labsrule

You started this thread on the same subject on 14/12/2010 so as to why you would start another thread on same subject: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...211260&st=0

They barrel up and get right in other dog's faces.. not good dog ettiquette for meeting strangers. They also tend to be fairly physical with other dogs - a Lab putting the shoulder into or a foot on a smaller dog can do a fair bit of damage with not one ounce of aggression intended. And their owners often seem to think that their dogs' "friendliness" to other dogs should be appreciated by everyone. Ah, nope. Not any more than I appreciated being jumped on by a friendly Lab that "just wants to say hi". I have to take issue with this - THEY implies all Labs and that is NOT the case. It shits me that people make comments that imply all Labs are "in your face rude dogs and/or rough" with small dogs or other dogs. This is simply NOT the case and it infuriates me that ALL Labs youngsters particularly, are made out to be out of control, in your face, rude dogs. :D BULLSH*T is what I say :D

No its NOT :D - many dogs of all different breed types are fence jumpers and rubbish bag scavengers. Also most labs would have difficulty scaling a 6ft fence/gate :D Kirty is your gate padlocked, because if not, someone could have let him out, unless you/your family have witnessed him scaling your gate on previous occasions.

Being a Retriever she should like retrieving, so I would encourage her into the water with a retrieving toy attached to a rope and to start with don't throw it out to far, just into the shallow water to encourage her in to get her confidence up and then gradually throw it further and further out when she is ready. With the retrieving toy attached to a rope that you have hold of, you have no danger of losing the toy if she decides not to retrieve it or you inadvertently let the rope go, which I have done before but luckily was able to get hold of the rope again. Each time you take her swimming, she should gain more and more confidence and you can throw the retrieving toy further and further, depending on the length of rope you have. I brought the River Rope and Puppy trainers when my youngster was a baby pup and I got them from here (just scroll down to see the puppy trainers) and I still use it today when I take him to the river. The puppy trainer is nice and light and very comfortable for a youngster to carry as it doesn't need to have its mouth wide open to carry it and therefore reduces the risk of pup/youngster swallowing too much water. I also brought a Katie Bumper (a blue and white one) at the same time which I use for land retrieves at this stage. Good luck and just take a gently gently approach with her as once they are confident in the water there is no holding them back and it is a delight to see :rolleyes: She is a failed retriever in more ways than one lol Oh I see any chance of a refund from her breeder

Being a Retriever she should like retrieving, so I would encourage her into the water with a retrieving toy attached to a rope and to start with don't throw it out to far, just into the shallow water to encourage her in to get her confidence up and then gradually throw it further and further out when she is ready. With the retrieving toy attached to a rope that you have hold of, you have no danger of losing the toy if she decides not to retrieve it or you inadvertently let the rope go, which I have done before but luckily was able to get hold of the rope again. Each time you take her swimming, she should gain more and more confidence and you can throw the retrieving toy further and further, depending on the length of rope you have. I brought the River Rope and Puppy trainers when my youngster was a baby pup and I got them from here (just scroll down to see the puppy trainers) and I still use it today when I take him to the river. The puppy trainer is nice and light and very comfortable for a youngster to carry as it doesn't need to have its mouth wide open to carry it and therefore reduces the risk of pup/youngster swallowing too much water. I also brought a Katie Bumper (a blue and white one) at the same time which I use for land retrieves at this stage. Good luck and just take a gently gently approach with her as once they are confident in the water there is no holding them back and it is a delight to see :rolleyes:

What a gorgeous old boy, he looks very content there Thank you and I love your siggy - very cute indeed

There are some seriously cute photos here methinks DOLER'S dogs are spoilt

Really (what I have bolded) Was this advised by Guide Dogs or your Vet. I haven't encountered this problem with any of my retriever pups/youngsters and I haven't heard that this is an issue that is common with young retrievers so that is why I am interested in who advised you of this. If it is Guide Dogs who breed their own Labs or source from a particular breeder or two, then it may be a problem within the breeding lines as opposed to a generic problem with Labradors. If advised by your vet, then there could be more likelihood of it being a generic problem as they would see a variety of Labs from different breeders.

