labsrule

I really don't care where you are from Steve, I resent elitist snobby statements that judge people on their postcode like Shazzapug does and has their head in the sand by making statements that people from wealthy suburbs don't dump their dogs. :D

Yeah lol they wouldnt get a Pug from me....I can and will be fussy where my puppies go, whats wrong with that....yuppies that drive fancy cars and live in Brighton....they arent about to DUMP their Pugglet. What an elitist snobbish attitude to dare judge someone by the postcode they happen to live in ;) . My suburb is under Blacktown Council and my postcode is 2147 and I bet I provide a better home and environment for my pampered pooches and am a much more responsible owner than your yuppie snobs in Brighton . Blacktown is the largest growing area in Sydney and there are a lot of young families here and I think it is absolutely terrible that they would not get a look in at a pup from Breeders like yourselves that are so judgemental with elitist snobby attitudes :D I dont sell my puppies to families with only small children....they drop pug puppies....and I dont sell puppies to families that already have a large dog. I can list all the reasons and give examples if you like and I can also get all the figures and facts of Pugs that end up in rescue. Call me a snob, I dont sell to the masses and I dont have to.....as I have said before I dont have that many litters....let the Pug breeders that have litters on the ground all the time sell to the masses. I am sure the masses wouldn't want one of your pups if it means dealing with such a snobby breeder who judges people by their postcode. As for your statement that people that live in wealthier suburbs aren't about to dump their dogs, that is absolute bullshit

Yeah lol they wouldnt get a Pug from me....I can and will be fussy where my puppies go, whats wrong with that....yuppies that drive fancy cars and live in Brighton....they arent about to DUMP their Pugglet. What an elitist snobbish attitude to dare judge someone by the postcode they happen to live in ;) . My suburb is under Blacktown Council and my postcode is 2147 and I bet I provide a better home and environment for my pampered pooches and am a much more responsible owner than your yuppie snobs in Brighton . Blacktown is the largest growing area in Sydney and there are a lot of young families here and I think it is absolutely terrible that they would not get a look in at a pup from Breeders like yourselves that are so judgemental with elitist snobby attitudes :D

..

I agree, I think we could do without some of the defensive posts. However, in 75% of complaints like this there was nothing wrong, except the buyer got bit panicky, and experienced forum members know that. Most of these problems are lack of communication. Enjoy your new pup!! Dogues are great. Jed you make some valid points and once again the voice of reason Lack of communication seems to the theme in a number of these type complaints. I don't normally get involved in these type of threads as I am very pro breeder, but sometimes I look at these threads and think why the hell can't the breeder respond to an anxious puppy buyer to alleviate their concerns. Sure missing one phone call or sms or email, we can understand but when there is no response whatsoever in the weeks following the puppy going to its new home causes more anxiety for an already stressed new puppy buyer. Having got my new lab pup in Dec last year after not having a pup for 10 years, I can fully understand the anxiety that a new puppy buyer must feel and it is exacerbated if they feel like they have been abandoned by their breeder who may have been wonderful up until the puppy went home. In my case this was my 4th lab pup I have raised so I had a fair bit of experience to draw on, but my little fella gave me some anxious moments so I can fully understand how new puppy buyers must feel if for whatever reason they need to contact their breeder and get no response from their breeder, despite multiple phone calls, emails etc. I understand that breeder's need a life and cannot be expected to respond immediately to every form of communication, except in the cases where the new puppy is in trouble. I still have trouble though understanding why a breeder would go on holiday so soon after puppies went to their new homes, when it is the most likely time that the new puppy buyers would need their support. The least they could do is let their puppy buyers know this and provide contact details, particularly for any emergencies that may arise with any of the puppies. But yeah you are definitely right about the difference between a "good breeder and a top one" - their experience is invaluable.

