Price Range

[Missymoo]

ok heres my experience: mother of child in my sons kinder got a lab pup whenher newest baby was 3 months old..the pup is now banished to the backyard not 2 months later..yes it jumped, yes it scared the first child and yes it chewed stuff and no she didnt have as much time as she thought she had for it...and yes sadly they want to breed a litter down the track..dont worry I am telling her more and ore gory stories so am hopefully putting them off and yes, I have been trying to help them with idea of training and socialising with children and yes,they got her from a breeder so sure I can understand why some breeders are wary..so there ya go..

Edited October 20, 2011 by Missymoo

[RubyStar]

ok heres my experience: mother of child in my sons kinder got a lab pup whenher newest baby was 3 months old..the pup is now banished to the backyard not 2 months later..yes it jumped, yes it scared the first child and yes it chewed stuff and no she didnt have as much time as she thought she had for it...and yes sadly they want to breed a litter down the track..dont worry I am telling her more and ore gory stories so am hopefully putting them off and yes, I have been trying to help them with idea of training and socialising with children and yes,they got her from a breeder so sure I can understand why some breeders are wary..so there ya go..

On all accounts.

[Red Fox]

Can I Ask why you think I would be incapable of dealing with a puppy? Yes I have 4 young kids with plans for more but what make you think I'm not capable ? Sorry just really want to know not trying to sound like a bitch just asking

I don't think it would be impossible by any means but I do think it would be difficult.

If you are capable of crate training the dog, enforcing boundaries for children and dog, are able to give the dog adequate excercise, training and supervision, can afford the added expense of food and vet care, can find the extra time required to teach manners, entertain and house train the pup, can commit to ongoing obedience training, etc and can deal with the destruction should you turn your back for more than a minute then you should be fine...

Children are time consuming, puppies are time consuming. You may find yourself stretched very thin in dealing with both. Especially if you plan on having another baby soon.

If you decide to go for a Lab pup choose your lines extremely carefully and don't rule out the idea of an older pup or adult dog. Keep your options open.

[**Super_Dogs**]

If you decide to go for a Lab pup choose your lines extremely carefully

So important when young children involved!

[Fatsofatsoman]

I think the whole thing with lab pups is TIME...

they are everything everyone has said already in this thread.

probably thinking so are most other pups? - BUT Labs are this x 10 and stay like it for a lot longer.

I reckon the outcome is unrivalled - I love Labs, it's just whether you have the time available to get the outcome.

[Lab lady]

ok heres my experience: mother of child in my sons kinder got a lab pup whenher newest baby was 3 months old..the pup is now banished to the backyard not 2 months later..yes it jumped, yes it scared the first child and yes it chewed stuff and no she didnt have as much time as she thought she had for it...and yes sadly they want to breed a litter down the track..dont worry I am telling her more and ore gory stories so am hopefully putting them off and yes, I have been trying to help them with idea of training and socialising with children and yes,they got her from a breeder so sure I can understand why some breeders are wary..so there ya go..

it doesn't alway go this way.

I have a friend who's daughter had 2 children under the age of 3 with the 3rd on it's way. They purchased a lab pup 3 months before the 3rd child was born, so she had 3 kids under 3 years and a 5 month old pup. At the time i was like most of you thinking it would end in disaster but this pup, now 11 mths is a very well adjusted dog. He not destructive, great with the kids, spends most of his time as an indoor dog. The oldest child is a bit of a hand full but she has still managed to give the pup the time he needs to be a valuable part of the family.

The family had never owned a Lab before but were very open to taking advise of people who know the breed. I have had many a late night email asking for advise.

I should also add that her husband is in the army so is often away for a few day at a time but she made a commitment to the pup and everything has worked out fine.

I'm not saying that what you experienced Missymoo doesn't happen, i know it happens all to often but it can work out if the family go into it with eyes wide open.

[Miss Squish]

I have an 8 month old labrador boy in care ATM, hes gorgeous but was surrendered to a pound due to being too much for young children, and owners not having the time for him! Hes just a typical young Lab who needs a bit of training

$350 with all vetwork done if anyone in Adelaide is looking for a Labrador ;)

[wantsapuppy]

If I was in Adelaide of be on it but I'm in bendigo

[aussielover]

Maybe you could foster for guide dogs or assistance dogs (provided you meet their criteria) that way you can experience what it is like having a lab puppy, get the support you need and if you're not coping, the organisation can help out and even rehome if needed.

The downside is that you do get very attached and its very sad when you have to give them up but a very worthwhile cause.

I have puppy raised for guide dogs (my puppy had health problems so didn't make it- but we got to keep her ) and I think the work they do is great, they also give you good support, regular visits etc.

I know a number of young families who have gone down this route, raised a guide dog or assistance dog successfully and then gone on to get their own labrador.

