suziwong66

Our next pup is arriving in five weeks time; another chocolate labby; a bitch this time. We name our dogs before they come home whether we meet them or not. We usually have a list that we all add and remove as we agree and disagree on names. We've decided on Laiken Scout. For some unplanned reason, we tend to name our dogs after book characters Casper Montgomery was named after the comics Casper the friendly ghost and his second name was a character in the original Fame tv series. Wilbur Atticus named after Wilbur the Pig in Charlotte's Web and Atticus Finch; To kill a mocking bird. Laiken Scout: Laiken from a book series called Slam (i had to compromise on the spelling with Miss21; in the books it's spelled Layken) and Scout from To kill a mockingbird. Our shortlist for Laiken was (in no particular order): Prim - The Hunger Games Katniss - The Hunger Games Luna - Harry Potter Laiken - Slam Scout - To Kill A Mockingbird We had all agreed on Luna which as miss21's suggestion but she changed her mind after she'd heard too many dogs called Luna. She suggested Prim but I didn't like it. I suggested Katniss and we agreed but then i heard another dog called Katniss so i scratched it. Then i happen to reread Slam and put that at the top of my preferences and everyone agreed. Miss21 chose Scout as the second name; yes we give our dogs second names

My boy once cocked his leg, peed and pooped all at the same time. Pee got everywhere but it was a sight to behold OMD that's a cracker! Norty Brown Dawg has a weak sphincter muscle after desexing and now has a wee/poo dilemma if he's got a full bladder and full bowel. He'd be fine if he emptied his bladder first and then pooped, but no he takes the poop route first and pees all over himself

Norty brown dawg is 3 and he still squats in the back yard - he sometimes lifts his leg on the front tree when he evacuates before getting in the car. do Doesn't matter how he pees: he still manages to wet over his paws. The worst is when he's got a really full bladder & he's pooping: the stream shoots forward & he manages to shower himself!!

I've just ordered these bags in preparation for a second dog; i'll be getting the dispenser at some point too. Currently my rolls of dog poop bags are hanging on a roll dispenser than i fashioned out of a wire coat hanger from a dry cleaner! The order arrived this morning: they don't muck around!!! they are the same size as the ones i use on my 'home fashioned' outdoor hanger so that makes it easy :) I think I'll get the metal dispenser at some stage.

had a chat to the vet today: she didn't reccomend Nobivav ans said that although the manufacturer stated a 95% success rate the International Vaccination body states that it has closer to 85% success rate: She said stay with the Protech & keep the schedule T 6/10/14 week but take pup out 7-10 days after 10 week injection but avoid places like the beach & dog parks.

Laiken will be arriving here in Adelaide in the first week of October - as usual, she will have received her first vaccination at 6 weeks; my breeder's vet administers Protec c3 DHP. We've always followed the Protec schedule (6/12 weeks) when we've had pups and they have all missed out on much of the crucial 8-16 weeks socialisation because they weren't covered against DHP until 10-14 days after the 12 week vaccination. We took norty brown dawg Wilbur out as soon as he came home at 8 weeks, but we carried him everywhere - this limited the type of socialisation experiences he had. This time round, i'm going to discuss with my vet the Nobivac schedule so that I can have her out and about by 11-11.5 weeks on foot and i'll carry her till then. I don't frequent dog parks and don't let my dog socialise with other dogs as i prefer his focus be on me when we're out and about; he's over friendly so i've neutralised him for the past two years after realising that his first year socialising with other dogs and people did me no favours as their value to him was way too high for me to compete for his attention. I spent the next two years trying to rectify this. (i adhere to the thought that socialising and socialisation are two different concepts even though socialisation can occur when your dog is socialising) Who has used Nobivac? Who's considering using Nobivac for their pups? Any input and discussion would be great; thanks.

