labsrule

Many thanks everyone for your replies & whilst I am aware there are some excellent Super Premium brands out there, my main concern is the size of the kibble and the fact that the brand should be a Senior for Large Breeds, which hopefully will be reflected in the size of the kibble. I will do some research on the some of the brands recommended and will try to obtain some sample packs as luckily my Labs (like the majority of Labs, if not all labs ) they are not fussy eaters, food is food as far as they are concerned Sagittarian - many thanks for the details you supplied and yes can you please provide me with the Sydney wholesalers contact details

Like the rest of you I was very upset about no longer being able to get Nutro in OZ. I feed my black labs a combination of dry and fresh and sometimes just dry and my dogs loved the Nutro and did very well on it and I got lots of compliments on their shiny coats out on our walks. I fed them the Senior for Large Breeds and liked the fact that it was a fairly large disc shape compared to the pellet size of most other dry food and being greedy labs that literally vacuum up their food :rolleyes:, I found with the Nutro they would actually chew/crunch it, so that was good. I have now swapped them over to Eagle Pack Holistic for Seniors but am disappointed with the pellet size of this food as my boys once again just vacuum it up. Can anyone tell me if there is another Super Premium dry that is of similar pellet size/shape to the Nutro Senior for Large Breed as I would like to swap over to another brand with larger kibble sizes. My preference is for a Senior for Large Breed type food as that is ideally tailored to suit my black lab boys who are 9, 10 & 12.

My heart goes out to you today OCCY I know you will be feeling very devastated right now - Sandy sounds like a wonderful girl who has not only provided many lovely memories for you but some lovely lesson's in life as a truly devoted and loving companion. RIP Sandy and run free with all the other GSD's :rolleyes:

Very saddened to read of the loss of your magnificent boy who I have admired from afar, he was truly beautiful and such a big boy will always leave such a huge loss The tears will come for some time yet, it is a fitting tribute to a much loved family member who gave so much during his lifetime. I feel your pain during this terrible time. RIP big boy and have fun with all the other big boofas up there I haven't been in this section for awhile either as always upsets me, brings back too many painful memories

How absolutely devasting it must be for you to lose 2 beloved family members in the one day and extremely sad to lose your beautiful youngster, Will, at such a young age - my heart goes out to you RIP Will & Shack and run free

OMG, I can visualise her running back and forwards frothing at the mouth she sounds like the perfect mate for my 9 yearold black lab boy who was a "Satans Span" as a pup/teenager and was a VERY determined & VERY destructive little terror - thank god they never got the chance to meet and mate ;) the mind boggles at the havoc their off spring could have wrought Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth now and he is perfectly behaved, but still full of energy and always ready for a good time and I'm sure he could still be sweet talked into getting up to some mischief with a lovely 9 yearold labrador lass with similar scallywag tendencies My boy has given me many many laughs and so much fun over his 9 years and so many memories and horror stories to regale with his antics and I am sure your adorable girl has done the same - think how boring life would have been without these scallywags.

Are you trying to tell me he is a Black Labrador? what do you mean only 8 months? they start young, so much to do, not enough time to do it in, must start early heard of that saying, "Here for a good time, not a long time" that is a Lab's motto