For a large breed dog to live in an appartment, the owners would need to be extremely committed to meeting its needs to ensure it had adequate walks and playtime outside in grassy areas. I personally do not believe that an apartment is suitable for raising a large breed puppy, particularly gun dogs. My Lab youngster loves to spend a lot of time outside and he has access to both inside and outside and he does lots of zoomies around the backyard on a daily basis and has done since he was a pup. He loves exploring the yard, the bushes and gardens and self exercises a lot with his zoomies He loves lying on the lawn chewing on his bones, iceblocks, toys and sticks and chasing anything that moves I take my youngster out every day for a walk, as well as to dog parks once or twice a week and to the river or beach and on other outings to meet all his exercise and stimulation needs. I have lived for a year in a villa (my investment property) with my then 7 year old lab boy when I relocated back to Sydney with him from NZ, but this was to be a temporary arrangement whilst I was looking for a house to buy. After 6months of living in my villa, I then adopted Thomas my oldest boy who was 10 years old at the time, so I had two adult Labs living in my villa for 6months. My villa had a courtyard with a garden as well as a side entrance so they had a good area for toileting in and they had access to both inside and outside and as I worked from home they spent most of the time inside with me, but I also took them out every single day, sometimes twice a day for walks and outings so they got to feel the grass under their feet and get their exercise and stimulation requirements met. My villa is in a small complex of 6 and they were all owner occupied and there were a couple of families with young kids living there and they just loved having dogs in the complex and most days would visit my villa to play with the boys, particularly my 6 year old as he was ball obsessed and just adored kids. The kids and other owners were most upset when I brought my new house and they had been imploring me to reconsider buying a house and to stay in the villa as they all loved the dogs and the dogs brought their kids a lot of happiness and they were so well behaved and quiet. As much as I would have loved to stay, I moved in with the intention that it was temporary as I love to have a yard for my Labs. Whilst older large breed dogs could adapt to apartment living with dedicated and committed owners, I still believe that large breed pups/youngsters, particularly gun dogs or very active breeds need to be raised in a property with a yard.

Totally agree some of the posts are totally uncalled for . Yap I am so sorry for your loss and I know how overwhelming grief for a much beloved dog can be . As one of the other posters said, there is no time limit on grief and I still grieve everyday for my beautiful 10year old black lab boy I lost to Cancer in Sep last year . I always knew when his time came, I would suffer immensely from his loss as he was very very special to me . His loss has been a huge struggle for me and I knew the grief could threaten to completely overwhelm me so I got myself a beautiful new lab pup a couple of months later, who has provided such a wonderful distraction and focus I so needed and he along with my wonderful senior lab boys have helped me cope with my immense loss. Not a day goes by that I don't think of my beloved boy and shed a tear for him and some days have been a real struggle, however, my pup/youngster has provided so much needed laughter and distraction and my older boys so much comfort that I don't/can't let the grief overwhelm me for all their sakes. Obviously you have been traumatised by how your beloved girl died and want some sort of justice, but I fear the anger you are feeling towards the vet will eat away at you and you may not get the justice you seek. For your own health and peace of mind, let the anger go and take the time to grieve your beautiful girl and to focus on your wonderful memories of her, she deserves that I truly hope you find some peace

Crap he is having you on there is no such law

My middle boy Tournie who loves snuggling under his blankies during the colder months