Our oldest was our last one: Casper a yellow labrador retriever - he's the one in my signature/banner. We gave him his wings a week before his 14th birthday as his back legs gave way. He'd been having incontinence issues for the year prior but he was able to get up and out of his waste if he soiled himself when laying down...but once his legs gave way we knew it was time to let him go. He was like a puppy till he was about 11 years old and he settled down. He seemed to become a geriatric when he was about 12.5 - 13 yrs. He seemed to become an old man, in what seemed like, overnight, but of course there was a progression in sight and hearing and then bowels and then back legs. He'd been a wonderful family member and we decided not to prolong his life with drugs and therapies as much as it broke our hearts to say goodbye. I can't honestly say we did anything that contributed to his long life span; I think we were just darn lucky and he perhaps had good genetics. He'd lived all over the country with us - born in Qld, then Melbourne, then Darwin and finally in Adelaide. We mostly had German Shepherd's when i was growing up and Casper was my first ever labby - My OH wanted a labby after we lost our first GS as a married couple (he went to the rainbow bridge at 10 years). I would have happily had another shepherd but conceded to a labby; We've had 17 consecutive years with a labby in our lives now and are about to welcome our 3rd in 5.5 weeks time. They are my favourite breed now.

I've just ordered these bags in preparation for a second dog; i'll be getting the dispenser at some point too. Currently my rolls of dog poop bags are hanging on a roll dispenser than i fashioned out of a wire coat hanger from a dry cleaner!

After Norty Brown Dawg Wilbur had his bath, i dragged out the 'puppy equipment' box and found much of what i will need: three 3/4" collars, small ceramic bowl, lightweight long line, harnesses. The puppy travel crate is in the shed. Eventually we'll replace the travel crate with a wire one and i'll also get a exy pen. Don't have to get much this time around I ordered ID tags from my favourite tag company; Boomerang, from Canada - one small one to fit the 3/4" collars and 3 1" tags for adults collars. I use Red Dingo collars and will eventually get a few large ones to add to the collection: Both the dogs will be sharing them. We've decided on a name: Laiken Scout - yes, we weird and always give our dogs middle names We also tend to name our dogs after book characters. The Layken in the book is spelled with a 'Y', but miss21 wanted to use the traditional spelling with an "I". Laiken means 'of the lake'...kinda appropriate given labbies are water dogs. And Scout is from To Kill a Mockingbird. Wilbur's middle name is Atticus...so yeah...no explanations necessary about how much we like that book

just got an sms from the property manager saying YES to a second dog on the property; OMG now i'm letting myself get excited!!!!!!!!!!!

i don't feed them to brown dawg because of the splinter factor but i also don't feed him turkey wings because he tends to vomit up bone shards -

We're going to have to agree to disagree on this bit...I've argued with him; to no avail. I gave him a little over two years and by the end I was frustrated and annoyed and I can think of another customer who wouldn't agree either. I have no confidence in the young vet he has working for him: there's been a number of times i've brought up an issue and got either no advice or radical invasive intervention as the solution. So far I'm really happy at Hawthorn; they listen and discuss and we work together to find the best way to move forward. I will say though, Nick is rather racist towards chocolate labbies: the first time we saw Nick was when Fiona was on holidays and he said he was shocked at how well Wilbur behaved because chockies are usually nutters I forgave him the insensitive (and incorrect) comment because Nick was happy to comply when i asked him not to reward Wilbur with attention until Wilbur was sitting

Yep and being an intelligent breed they use that power for evil or good - whichever way they have been trained to think... All up to the owner in the end I think.. how much time they are willing to spend moulding the thinking of their baby mind into an adult mind. I read one ad where they were re-homing the pup because it was 12 months old and didn't "realise how big it had gotten and knocked over their toddler when the toddler was in the back yard". Now where was the training when they got the pup (because they would have had the child by then... did they think that the dog would wake up one day and say 'oh I am big now.. better not jump on the kid anymore'!! right there; the bolded bit - that's right on the money! I adore Norty Brown Dawg Wilbur and put an enormous amount of time and energy into training him...on occasion we discuss what a frigging nightmare he'd be without training. He's big but not fat, he's happy, he's over friendly, he's strong, he's exuberant, and he's still a baby at 3 years old. Thankfully 3 years of training (and a lifetime more to come) has made him a dream of a dog: no digging, no barking, walks beside me on or off lead, recalls from several hundred metres, sits for a pat with his tail wagging at a ferocious speed , waits at the door for people to go in when told to wait (if you forget to tell him to wait he'll barge on in ahead of you ) , goes to his crate when asked and I can take him anywhere and he'll behave with lovely manners. When we're out and about in public we always get comments from strangers about his good manners and i'm quick to let them know he wasn't born like this and that it takes a lot of time and effort to raise a well mannered dog in public spaces. Many people have the notion that all labbies are born perfectly trained like Guide Dogs and they're not! The three years of training were worth EVERY minute; i treat every outing as an opportunity to learn and practice what he already knows. Put in the effort and you'll be rewarded with a labby that fits right on in! Seren, take your time and find the best labby for you and your family. Don't buy an older dog without seeing it first. If i were looking for an older labby i'd be looking at the breeder pages here on DOL or a reputable labby rescue organisation. I wouldn't go for a private sale as you have no idea what you're getting in terms of temperament etc