I've said it before and been flamed for it.. adolescent gundogs can be incredibly destructive.. if bored and under stimulated. Who told you GRs were mellow? They might be when fully mature but he's not the first demon child GR I've heard of. Where did you get him from? They can be demons but they shouldn't be constantly hyper. Do you still train him formally eg. at a dog training club? You may think you're giving him enough stimulation. He appears to be telling you otherwise. Obedience training at this stage is as much, if not more important than as a baby puppy IMO. Sounds like you need better boredom busters. I think you should also consider building a safe secure run. Ultimately, if you are unable to meet his needs and he to fit into your family, you may wish to discuss it with his breeder(?) but you're now at the stage with him that I consider the most trying in puppy raising. In the interim, if you don't want him ruining stuff, you have to keep him from accessing it. Jack is our second Golden. Our last one was very mellow and had a great temperment, always tried to please. I got Jack from a reputable breeder. He's a pedigree from a champion bloodline. I do still train him formally. We are just in between classes at the moment. I feel your pain! I have a 2.5yr old GR bitch called Karma and she's a world class digger! I sectioned off part of the yard, built fences, laid crusherdust and had it compacted down. Two days later she had dug thru the crusherdust and was tunneling underground like some possessed beast. So ordered in road base.. compacted that down.. less than a week later.. she had dug thru this and dug up a water pipe! Thanks for that Karma!!! After almost 24 hrs of No water, plumber has been and fixed said Pipe. So this time i go out and buy rolls of dog wire.. i lay this in dog yard, then cover this with 3 inches of compacted road base. she STILL gets thru the wire! The dog yard looks like a nuclear bomb site! She has dug up (and out) the computerised watering system i had installed shortly before she arrived I think 3 times now. Lawn man loves me Im one of his best cunstomers! Most people only have a watering system installed once! I have actually found her BELOW ground level several times she has dug so deep! I live in fear the ground above will cave in and smother her! At least i now know EXACTLY where my sewerage pipes are! yep she dug them up as well.. it was beyond gross.. the muck was overflowing.. and she was thrilled with her achievement "look what I did today mum!!". I would have the dog yard concreted but its hotter than the fires of hell here in summer and the dogs would blister their feet (I live in Broken Hill), also I don't think concreting over sewerage and water pipes is the best idea. She is walked, played with, has a wading pool and a yardful of toys, is never without the company of other dogs etc.. she jsut loves to dig. Apart from her digging obsession she is no longer destructive. She is just very intelligent and very determined to dig! But I live in hope that one day in the distant future she will outgrow her digging fetish! sorry Indigirl, but this is just so funny and I really needed a good laugh tonight Know your pain guys, I can emphathise with you all as I am an owner of Labradors, and have had my own "Satan's Spawn" as a puppy/teenager whose antics and destruction were legendary . There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel, just takes a few years and lots and lots of patience to get there

My 8 yearold (9 next month) black lab boy has a flea allergy and I have him on Advantix which I administer monthly.

Sarah, I am so sorry for your terrible & tragic loss of your beautiful babies Koko & Demon and I know you must be feeling very devastated. ;) To be told of their fate and not be able to know 100% that it is true, must be awful and cause so much unnecessary anguish. :D RIP Koko & Demon and run free I am sure Sunny will live up to his new name and help you through this rough time and he will have a strong shoulder to cry on when you need it. Lots :rolleyes:

Excellent info Morgan - you are a wealth of extremely helpful info I also don't subscribe to the "sun is bad for you" scaremongering and it really concerns me that we will have a generation of kids/animals who are Vitamin D deficient. I have been on my daughter's case numerous times about exposing my grand-daughter to more sunlight and after bombarding her with articles to prove that mum "hasn't lost the plot" she is finally listening. As they say everything in moderation Storm, goodluck with your little one's operation and speedy recovery

Good to hear you have had a relatively quiet weekend and making some progress in taking action to limit his access in the house My labs have always loved it when I get out in the garden and do some weeding as they just love to help with that task When my current 8 yearold black lab boy was a pup/adolescent, he was an absolute terror and outrageously destructive and we had to "batten down the hatches" so to speak. He was a big shock after his two predecessors, who were very good pups who did the normal puppy chewing but nothing outrageous or over the top. Then along came Fitzy who wreaked enough havoc for the 3 of them :D Had to close every door in the house, when he was inside: toilet as he just loved helping himself to the toilet rolls, full ones that is - think of the rolly polly ad/cute lab puppy ad where they drag the toilet paper around the house :D and then he proceeded to shred into a million pieces - the laundry - just helped himself to clothes in the laundry basket, particularly undies & socks all of which he would then eat and I would find the remains when doing the poo patrol the next day - bedrooms - would help himself to anything that he could fit in his mouth, reading glasses, remote controls, mobile phones, stuffed toys etc and my daughter made the mistake of not only leaving her bedroom door open one day, but also her underwear drawer and boy did he have fun having access to all those g'strings and lacy knickers - she found him lying amongst the remnants in her room and I don't think she has ever forgiven him since ;)