Maybe :D

And how does the regular puppy buyer know to do this?? None of my friends even know of 'registered' or 'papers' 'limited' or 'main register'. It's not common knowledge so for a Joe Blow puppy buyer to go the extra length to sus out the background of the breeder is not the norm either. I agree with Clyde. Maybe, as part of the "purchase from ethical registered breeders rather from pet [etc] shop campaign" (so to speak) there could be an educational piece prepared on "What to look for in a puppy Breeder", and then advertise it - joint advertisement financed by contributions made by all registered breeders??? One of those items might be "Sight the Breeder's Current [xxx] Certificate" (insert name of certificate/paper/card which verifies breeder's prefix currency and registration with relevant State Body. ??? Just a thought, although probably wrong thread. although even doing that, is not going to guarantee such can or cannot, happen, days or weeks later.. Can be financial when the puppies are being inspected, but they arent ready yet,, weeks go and..... forget the renewal and bingo expired... simple as that. thats what worries me, something as simple as overdue and unethical with all its implications is so quickly up on the board. those who do not see that guilty until proven innocent is so against every persons human rights is anything but what our so called justice system is supposed to work on. why does being a dog breeder or owner strip you of something that is or was supposed to be EVERYONE in australia's right? :D Why would a breeder who just bred a litter forget the renewal knowing full well the puppies have to be registered. Why is it that as soon as the OP posts this thread on DOL, the breeder makes contact with the OP, after weeks of ignoring emails, sms and phone calls. I would think that a breeder would be around for the first few weeks after the puppies have gone to their new homes as that this is normally the most crucial time when new puppy buyers would most need their support. Sorry but I just don't buy the excuses given in this instance and if the OP hadn't raised this thread on DOL, which they are quite entitled to, then who knows if they would have had this issue resolved. I have the utmost respect for ethical and reputable registered breeders who do the right thing, but you have to accept that some breeders unfortunately do not do the right thing by their puppy buyers. It is not a perfect world out there as we all know with some breeders not doing the right thing by their puppy buyers and some puppy buyers not doing the right thing either with their new puppy and/or not fulfilling their promises and agreement with the breeder.

Yes I think it is possible if the dog is uninjured and there have been stories of dogs travelling great distances to get back home. When I moved back to NZ close to 6 years ago, I took my black lab boy (Fitzy) who I had at the time with me and we initially stayed in the family home where my sister and her dog lived. I then brought a house not too far away from the family home and I used to walk my boy around to it quite often, before we finally moved in when my belongings arrived from OZ and once moved in Fitzy and I would walk around to see my sister quite often. I was at work one day and my sister rang me and I could almost hear her heart beating as she told she had been to the supermarket and came home and here was my dog Fitzy lying in the driveway at the gate waiting to be let in and her dog was sitting calmly on the other side of the gate keeping Fitzy company as they could see each other through the iron gate. My boy had found a way out of my property and went looking for me To get to my sister's place he had to travel along a foothpath of a very busy main road which was undergoing major roadworks, but he obviously navigated successfully without incident and I was so shocked as it was so unlike him to leave my property. I thought the property was secure as I am paranoid about fencing, but he found a way out, so from that day on, I would take him around to my sister's place to spend the day there whilst I was at work so he had her and her dog as company as the thought of him doing that again gave me nightmares. He was most happy with the new arrangement

I agree - if a dog swallows chunks of bones and is then vomitting and cannot vomit them back up again, a trip to the vet is a must. My youngest boy gave me a real scare doing this a few months ago as he was such a little guts he would try to swallow large chunks of bone with minimal chewing and one evening he swallowed a large chunk of a turkey wing and was very distressed trying to vomit it back up again. I contacted the emergency after hrs animal hospital and was just getting organised to take him in when he vomitted the bone back up again but I took him to the emergency clinic anyway to get checked out as he still seemed distressed and they gave him an injection and I took him home. I then had to take him to my vet next morning where he was hospitalised for the day on a drip.

