labsrule

Pearl is just building her fan base for the finale Hope all goes well for mum during the whelping and we look foward to seeing some photos of her gorgeous lab babies

So sorry you are having to consider making this fateful decision If you have a really good relationship with your own vet, why don't you have a chat with him/her to see if they will come around to your home to PTS your boy when the time comes If not then give the mobile vet a call to have a chat with them to suss out whether or not you get a good feeling with them and being a mobile Vet, PTS pets would probably be a pretty big part of their business, so one would hope they would be a compassionate and caring vet. For my beloved boy I had to PTS last year, I didn't actually use my normal vet as I was pissed with them, after using them for over 20 years they never once called me to check on how my boy was going with his Cancer, so I asked the Holistic Vet who was treating him with natural therapies whilst he was undergoing chemo to come to my place when it was his time to PTS. She was truly wonderful and a very caring and supportive vet who used to ring me between appointments to check how he was going and give me advice and support and was absolutely marvelleous on that dreadful day and treated my boy with so much respect, kindness and dignity and I will never ever forget that. With regards to letting my other two dogs sniff Fitzy afterwards, I had intended to do that, but was just so completely devastated and overwhelmed with grief , I couldn't and I just shut myself in my bedroom with my beloved boy and cried my eyes out for hours I know they came to my bedroom door a few times sniffing around, but I really couldn't deal with letting them in and when it came time for my boy to be picked up, I still couldn't cope with allowing them to sniff him, so I actually put them outside when they arrived to pick him up . My two boys were actually a great source of comfort for me once Fitzy had left our house and they were just so wonderful, calm and quiet in lying there and letting me cuddle them and cry on them. They did go into my room a few times and sniff around, and I believed that they knew he was gone.

RIP Miko and run free MissyPriss take time to grieve your beloved boy and my heart goes out to you during this devastating time.

That is exactly right. Get the pet insurance straight away. No vet inspection needed. If something arises within the 4 week waiting period (ie documented by a vet) then it is classed as 'pre existing'. Anything after the 4 weeks is usually fine. The first time you put a claim in the insurance company will request a full vet history to check for any 'pre existing' conditions. With the excess, even if the bill is for $250 and the excess is $250 it is still worth lodging in case it is an ongoing condition as you only pay the excess once per condition, not per vet visit. Eg my dog has unfortunately just been diagnosed with bilateral luxating patellas, the first visit was only $112. My excess is $100, so i will only get back $12 from my first visit, but all other future vet expenses (expected to be in excess of $5000) will be 100% covered. That is a good point and I will edit my response above accordingly The key is to insure your pup asap, some breeders take out coverage for their pups before they are sold and the new owner is then given the option to continue the insurance cover

It simply means that for the first claim of a condition, the excess will be deducted, e.g. you have a $100 excess and you lodge a claim for say $250, and the claim is approved, then you will receive $150 payout. If you lodge any further claims on the same condition and your claims are approved, then you no excess will be deducted on subsequent claims and you will receive full payment on your claim(s). If your excess was $250.00, then no payment is made for the first claim on that condition, but if you need to lodge another claim on the same condition, then if the claim is approved, you will receive full payment of the entire claim, i.e. no excess deducted as it was deducted against the first claim. The larger the excess, the cheaper the policy is.

It is the worst thing I have ever had to face and whilst I had lost two beloved labs before my boy, Fitzy, who I had to PTS in September last year. He is the first of my own dogs that I have had to PTS and it is absolutely gut wrenching and so awful to have to do, but we do so for them as they must come first. I had a very emotional last night with my boy and I tried to remain strong on the day to avoid upsetting him as he was so in tune with my feelings. I took him for an extra long car ride, the morning of that fateful day as he loved his car rides and because of the cancer spreading to his lungs he was unable to go for a walk. I found the car ride pretty therapeutic as I had to concentrate on driving, but was able to take my boy out to his favourite swimming spot, his favourite park and then for a nice long ride along the motor way to give him as much precious time as I could doing for one of his favourite past-times, riding in the car. I got home about an hour befor the vet was due and I could hear the minutes ticking away, it was so awful. Nothing any of us say will make it any easier for you, but I do strongly recommend you do something with your boy that he really loves, so that you can see them enjoy one of their favourite activities, one last time . If he is feeling poorly and not up to any activities, then just be with him and cuddle him or pat him for his remaining time and tell him how much you love him and how much he means to you. My heart goes out to you and your boy and so sorry you have to go thru it and you will both be in my thoughts

