries yellow and black. I believe her great grandmother was chocolate but that is the only chocolate in her lineage. She is head strong and has a very extraverted personality with absolutely no fear. She is quick and eager to please but in choosing a sire I would be looking for one that is more relaxed. Don't get me wrong I love my girls personality and she has me in fits of laughter constantly but I think two head strong dogs could produce some pain in the butt pups. :-) I think it's probably best to check out some more shows and perhaps get her examined to see how she is developing and whether she is meeting the standards. I am new and I am biased. To me she is great but I do know her flaws and I would love to have other opinions about them and whether they are deal breakers for breeding.

That is some great information there sparkytansy. I have been to a show for my breed and was blown away by the dogs I saw. My girl was only 4 months at the time and I felt I had a lot to live up to. I will definitely start taking her to shows just to watch and perhaps have a chat with some breeders. It would be great to find a mentor through all of this. I really feel there are a lot of judgmental dog people out there and I guess that's what scares me off asking for help. Some people jump to the conclusion that because I am new to all of this I must have improper motives and won't do the right thing. If my girl now doesn't work out for breeding, it doesn't matter. She is my whole life but I will absolutely be contacting another breeder for a second pup and perhaps can start a mentorship from the get go.

Thank you Allzeit, I had a lot of communication prior to and for the first few months of getting my girl. And I'm sure she would give me lots of good advice as she has been breeding for many many years. She knows my intentions with my baby girl so I guess I will wait for her to have her x-rays and health checks in a few months and get the ball rolling from there. :-) An old from has intended and I believe still is intending to breed her male (same breed) but his hips scores were high and unequal (although sti under breed average) She wanted to mate our two but I am completely against that idea based on the hip scores.

I dont believe you NEED to show your dog to know whether they are worthy but I do agree that you need a second, third, forth opinion from people in the know, to know whether they are worthy and suitable for breeding. Yes she is on the mains register. My breeder chose her for me based on the fact that I said I may want to show or breed at a later date. Yes I'm a member of the canine council and no I'm not a member of my breed club. I wasn't in a rush to get her. I waited and waited and got her from the eatern states. I may want to breed from her in the future if she is sound in health and temperament. If she conforms with the breed standard and has no health issues, low hip scores etc. then I would like the opportunity and the privilege to help better my breed. I want to produce sound puppies that have a good family history. I have the time and love for this so providing she works out then I shall consider breeding At the end of the day people are going to buy puppies regardless. They will buy them from a pet shop, or a car boot, or some run down dirty home that just happened to have a Male and female of the same breed but are unregistered and have had no health checks. . So why not help to decrease these sorts of puppies? Please let me reiterate that I will NOT be breeding from her if she does not conform with the breed standard. But I would love some help and guidance because I know that everybody has to start somewhere.

Thank you for all the information. Unfortunately my breeder too is in another state, but yes the vet may be a good idea. I will continue to research and find information, my girl is almost a year and only just went into her first season so I still have plenty of time to decide. I thought about showing and trialling a while back, but have decided against it now.

Hi all. Just wondering whether any of the breeders out there could answer these question for me. How did you first get started? I get you probably started with a dog but how did you go about choosing and finding the right sire? Where did you get all your information from and how on earth did you know what you were doing?

That really really sucks. I'm gay and my gorgeous pup has two mums who love her like crazy (99% of the time). I'm pretty tough but that would have really hurt me if I had been in your situation so I really feel for you both. Congratulations on your pup, I'm sure you will make great dads!!! :-) And finger up to the small minded, homophobic bigots out there. ;-)

I have a very small area about 3x3 meters for my pups toilet area because we don't have grass. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean it. I have been hosing it down and mixing spa chlorine and hot water to put on it, but then I can't let Olive get near it for a while. Any better suggestions?

Hi Katski, it was only a joke. I am not a big fan of geraldton but for no other reason that it's a country town and I'm a city girl. The people who live there probably love it but I have always found it a bit dull... Sorry if I am offending anyone.