Sounds very much like a "normal" growing labrador pup to me They can be real ratbags and are experts at pushing the boundaries as they have both the brain and brawn to get up to some real mischief . If you can survive the first two years of a lab pup's life, it will prepare you for anything that life throws at you in the future . Lab pups definitely deserve their "real handful" title and a lot of "patience, persistence and perserverence" is required. Their intelligence, energy, enthusiasm, wonderful natures, outgoing personalities and absolute joy of life, make for some pretty challenging times during their puppyhood and adolescent stages, which at times seem to go on for an eternity Labradors are truly lovable larrikins and whilst their puppyhood/adolescence can cause much angst with their over the top antics they will also bring you so much joy, so much laughter and so many wonderful times. When they finally do mature in 3-5 years (or longer ) (my 8 yearold boy still thinks and acts like a youngster ), you will look at your well behaved, "butter wouldn't melt in his mouth" adult dog and think is this the same dog that got up to so much mischief as a pup/adolescent? and you will have a laugh at reading the posts and hearing the stories of new lab puppy owners regaling the stories that you, did when your lab was a pup. Check out this thread for some suggestions on coping with a growing Lab pup. Trials and Tribulations of a growing Labrador Pup

Just to let you know that drinking copious amounts of water may not necessarily be due to a medical condition. About 18mths ago, I adopted, Thomas, a devine 9 year old black lab who is an ex police sniffer dog (explosives) and he was consuming large amounts of water, practically drinking a large metal bucket (and more if I wasn't home to stop him) a day. I was very concerned and took him to my vet who did all the tests for kidney, diabetes etc and they all returned negative results. My vet then referred me to a "specialist" who conducted another series of additional tests and once again all negative results. Given they had ruled out any medical condition, which was my initial concern, the specialist vet advised it was probably psychological, and they had seen this type of behaviour in working dogs before. To this day, he continues to drink copious amounts and when I am home, I do limit his access to water, but when I am working during the day, he gorges himself and between him drinking copious amounts and my other lab boy using the bucket to dunk himself in, despite the fact he has a clam pool full of water, (he still loves to empty the bucket when he gets hot) they quite often end up with an empty bucket, luckily they then have the clam pool to drink from . As quickly as Thomas is drinking the water, he is getting rid of it and he amazes me at his "extra long" pees and his ability to balance himself on 3 legs for what seems an eternity, whilst he rids himself of the copious amounts of water that he drinks

I also have my two black lab boys on Joint Guard - started them just over a week ago after switching over from Sashas Blend. I found the following info online when I was researching this product a few weeks back and it covers the issue of how Glucosamine and Chondroitin work and info on glucosamine hydrochloride vs sulfate: We have just launched a new joint product that contains glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate as well as other important co-factors, and is the only dog joint health product that also contains MSM. The product is called Joint Guard for Dogs and has been specially formulated for dogs, so the ratio of glucosamine to chondroitin sulfate is ideal, whereas the human products have been formulated for humans who require a different ratio.We also studied whether glucosamine hydrochloride or sulfate is better for dogs and the hydrochloride form is much better absorbed, this may be different in humans but in dogs hydrochloride is the way to go. It is also important for maximum effect to have almost equal amounts of glucosamine to chondroitin in dogs. Chondroitin is a very expensive ingredient so you will find the cheaper products to have much less, Joint Guard for Dogs has 1000mg glucosamine and 800mg Chondroitin sulfate per scoop (it is in a powder form).Be wary of any of the marine-based products, they do not contain purified glucosamine or chondroitin sulfate, in fact they contain very little at all, just read the label, and because they have not been purified they are in fact extremely large molecules that are difficult for your dog's body to absorb. A study was done on this and showed only 0-8% of the GAGs found in green lipped mussel were actually absorbed! Chondrotin facilitates the entry of glucosamine into the joint, whilst glucosamine helps rebuild cartilage & synovial fluid within the joint and reduces the inflammation in the joints, reducing swelling and pain. Glucosamine hydrochloride – a key nutrient that acts as the building block of cartilage to help reconstruct the damaged joints as well as keeping the remaining cartilage cells healthy and functioning properly. The glucosamine found in Joint Guard is guaranteed to be 99% pure, so you can be assured your dog is getting the best possible source. Chondroitin sulfate – is a major component of normal cartilage and also blocks the enzymes that break down cartilage. This is a unique easy-to-absorb form of chondroitin sulfate so your dog gets the maximum protection against cartilage destruction. Joint Guard also contains other ingredients such as MSM and vitamins and minerals which act as antioxidants to maintain healthy bone and cartilage.