I believe the only things you can cut up are tables that are marked with half/quarter lines. Anything else should not be cut up. I use monthly heartworm chews and 3monthly worming tablets for my boys and whilst I used to use Advantix on a regular monthly basis as a flea/tick prevention, for the last couple of years, I have rarely used it as I live in an area where fleas and ticks are not an issue and I also want to keep the chemicals I am using on my boys to a minimum and I haven't had any flea problems during that time.

Depends on the dog and you really won't know until you try it. In December last year, I introduced a 10 weekold lab male pup into my home with my two senior lab boys, a 13 yearold and an 11 yearold. The pup buddied up instantly with the 13 yearold and and the pup idolised my oldest boy from that first day and my oldest boy who recently turned 14 has been fantastic with pup and extremely tolerant of him. My 11 year old wasn't too keen on pup and had a go at him a couple of times and was not tolerant of puppy behaviour, but puppy was smart enough to know that and didn't annoy this boy too much. My pup is also a very confident puppy and anytime my 11 yearold growled him or had a go at him, he kept a respectful distance for awhile, but then always went up to him and either laid down right next to him or groomed him or just followed him around or played with him, so it was a good to see that whilst he was respectful of this boy, he wasn't scared of him. All my dogs just love chewing on sticks/tree branches and these are in plenty of supply as I have trees and bushes on my property and pup who is the most obsessed of all of them, would drag in sticks inside to my 11 yearold as peace offerings and the two of them would chew on them side by side, very cute to watch Over the last few months, the relationship between my pup, who is now 7months old and my 11 yearold has changed a lot and they are now great friends and play a lot together every day and pup knows my 11 yearold is boss. Pup still idolises the 14 yearold and follows him around like a love sick puppy , and grooms him and cuddles up to him, but he plays constantly with the 11 year old so he has the best of both worlds with my older boys .

Funnily enough I was sweeping outside the other day and of course my pup got all excited when I got the broom, but once I put the broom on the patio, I told him sternly NO and SIT which he did and I started sweeping, and he went to stand and I pointed at him and said SIT again and he did and I was able to continue sweeping uninterrupted. However, it was only a small area I was sweeping and I know darn well that if I was going to sweep the entire patio, the temptation would be too great for him or he would be tempted to do the zoomies in and around the patio Then there is of course the temptation of the dustpan and brush, letalone the cylindrical outside rubbish container . Just a lot easier to put him inside or outside whenever I am going to sweep and I can then sweep in peace and leave dustpan and brush and rubbish container anywhere I choose and then put all away when finished before I let him outside again :cool: .

As she has never been boarded before, I would recommend that they give her a trial run in the kennels over a weekend or two before they go away to get her used to it. How long are they going away for?

Always loved black dogs from when I was a young kid many moons ago , so when I fell in love with the Labrador Retriever many years ago, of course black was the only way to go Also the Black Labrador is the original colour BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL I do actually love Labradors of all colours as they are all the same dog underneath the wrapping , but I personally prefer to own Black Labradors and I have 3 of them.