Labs LOVE sticks, they are retrievers and very mouthy so they love to carry sticks and chew sticks and it is not normally a sign of stress for them. All 3 of my lab boys from seniors to youngster LOVE chewing on sticks and my Lab youngster has been obsessed with them since he was a pup and he brings sticks inside for my older two boys to chew on. However, all 3 of them tend to chew/shred them and spit out the shredded pieces rather than swallow them as EVERYDAY I pickup up shredded/chewed up bits of sticks that the youngster has brought inside. The bigger the stick the better as far as my youngster is concerned and the little bugger tries to drag in 6ft plus branches that have fallen off the trees so that all 3 can have their regular chewing/shredding session I normally hear the crash bang of the large stick or branch banging against the door frame as he attempts to navigate his way inside with it in his mouth ;) and he gets a short shift from me and I take the stick/branch away from him and break it up or saw it up and place in rubbish bin If I see him running around outside with a stick in his mouth I get him to drop it or remove it as it is too dangerous and if the little bugger decides to be a brat and ignore my "leave it or give" command and rush off doing zoomies with a large bloody stick protruding from either side of his mouth , then I will call his name in an excited tone and wave my arms above my head to get his attention and he ALWAYS comes to me all excited when I do this and I then remove the stick/branch from his mouth if he hasn't already dropped it ;) Some days my patio looks like a bomb has struck it with his pile of sticks, branches and bamboo shoots which they all love to chew on. I know from the daily poo patrol and the pile of shredded/chewed up stick remains that my boys do not ingest much if any of the sticks they chew. They seem to get a lot of enjoyment out of their daily stick chewing sessions by the look of contentment on their faces and noises they make in their huddle they form around the sticks the youngsters brings in for them all to share ;) in either my office or family room. These two rooms can be painful to walk thru in barefeet after their chewing sessions, but I would rather have this than worry about whether or not they have ingested large amount of the stick. If I thought or had evidence they were ingesting the sticks rather than chewing it/shredding it, then I would certainly restrict their access to the sticks. Given that your boy is actually eating the sticks, then yes as others have mentioned you will need to work on redirecting him from the sticks with toys/treats. My youngster hardly touches sticks during his daily walk and if he decides to pick one I tell him to leave it which he does. When he is at the dog park sticks or for that matter toys are of no interest to him whatsoever as he is too busy having a great time with the other dogs and when he also has no interest in them when I take him to the river or beach . I think he more than gets his fair share at home, so they are not a temptation for him when we are out All my Labs over the years have loved chewing on sticks, some more than others, despite having bones daily as part of their diet.

There is a lot of dog friendly accommodation around but I think the issue you will encounter is finding available accommodation over the xmas holidays as most of it is booked out well in advance. Best holidays I have ever had have been with my dogs and we have stayed in some fabulous dog friendly accommodation over the years, from farm stays, villas and houses a few minutes walk or drive to dog friendly beaches to dog friendly hotel

Terribly sorry for your loss my heart goes out to you - it must be so heartbreaking to not only have to deal with the loss of your beloved Sam, but also with the fretting by his lifelong buddy Also so sorry about the news of your mum I so dread the day when my oldest Lab boy's (will be 15 in March) time comes as my Lab youngster (14 months old) is deeply bonded to this boy as he buddied up with him the day I brought home as a 10 week old pup last December and he just idolises my oldest who has been so fantastic with him. Hopefully when that time arrives, he will at least have his other great buddy my 12.5 yr old lab boy .

Click on the "Search" option at top right hand corner and type "pet insurance" (include the quotation marks to filter the search) and you will see a myriad of threads regarding pet insurance that discusses pros and cons of the various pet insurance policies on offer and the experiences of dolers with these companies. I actually have a couple of comparison reports/docs on the various pet insurance policies out there so if you want a copy of these, just PM me. My lab youngster is insured with PIA currently.

I have very rarely ventured into this forum after I lost my beautiful boy last year , but I have to say goodbye to this beautiful special boy ;) and pass on my sincere condolences for your great loss ;) . Tobias was so lucky to have spent his remaining time with you, Mike and your beautiful Newfie family and it was probably the happiest time of his life. My heart goes out to you both as I know you must be feeling very devastated at losing your beautiful very special big boy who will always be remembered with much love and happiness and never forgotten I know it must have been heartwrenching to make that terribly difficult decision to let him go, but you did so because you loved him so much and did what is right for him RIP Tobias and know you were well loved and will be very sadly missed - run free with all the other Newfies at