I was thinking that too Jules.. bit of an overreaction for two days of no contact if that's all it was.. if I was the breeder I'd be unimpressed to see this thread here after such a short time. My thoughts too. Not only is it all over DOL but I wonder how many other people have heard all about this breeder that 'refused' to answer calls, texts and emails. Maybe she got a response because the Breeder is a DOLER I don't think her expectation for response to her enquiries was unreasonable at all. The breeder didn't deliver what was promised and when she investigated with Dogs NSW she found out the breeder was not a financial member. What was she to think? Why couldn't the breeder have responded to her enquiries and let her know what was going on.

And how does the regular puppy buyer know to do this?? None of my friends even know of 'registered' or 'papers' 'limited' or 'main register'. It's not common knowledge so for a Joe Blow puppy buyer to go the extra length to sus out the background of the breeder is not the norm either. Yeah I agree and they think they are doing the right thing by buying a puppy from a "Registered" Breeder and whilst in this case the puppy buyer did know about the registration papers because they were expecting puppy to be on Main Register, they have been let down and lied to by the "breeder" and may have paid more for their puppy because it was to be on the Main Register . Unfortunately these shonky breeders play on puppy buyer's ignorance and naievty and undo the good that the reputable registered breeders do as you mainly only hear about the cases where the puppy buyer has been ripped off Look at how many threads there have been of new puppy buyers being duped/ripped off by shonky breeders, puppyfarmers or petshops because of their ignorance/naievty. Being on DOL for a few years has made me a lot wiser about the practices of these shonky breeders so that when the time came for me to get a new lab pup, I picked the most renowned and highly regarded lab breeder in the country who fortunately for me doesn't live too far from me and he and his breeding partner that bred my boy have been absolutely fantastic and extremely supportive and there was no question or issue regarding timely receipt of registration papers and any information that I have requested. The quality of suport I have received and the quality of the puppy I purchased from them when he was 10 weeks old has been fantastic as he has been an absolutely awesome puppy with a to die for temperament, brilliant bite inhibition and of course a beautiful specimen of a Labrador - in my eyes of course he is perfect

I am so very sorry for the sudden and terrible loss of your beloved Sophie my heart goes out to you RIP Sophie, free from any more pain :D It sounds like it was Splenic Haemangiosarcoma and unfortunately Goldies are at the top of the list of breeds that this very aggressive cancer is most common with and German Shepherds, Boxers and Labradors are up there too unfortunately . I lost my beloved 10year old black lab boy last year to this awful cancer He went for an ultra sound at the Vet Specialists after blood tests done by my vet showed he was anaemic and a large mass was found on his spleen which the specialist said could be hemangiosarcoma. I was given the surgery option to remove the spleen and mass as there was a risk the mass could bleed out and he could die a terrible death without the surgery or I could PTS. I chose the surgery to be done by the specialist surgeon to give him the best chance and I was told very clearly that there was a risk he could bleed out in surgery or the mass could be so widespread that it would be kinder to PTS. It was all so sudden and i was reeling from the news and they wanted to book the operation for later that day, but I was so devastated at losing my beloved boy, I told them to book the operation for the next day and that my boy was coming home with me for the night as just in case this was his last night, I wanted him to spend it with me in his home. This gave me an opportunity to say my goodbyes and I spent the night cuddled up to him crying my heart out and it was an extremely emotional night. However, the next morning I felt at peace as I had this beautiful night with him and it helped me cope with the stress of his surgery. He survived the surgery and the mass hadn't spread to any other organs and even though it was major surgery and he spent 4 days in intensive care at the specialist centre, he recovered extremely quickly once he got home and the specialist surgeon was wrapped that he recovered so quickly and so well and said he would use my boy as a perfect recovery example. When the pathology results came back a few days later diagnosing it was hemangiosarcoma, I was absolutely shattered and I did opt for chemotherapy, even though with chemo he was only given 4-6months survival time but only 60days if he didn't have the chemo and I couldn't put him thru the surgery and have him recover so well and do nothing more for him, so I proceeded with chemo on the proviso that I would stop if it knocked him around. The chemo did knock him around after the 3rd treatment, so he one more treatment after that and then I stopped it as it was all about quality of life, not quantity and I had to put him to sleep when the cancer spread to his lungs close to 5months after he was diagnosed with this cancer Take the time to grieve for your beautiful girl as I know how much you must be hurting right now in losing her so unexpectedly, but take some comfort that she is no longer suffering