We've stated using Hawthorn Vet Clinic on Unley road - it might actually be Belair rd; i'm not sure when Unley rd ends. I've been more than happy with them so far. We went because I wasn't getting the service i expect at our last vet on Greenhill Rd. I had been taking Wilbur in for his skin issues and leaking since he's been desexed (nearly a year) and they kept on just saying wash him with Malaseb and the response to the leaking issue was surgery...i was stunned that they didn't discuss any of the drugs available. I got a phone call after i got back home suggesting i put baking soda in his bowl! Anyways after a year of that crap we moved on. The first visit was great: Fiona really listened to me and my request about a management plan with his skin and we explored out options. She discussed various drugs for his leaking and agreed on propalin. I took him back for a check up two weeks later and his skin was brilliant and the leaking had stopped His skin has been excellent and whenever i go in they always ask how the management plan is working for us We've also seen Nick and he was good too; really listens!

Brown Dawg Wilbur is ALWAYS happy!!

There's Labradog Rescue on FB located in the Blue Mountains NSW - they do interstate adoptions and Labrador Rescue on FB and their website who also adopt interstate duh me...sorry, these have both been mentioned previously.

Sadly Norty Brown Dawg Wilbur never took to his D1000 which has sat in our garage unused for around two years now He hates the puffiness of the bed. More recently we purchased a Snooza "Jacks" bed for inside: The base cushion is also quite puffy - BUT he quite likes the coziness of the 'Jacks' bed which keeps him going back to it even though he isn't thrilled with the puffiness of the base cushion if i fluff it up; he prefers it when it's flattened out a little. As Corrie said, the D1000 is a tough bed and your dog would need to like it fro the beginning; but Wilbur hated it right from the beginning and still doesn't like puffy beds too much.

I either take it home or throw it in a public bin if they're around - there are plenty of bins where I usually walk brown dawg.

I follow the west midlands labrador rescue (UK) on FB and they currently have a deaf labby girl that was placed in a home and is now a mascot for the organisation; she's currently doing rather well at retrieving

The hardest thing for me about having a new pup is the commitment to teaching them to evacuate on command. I like my dogs to learn how to evacuate on command and taking them out (especially during the night) on lead to teach it, is painful especially during the colder months. I must make an interesting sight at night (for many months), in my jammies and ugg boots with a torch, poo baggie and puppy on lead repeating "do wees"

Our breeder informed us a few weeks ago that she's got two litters happening atm. The first arrived yesterday; the dam from our 3yo chocolate labby Brown Dawg Wilbur had 6 boys and 5 girls; it's her final litter before retirement. We're ready for a second puppy and tomorrow i'm sending a letter to the real estate to pass on to the landlord asking for permission to have a second dog on the property. Fingers Crossed, we get a yes.

6:30 - 7:00 am and around 7:30 pm...i like splitting Brown Dawg Wilbur's food to cover two meals since he loves food so much, being a labby

PMSL LG - Brown Dawg tries to shove me off the loo to get to the bin beside the throne where all the empty rolls are. There is no peace when using the loo with Brown Dawg I dare not leave my clothes on the floor of the bathroom or anywhere he can reach them; he's a stealer. Towels are pegged up high - otherwise you'd be drying off with a facewasher from the vanity rather than your towel.

i don't think i'm being too demanding when i ask for the occasional shower or loo break without Brown Dawg. When i sit on the loo, he backs into me, sits down and pushes me till i scratch his lower back When i shower, he moves the shower curtain down, hangs over the bath edge and waits... looking at me like a stalker thank gawd he doesn't have opposable thumbs and access to the knives.