Hi I'm from Perth, I have been to geraldton a few times, I would stay in NSW if I were you hahahha. And I know in Perth it's 2 dogs but apparently you can get special permits to allow you to have more. Good luck :-)

P.S. Look for a beautiful but cheeky black lab and you will find me :-)

I'll be there tomorrow. We are in 1 still I think, I'm going to keep olive there until she is perfect with the commands. I think it's a red sticker :-)

I am happy to report some progress with olive thanks to all your advice. So Olive only eats her bones in one part of the yard. Today I took a small brisket bone outside and let her lick it and my hands while I was holding it. Then I gave it to her but stayed sitting in her spot, I don't think she knew what to do so she stayed as well. Ahe let me pat her and praise her, no growls Or signs of aggression. I walked away and came back with liver treats and then threw them in front of her. She left her bone and ate the treats. I gradually got closer and closer until she was eating them from my hand tail wagging! I left her in peace and she continued happily munching on her bone. Might try doing this a few times before I start swapping bones with her. Thanks again for all your help and support :-)

Weasels, would you suggest pawsprint for Olive and her resource guarding that we were talking about on the other thread?

Thanks again guys for the very helpful advice. I wish I had a big enough place for a crate, I can see how beneficial they would be especially at around 8pm when mad hour sets in and Olive runs around like a maniac for 10 minutes 

Yes olive has different growls. The playful ones don't bother me and are actually quite cute but her "get away from my bone" growl really scares me.

I read your other post. It was very helpful thank you. I will try your method and if we don't progress then I'll get her some professional help. Is her growling a sign she doesn't respect me as the leader and perhaps she may think she is the boss of me instead of the other way around?

Thank you. Good to have some reassurance that she isn't a demon :-) olive does exactly what yours does. She does look submissive but then this angry growl gets out and I am so angry with her. I will check out the other thread you just mentioned. Did you get professional help with this issue? Thanks again 

Yes that all makes sense. I will try offering her something amazing before she growls. And then reward her if she drops it. We go to obedience training with her on Sunday mornings But we have missed a few sessions. We definitely need to do more work with her that's for sure, as I have noticed a definite change in her over the past few weeks. She has become more cheeky and persistent when we tell her no. That's normal adolescence I know, the bone thing is my only real concern at the moment. We are young (25&23) and neither of us have had our own pup before (just family pets) so it's a new experience for us for sure.

Yes we actually experienced that last week. She swallowed a sock when we started walking toward her to get it back. She thinks it's a game, but it's frustrating! She hasn't touched a sock since though, maybe throwing it up didn't feel to good to her!

Thanks poodlefan. I don't have children. She has met some and is fine with them though. We don't use a crate. She sleeps in our small laundry. I'm really disappointed because in all other aspects she is a wonderful pup. Should we continue with taking her bones off her? perhaps giving a different treat and then giving it back after so that she knows we don't actually want to keep her gross bone.

Hi. I have a 6 month old lab. She is very good natured except when it comes to bones. If we go near her when she has one she growls. Just now she came inside with one, I ordered her out and she didn't budge so I went to pick her up and I got a very very aggressive growl. She is not like this with food or toys just bones. We have tried taking them off her when she growls and then giving them back straight after when she has stopped but it doesn't seem to be working and her growl right now really scared me, so much so that I wouldn't have dared taken it out of her mouth. What can I do to stop this? I could obviously stop giving her bones but the problem would still be there and I would like to be able to address the issue rather than just removing bones from her diet. any help would be appreciated.

Thanks BC it sounds very similar to the melrose omega blend I am using and it comes in liquid form. My girl had a very rough wavy back but after using this for a while her back is now smooth and very shiny. :-) it's funny how well we look after our dogs. I went to the natural vitamin shop and inquired about supplements for me, decided they were too expensive and only walked out with things for my pup. I'm sure she has a better diet than I do!

Great suggestion I will try that first. Thank you