Yeah but us crazy dog people aren't credible, don't you know that It must be proven by credible studies by credible academics

No, Labrador Retrievers don't come trained like a guide dog - you do actually have to train them They all aren't the boisterious, over the top, knockdown young kids/not suitable for young families, destructive, mouthy, chewing machines that so many dolers make them out to be, particularly in the "what is a suitable breed for me" type threads

I actually asked you if you had ever had to PTS any of your own pets. After I had posted that question, I actually re-read the whole thread again and found your post below" I don't really think you can fully understand the depth of feeling and emotion involved in having to make the decision to PTS your own dog, particularly if you have raised it from a puppy and then being there with them and watching them die. It is very different from losing a pet any other way and I know this personally, as one of my dogs died in their sleep and the other was tragically killed, so I didn't have to make that fateful decision for them or watch them die I didn't say that you weren't allowed a different opinion to mine - I said that a new thread should have been started on the sedate vs non sedate debate and this thread should not have been hijacked for that purpose.

Well of course you would, you started the whole sedation vs non sedation debate. Let me ask you have you ever had to PTS any of your own dogs/pets?

I cannot believe how insensitive this thread has become. I am incensed about this as this thread was based on answering the following questions: how many of you have had to euthanise your pet? And who of you stayed through the entire process? NOT A DEBATE ABOUT SEDATING VS NON SEDATING and upsetting people who chose to post about their experience at having to PTS their beloved pets and reliving the heartache and heartbreak they went thru at the time and now maybe making them question if the sedation option was the right one and maybe worried that their beloved pet may have suffered unnecessarily . Don't give me the "people should know what is available and what their options are excuse". A new thread should have been started on that subject so this one is confined to people being able to share their experience by answering the OP questions and thus keeping this thread on topic and treating the subject of euthanising people's pets with the respect it deserves. Having to PTS my beloved boy was the worst day of my life and no doubt many others feel the same way, and people should be sensitive enough to realise how devastating it is to have to make this decision and how difficult it has been for posters to share their stories, without the actions of their vets being called into question over the sedation issue in this thread. I am removing my post on my story from this thread in protest!

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/brea...i-1225858883268

I forgot to say it was later with day light savings but the time of going to bed was about dusk which she was very happy with as she did not bark or anything.She sleeps in a fully enclosed pergola with a doggy door for the toilet There must be a reason for a sudden change Even accounting for daylight saving that is very early for a young labrador to be going to bed and being expected to sleep through the night . I wouldn't even expect my older boys who do a lot of sleeping to go to bed that early and sleep through the night. Why not give her dinner and keep her inside with you with access to the toilet when required until you are ready to go to bed, then put her to bed. That way there is more possiblity of her sleeping through the night. Most dogs will chill out after a meal and doze off for a while, but I think it is pretty unreasonable to expect such a young lab to sleep from say 6-7pm thru to morning say 6am or so which is 12 hrs, that is a long time

Me too - 2 of my 3 labs are very quick eaters at the best of times and if I feed them altogether they redouble their efforts with my pup being the fastest and greediest of them all I like them to be able to eat in peace on their own and hopefully at a slower pace. I can and have at times fed them all together, but the need for speed by 2 of them takes over :D , so I only ever do it very occasionally. I can give them treats together and they will happily sit side by side "eargerly" waiting their turn . Bones are ALWAYS fed separately to the 2 that are allowed bones (oldest boy isn't allowed bones due to gastropexy from bloat before I adopted him) so they get to enjoy them and hopefully take their time, although in the case of pup I think he only knows one speed when it comes to eating and seems intent on breaking any record out there for being the fastest dog to eat his food, including bones - he's a shocker and has already had a trip to the emergency animal hospital due to his greediness with a bone and I have to keep a very close eye on him when I do give him bones.

my post removed in protest at the direction of this thread

I reckon a Standard is better suited to fit in with your other boofas

I will take 30 tickets and as those socks will be far too much temptation for my lab pup to eat rather than wear and my older boys won't speak to me again if I made them wear them , I will donate the socks to charleswentworth if I win

I don't get why so many of you are watching this video as the title clearly states what the video is about ;) Why would you want to watch something as distressing and heartbreaking as pets being euthanised :D . Its abhorrent and I fail to understand why this video was posted on a dog loving forum