Growing lab puppies can be a pretty big shock to a Lab novice They can be notoriously naughty and destructive at the best of times and are definitely not the type of dogs that can be left on their own in the backyard for hours on end getting up to all sorts of mischief They are highly intelligent and high energy dogs and need constant stimulation and exercise. They are also extremely social dogs who bond very closely with their humans and just love to be included as part of the family and being with their humans. Obedience training is DEFINITELY required for a lab puppy and their owner's sanity I have had many trials and tribulations with my black lab babies over many years ranging from mildly naughty and destructive to outrageously naughty and destructive My 7 year old black boy, fell into the "outrageously naughty and destructive" category when he was a growing pup and was a total scallywag, despite training and lots of attention. Labs are also slow maturer's, and can think and act like like pups anywhere up to 5 years old and some :D. This is what makes them so special I am postive my 7 yearold still thinks he is a pup Your brother's baby is gorgeous and I love the photo of her on the table . There is something about Labs and tables He will definitely need to put in the extra work required for raising a lab puppy, but it will be beneficial all round. He will have a lot of fun with her over the years and she will bring him lots and lots of joy and yes she will settle down over time

My heart goes out to you for your devastating loss of your darling Kal - she was obviously a much loved dear girl. My thoughts are with you during this very distressing time. RIP Kal and run free

Jacq, I am truly sorry for the loss of your beloved Shelby . The years spent with you were probably the happiest of her life and her gratitude was waiting for you to return on that fateful day. Lots of ;) to you and Sean. RIP Shelby I must have missed this thread earlier, but was probably due to not checking this area as regularly as I used to as just so sad

Thanks Blacklabrador - his name is Thomas and he is an absolute darling and I love him dearly. He is a very smoochy boy, very gentle and just loves his new life of being an inside pampered house dog and I have been relegated to the other couch as both my boys now share the big couch and they both sleep on my bed with me squashed in the middle . He is an American Lab, born and trained over there and brought over by the Aus Police for the Sydney Olympics. Being an American Lab he is a sleeker slimmer model with a narrower deeper chest, smaller head/muzzle and paws than my boy Fitzy who is an English Lab with a stocky solid build, big boof head, wider muzzle, broader chest and large paws. It's very funny, but their personalities match their size, with Fitzy being a very outgoing, fun loving, boisterous, excitable type, whilst Thomas is a gentle, quieter, more reserved type, but he does get excited when it is feeding time

Thanks feralpup for this info - I will checkout the link :rolleyes:

I have tried the full barf a couple of times, but I stuff it up by "overfeeding" him and he ends up putting on weight as I haven't been able to master the art of feeding him the correct quantities of BARF. The last time I attempted this was a few weeks before I started this thread on 26/4 and once again he put on weight. I then switched him over to 50/50 dry/BARF and after a few weeks of no change to his weight, I put him on another "diet" which he has been on for 2 weeks. I essentially halved both his dry and BARF meals. One of the good things that has happened since he has been on his diet is the decrease in the number of his daily poos. He is due for his first weigh in tomorrow, so here's hoping, he has a total of 3kg to lose!!! I have decided to stick to the 50/50 dry/BARF which I seem to be more successful in administering and hopefully am getting better with keeping the BARF component under control. I have also been doing a fair amount of research into the super premium dry foods and will try to obtain some samples of a couple I have shortlisted with the aim to change him over to one of these. Apart from the superior ingredient quality, the fibre content of these super premiums is also significantly lower. I also adopted a 10 year old Black Lab male a couple of weeks ago who is on a low fat special diet due to suffering a near fatal bout of bloat about 14mths ago resulting in a gastroplexy (tacking the stomach atainst the abdominal wall). He was a police sniffer dog (explosives) and was retired from the Police Form after his bloat attack. Despite his age, he is in extremely good condition, very agile, no weight problem, but a typical food obsessed gutsy Lab :rolleyes: and I now have 4 greedy brown eyes watching my every move when around food So I now have two Black Labs that have to be on low fat diets for differing reasons, so I am having to be a hell of a lot more vigilant now on food/portion controls and nutrition in general, hence all my research.

I know how hard the first anniversary must be for you and the pain you will be feeling as the memories come flooding back of that terrible day How lucky you were to have 16 wonderful years with your adorable Maya, what a handsome boy he was. You will treasure the memories of your life with him and he will be forever in your heart. I am sure he is off frolicking and having a great time with all the other Labs at the and probably getting up to some mischief as only Labs can Hopefully he will meet my Black Lab baby, Cassie :p

My Lab boy has a flea allergy and I used to use Frontline, but found over time it was becoming ineffective. My vet recommended Advantix and we switched over to this about 7months ago and haven't had a problem since. My vet also advised that he was having an increasing number of patients complaining about the ineffectiveness of Frontline, but also tempered that with comments about fleas being on the increase and becoming more of problem. I have friends who swear by Frontline and have no problems, so I guess like all things it works for some and not others. Use what works for your dogs.

So terribly saddened to read of the passing of your darling Cassie. :D My heart goes out to you as I know how devastated and profoundly sad you must be feeling right now in grieving for your beautiful girl - probably feels like your heart has been ripped out and you will be struggling to cope. You were both so lucky to find one another and she had a wonderful long life with you despite some tremendous odds. What a wonderfully brave and courageous girl she was. RIP Cassie and run free at the and hopefully you will get to meet my Cassie, my darling black Lab girl who is also at the bridge. PM - if you do need to talk to someone who understands how you feel, please feel free to send me a PM (personal message) with your contact details as I know how difficult it is to handle the loss of such a beloved and treasured best friend. Take care - Denise

Thanks everyone for your input and info on my query in this thread about the annual heartworm injection (Proheart SR 12 ) being a "safe" option. I thought SR12 was a safe option as it was recommended to me by my vet and I did ask him at the time if there could be any adverse reaction to it and how it worked as I was concerned about it being able to provide 12months protection. I am paranoid about heartworm as one of my friends lost their dog to heartworm a few years back thru not treating their dog consistently for heartworm. My vet advised me that he was not aware of any problems with SR12, so I went ahead with it, after all you should be able to trust your vet's advice and most of us do Prior to starting my dog on this, he and my previous dogs were on daily heartworm tablets as I found it easier to remember the daily as opposed to monthly when it was introduced. Anyway after doing some research last night after Nadia's response included the correct name Proheart S12, methinks I will no longer continue with this annual treatment and revert back to daily's in October when the 12months expire. At least during our two year stint in NZ (returned to OZ in Oct 05), my boy did get to have a reprieve from any heartworm treatment as there is no heartworm in NZ I am also going to take this issue up with my Vet when next I visit armed with printouts of the info I have found on the internet and no, he won't be able to persuade me to reconsider DOL contains such a wealth of information and I am learning so much from the numerous postings.