I think it must be a pre-requisite to be a "dickhead" if you want to be the Director of the PIAA. We have the current PIAA dickhead stating on national television tonight "I would like to see that people can only buy dogs from pet shops and particularly from PIAA stores." and back on 30/3/10 during the 7.30 Report Expose On Dd Puppy Farms we had the previous PIAA dickhead not only supporting puppyfarmers but he also said that "no dogs purchased from petshops end up in shelters" . WTF is it with the idiotic organisation

It's fairly big... size of a normal backyard pool. Here are some photos... Zoomies around the pool And the little fenced area around the pool Thank you :D - will probably organise a visit next week if the warm weather keep us as I can go during the week and avoid the crowds I am sure my water baby will have a ball

Will be interested to hear how things go for you and your Lab and how big this pool is as I would be interested in taking my 13mth old boy sometime as well. I take him to the river and beaches, but would be nice to take him to a pool and I have done searches previously looking for swimming pools for dogs in Sydney but have never found any. Hope you both enjoy yourselves on Sunday and report back to us

Not always, don't forget our senior citizens who have either experienced some or complete hearing loss. My oldest boy, my 14.5 yr old has lost a lot of his hearing. But hearing loss aside, it is totally unacceptable for the dog to have bitten the jogger and for the dog's owner not to have assisted the jogger is reprehensible

ditto! Lunging in fright is almost exusable. Taking a chunk out of someone IS NOT! Totally agree. Where I walk my dogs, there is a lot of shared cycle/pedestrian pathways and majority of them approaching from behind ring their bell or call out to me which I appreciate. If I see cyclists, joggers, mum with kids or prams or people walking by themselves or with other dogs towards us, I always take my boys off the footpath or move as close to the edge as possible. Only ever had once incident with an idiot cyclist approaching from behind who not only didn't warn me he was approaching but he rode up so close to me and my dog that he startled both of us and my dog jumped around and just about knocked the cyclist off his bike and he had to swerve very sharply to avoid running into my dog, so he got a mouthful from me . Never had any issues with joggers that are running behind us as normally they will run around us.

So many favourites, so here is a small selection My pup Tana at 10 weeks old on his first day at our house Tana with his best buddy, my oldest boy Thomas (14yrs old) who he buddied up with on day 1 Tana now at 13months

I placed an order around mid September with them being my first and last order as it took far too long to get my order and it probably would have taken longer if I didn't hassle them. They did however respond very quickly to my email by phoning me and I had a couple of further phone calls with them and they placed some free treats in my delivery. However, I won't place another order with them as I am pretty intolerant of late deliveries and more so when they don't keep you updated and you have to chase them up. There is NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER in not responding to your emails and I would be very concerned if I couldn't raise them on the phone. This happened to me with another online supplier http://www.petfood247.com.au awhile back, but I did eventually get my delivery, but will never order from them again.

I LOVE my boys, of which I currently have 3. All my boys both current and past have been terrific dogs who have been/are extremely affectionate as well as very closely bonding dogs. I have had a female who was an absolutely fabulous dog ( ;) RIP darling) who I loved dearly and had a very strong bond with and whilst she was more independent than my sooky lala boys she was also extremely closely bonding and very rarely put a paw wrong her whole life. I certainly won't rule out having another lab girl in my life as a mate for my youngster in the future.