That's exactly right SecretKei - people, think all is OK with the world if there is no immediate adverse reaction (I used to think like this as well), little do we know that there could be a "ticking time bomb". Same goes for the huge amount of toxic dog toys out there. Majority of dog owners would have no idea that the majority of toys their dogs chew on every single day contains toxic substances that are harmful to our dogs and the frightening thing is that there is no regulation to protect our pets from this, unlike human kids I had some interesting and very enlightening conversations with my deceased boy's Oncologist and it is extremely frightening about the ever increasing rate of canine cancers out there and the potential causes and Cancer is the single biggest killer of our dogs. Too many dog owners are just not aware of the dangers lurking out there for our dogs and some will always choose to remain ignorant, others will pooh pooh any warnings out there, even with credible research and findings and others will do some research and get thoroughly confused and just opt for the "safe norm" and others will do the relevant research either based on a bad experience/loss of a dog or just to educate themselves more and then weigh up the pros and cons and do what they think is in the best interest of their dogs, even if it goes againt Vet's advice and the way they may have raised previous dogs. I think people should be much more concerned about the over exposure of our dogs to chemicals and toxins via annual vaccinations, annual heartworm injections, application of monthly flea and tick treatments, wormers and dog toys. I also think there should be much more education and information out there regarding desexing and the pros and cons of early desexing vs waiting until physical maturity.

:D this guy is a joke but unfortunately he is also a real danger to the general dog owning population with his ridiculous and downright shocking advice Advising to PTS a pup because it nipped is so outrageous it beggars belief Makes you wonder how many pups and dogs this idiot has been responsible for being put to sleep because of his outrageous advice Yes definitely deserves the "Wirthless" tag and more

After having a dog die from an extremely aggressive Cancer (Hemangiosarcoma) of the blood cells which can be caused by exposure to toxins I am now extremely careful of any chemicals I expose my new Lab youngster and older Lab boys to. My beautiful boy that I lost to cancer was on the heartworm injection for about half his life and he was given annual vaccinations and he was treated monthly with flea and tick treatments due to a flea allergy. He also had a large range of toys that the majority I know now are "toxic" to dogs and being a Labrador he carried toys around in his mouth constantly. My new lab youngster has had his puppy vaccinations and he will have his 1st annual vac in January and after that will be titre tested and only when absolutely necessary will he ever be vaccinated again. He is on monthly heartworm chewables as there is no way I will ever expose him or any of my other dogs again to the H/W Injection and I know that there is a two week window if I don't give him or the other boys their heartworm chewable precisely monthly. My youngster has never been given flea and tick treatment and luckily we do not have a flea problem in our area and I stopped flea/tick treatments and annual vaccinations on my older boys a couple of years ago. If I ever plan to visit a high risk tick area with any of my boys, then I will treat them prior to the visit. I only buy non toxic toys for my youngster where the manufacturer can verify the toy is non toxic and I have recently binned any of my youngster's soft toys that I cannot verify that they are non toxic and have replaced with verified "non toxic" toys and am currently evaluating some more for chrissy pressies that are also non-toxic including appropriate kids soft toys for him. With regards to the Heartworm Injection, it contains 12months worth of chemical that is being pumped into a dog in one hit and and even though it is slow release, if there are any adverse reactions, then there is no way to rid the body of this chemical once it has been injected. I too opted for the "convenience" of a once a year injection as opposed to remembering monthly chewables, but never again and I actually find it very easy to remember to give my dogs their monthly chewable. I place the heart stickers on the calendar and I know that I have to give them their chewable every month and I don't freak out if I am a few days late or even up to 2 weeks late as there is a two week window and my vet has also mentioned this on more than one occasion. I personally think dog owners need to be much more aware of the potential risks to our dogs for the amount of chemicals that we are exposing our dogs to. Majority of us trust our vets and have great relationships with them, but they can't and don't know everything and I often have robust discussions with my vet on nutrition, vaccination, amount of chemicals our dogs are exposed to and a range of other issues and there are things that we just agree to disagree on. Over the last few years I have done a lot of research and investigation into various canine issues to educate myself better in canine nutrition, vaccination, exposure of canines to chemicals and toxins etc in an effort to provide them wth the best of care and health and and minimise potential risks. I am not going to place my dogs' health 100% into the hands of my vet now matter how much I trust them and how knowledgeable they are, as my dogs are my responsibility and I need to keep educating myself on potential risks to them. Unfortunately owner's ignorance on potential risks to dogs can mean their dog(s) can pay a very high price for this ignorance . I wonder every day if my beautiful boy would still be alive today, if I had known in his early years what I know now and even then I wasn't a novice dog owner, but I wasn't knowledgeable in the areas of chemical/toxins that our dogs are so exposed to on a regular basis. I will never know what actually caused my boy's Cancer , whether it was a certain toxin, or a combination of all the chemicals/toxins he was exposed to during his lifetime even including a poisioning at a beach where I just about lost him, but one thing I do know is that NEVER EVER AGAIN will I through IGNORANCE expose any of my dogs to chemicals on a regular basis or mass chemicals on an annual basis.