I tend to agree. In fact, there's been more than one or two dogs throughout this thread where I've ummmed about the dog actually carrying the appearance of a cross. The so called "Silver Lab" is a cross (Labrador Retriever with a Weimaraner). Here is a link to an alert about this on the NSW Labrador Retriever Club website Alert on Silver Labs

You need to get xrays done and I would take him to either a Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon for this or a vet very experienced in taking xrays for hip scoring for breeders and and if you are in the same area as your breeder then they will be able to recommend a vet who does xrays for their dogs for hip scoring. It is so important to get these xrays done by either the Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon or the hip scoring xray experienced vet, as not all vets get the dogs in the correct position for the required xrays and if they don't, then an incorrect diagnosis can result. I can understand your breeder's concern about surgery being recommended, as unfortunately too many times it is recommended as the preferred option even if "mild HD" is diagnosed. Breeders have many experiences with their puppy buyers being advised/recommended all sorts of surgical options by the puppy buyers vets/specialists which in the opinion of the breeder is unnecessary and it is quite normal for a freaked out puppy buyer to take their vet's/specialist word as gospel over the breeder. However, if your breeder is a very experienced and reputable Labrador breeder, then I would advise you to take into account what they say/recommend. Getting xrays done should be your priority as then a diagnosis can be made as to whether or not your dog has HD and if so, what severity of HD (mild, moderate or severe). IMHO surgery should not be a recommended option if a diagnosis of "mild HD" is made as this can be managed medically with proper diet, exercise, supplements, anti-inflammatories, and pain relief if required. If the diagnosis is moderate or severe HD then surgery may be an option that you may need to explore and discuss your options with a specialist orthopaedic surgeon. With regards to the TPO (Triple Pelvic Osteotomy) that has been mentioned previously, there is a window of opportunity up until your dog is 12months old if your dog is diagnosed as a candidate for this type of surgery. You are probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and distressed about your boy possibly having HD, so it is important to rule it out/in by having the xrays done. In addition, I would also recommend that you look at his nutrition/weight/exercise to make sure he is not overweight or overexercised and put him on joint supplements if he is not already on some as this all plays a part in preventing joint damage. I am fanatical about my lab pups nutrition/weight/exercising in their first 12months particularly, to ensure that their joints grow and develop normally. This includes minimising the jumping around that lab pups do as we all know they can be pretty crazy full of energy jumping beans and I won't let any other dogs jump on them during play either. Best wishes for a positive outcome and hope it goes well and just remember there are options if he is diagnosed with HD and even if he does have HD, your options will depend on the severity of the HD. Keep us updated

Yeah puppy dreams are very cute and I don't believe dogs grow out of it either. All 3 of my boys (14.5yrs, 12yrs and 13months) all dream and my oldest can make a real racket with legs paddling away, lots of noises and thrashing around on his bed sometimes so much so the bed jumps around I normally stroke him to calm him when that happens. Sometimes my youngster has woken suddenly from a dream and jumped up all startled, looked around and then crashed back to sleep again.

Mila's Mum - I can certainly understand how you are feeling, as apart from unnecessary surgery and associated costs, there is a very high emotional cost involved as well. The emotional rollercoaster would have gone from absolute relief to finding out your dog was OK to downright angry that your poor dog was put through this unnecessary surgery. We all understand that mistakes can happen and no 100% guarantees can be made and there is potential for tests not to return the correct results, but when it is your dog it can be downright distressing and IMHO quite normal wanting to seek answers to what could have potentially caused this misdiagnosis. Situations like this will also make you question any future diagnosis/test results. Best wishes for your dog's recovery

LOL, it's a good thing everyone's different. I've got to say, I don't find either the labrador or the poodle aesthetically appealing at all. But apparently people exist that don't think staffords are handsome either (!) Definitely a good thing. I find it funny that other people took offence to this, yet I didn't and it was directed at me... ;D you'll have to meet my Labs some day, they're change your mind. I've already pulled some of the Spitz people into my lab loving world Maybe when you have been around Labradors as long as some of us you too will get sick and tired of the Lab bashing in any shape or form. Seriously doubt your Labradors will be able to convert a person that does not find Labradors "aesthetically appealing". l don't expect everyone to like/love Labradors, although it would probably be a better world if they all did , but I believe Staranais's post to be deliberately provocative to both Labrador and Poodle owners, particularly, when this thread is about the LD cross mutt.