Yeah that would be my youngster as well

Have you tried Jointguard? Also there is another product for Arthritis sufferers called Synflex, so check out this recent thread on Synflex which has links to info on this product and the Australian supplier. http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=210915

Hi Labsrule, The 6 monthly cartrophen injections your boys get, is that a booster injection after having the course of 4 injections over a month? Sophie is now 13 and had a course of 4 injections in May, one back leg is letting her down so I think she needs further treatment.I read they like to give boosters at 12 months. I,m hesitant to put her on other medication because of her previous cancer history. She is on a human grade Glucosamine/Condroiton tablet daily crushed up in milk daily. No it is not a booster shot, essentially every six months, they have another course of 4 injections over a 4 week period. Sounds like Sophie may need to be on 6monthly, given that her course of injections was back in May and you are noticing a problem with one of her back legs. If you decide to put her on another course of them then she will need the 4 x 4 and same every six months if that is the frequency you decide on. Is sophie your girl with the Hemangiosarcoma? Yes, Sophie is the one who had Hemangiosarcoma. She turned 13 in Oct, old age is catching up with her but basically for a GSD she is doing pretty good. She is very fussy about what and when she eats these day It looks like a trip to the vet, believe it or not she likes going there. Even though old age may be catching up with her, it is so great to hear that she is still around and you are so lucky to have her despite the fact that she had Hemangiosarcoma, as you know this horrible cancer took my beloved boy Hope she continues to do well and yes I can believe she likes going to the vet as my Labs are the same, they have always loved going to the vets because they see it as a social occasion with lots of pats and attention Hope Sophie continues to well

Of course a dry food manufacturer would use "scare tactics" to ensure their profits keep rising and of course dogs just starved to death before dry food was being manufactured My dogs have always been fed bones and will continue to be fed bones despite the fact that my current youngster has given me a real scare with bones. He is ALWAYS monitored closely when eating bones as I have never had a Lab that eats bones as fast as he does, no matter how large, little bugger is such a guts I can't give him chicken necks or chicken wings as they either get swallowed whole or one chomp and they are gone, so the bigger the better, like Turkey wings, turkey drumsticks, whole chicken frames, large brisket bones, large lamb necks etc. I don't give my current boys any large weight bearing bones, but I used to give my previous boy some of these when he was an only dog. I have some "robust" discussions with my vet on feeding bones because of the injuries they can cause and guess who gave me that "I told you so" look when my youngster was rushed to the after hrs emergency hospital and then admitted on a drip at my vet's the next day, due to him swallowing a large chunk of turkey wing when he was a pup, but luckily he did manage to vomit the entire chunk back up again. Bones were off his menu for a few weeks after that incident. Sure there are risks with bones, but it is a risk I am willing to take and manage and I have never had any of my dogs have any dental problems whatsoever in all the many years I have had dogs and my dogs that I have raised from pups have always received numerous compliments on their beautiful teeth. My dogs have always loved their bones and I know which they would choose if offered the choice between bones and dry food - however being Labs, they would probably choose both . I do actually feed them super premium dry as well though as it comprises 30% (for my youngster) to 50% (for my oldies) of their overal diet.

Hi Labsrule, The 6 monthly cartrophen injections your boys get, is that a booster injection after having the course of 4 injections over a month? Sophie is now 13 and had a course of 4 injections in May, one back leg is letting her down so I think she needs further treatment.I read they like to give boosters at 12 months. I,m hesitant to put her on other medication because of her previous cancer history. She is on a human grade Glucosamine/Condroiton tablet daily crushed up in milk daily. No it is not a booster shot, essentially every six months, they have another course of 4 injections over a 4 week period. Sounds like Sophie may need to be on 6monthly, given that her course of injections was back in May and you are noticing a problem with one of her back legs. If you decide to put her on another course of them then she will need the 4 x 4 and same every six months if that is the frequency you decide on. Is sophie your girl with the Hemangiosarcoma?