Depending on your state I think most asistance/guide dogs orgs require you to be at home most of the day (can't leave them for more than 3-4 hours) and also allow the puppy to have some inside time.

[RubyStar]

If I was in Adelaide of be on it but I'm in bendigo

Some rescue orgs rehome interstate. Perhaps Miss Squish will let us know if he can be rehomed interstate?

I live in Perth but I got my Millie from Canberra. After rehoming fees and airfare, you probably come out on top money wise still. And you have the added bonus that a rescue is already desexed

Edit: If I was in the market for another Lab, I'd even think about him! He looks gorgeous!

An 8 month old untrained boy is probably just as hard as a puppy, mind you. He has a puppy mind that hasn't been trained by his previous family, but the build of a big boy so maybe not the best bet with the kids!

Edited October 20, 2011 by RubyStar

[Gayle.]

I live in SE Vic, but none of my dogs came from this state. Two came from SA, one from Perth and one from WA.

[jakeyjangels]

I think the whole thing with lab pups is TIME...

they are everything everyone has said already in this thread.

probably thinking so are most other pups? - BUT Labs are this x 10 and stay like it for a lot longer.

I reckon the outcome is unrivalled - I love Labs, it's just whether you have the time available to get the outcome.

Even as adults they need your time & to be very much part of your life. They are a family breed through & through & thrive on human company IMO

[suziwong66]

Can I Ask why you think I would be incapable of dealing with a puppy? Yes I have 4 young kids with plans for more but what make you think I'm not capable ? Sorry just really want to know not trying to sound like a bitch just asking

I'm really happy to see that you're open to further discussion since, despite previous advice on other threads suggesting a lab puppy would not be the best choice of breed for your current family situation, you decided on a lab puppy. What i'm writing is not a personal attack so please don't take it that way. When you asked for breed advice in various threads, i gave you my opinion based on nearly 15 years of living with labs.

There are two distinct points about your family situation that stands out. Firstly i find it difficult to foresee that you will have the time to supervise and train a lab puppy & training is IMPERATIVE....ongoing training; not just puppy school. Secondly the children are too young to safely be around a lab puppy. I don't mean that labs don't like kids; they generally LOVE kids. They are however heavy set boisterous puppies for a long time that can injure children unintentionally with that enthusiasm. in some ways i feel that not only can it happen, but it's likely to happen...often.

Your family situation as it is now with 4 children, three of whom are under 4 is a huge responsibility in itself. A lab puppy is also huge responsibility in itself. I honestly don't think that anyone (not just you) with a large very young family is the best situation for a lab puppy. They are heavy, boisterous puppies for a lot longer than the average breed. Yes, they CAN be developed into wonderful family dogs; but with a HUGE amount of DAILY training work over years. they like to be with the family and will shadow you from one room to another. Small children and boisterous lab puppies can be a potential disaster. If the dog is to be a house dog, like you've said it would be, how are you going to supervise 3 littlies and a boisterous puppy? - and remember, that cute little puppy will grow to be a 30+ kg boisterous puppy-like dog very quickly and be that way for a number of YEARS. A lab puppy would be better for a family when the littlest member is not less that 4-5 years imo. They are dogs that will bowl kids over with their tail alone...when they are turning around, their bum can knock kids over easily. A lab can easily break a nose; their heads are like bricks and with one shake of a head a nose can be broken. Their heads are at little child's height - not ideal for the little one.

Lab pups can be very mouthy/bitey as they were bred to work with their mouths; unlike breeds bred for other reasons. Mouthy breed dogs and little children are not an ideal combination. It's not that they bite or are mouthy in an aggressive sense; more that they get happy and excited and then bitey/mouthy. There is a lot of training in teaching a pup to stop being mouthy; it has to be consistent and focussed training.

Labs puppies just aren't the same as puppies in general; they are in the puppy behaviour stage for much longer generally. I was raised with 4 German Shepherds, and one small poodle. As an adult my first dog was another Shepherd. They were like most puppies; a handful but they settled into calm juvenile dog in a reasonable amount of time. Our second dog was a lab (we got him 14 years ago) and as much as i am now a converted lab lover (couldn't imagine another breed) they are incredibly hard work to get from that boisterous puppy (that's a puppy for a very long time) to a controlled obedient dog. When we got our first lab, our kids were nearly 5 and nearly 8 years old; so one was at school and one was at full day preschool twice a week...even with that time away from kids it was hard work training Casper. He was boisterous until he was 10, but he was trained and we continued doing maintenance training with him until he was 13 yrs old; the year before he went to the rainbow bridge he was very sedentary - the only time he was sedentary in his life lol.

If you were in SA i'd be more than happy to invite you into my and our latest lab addition's, (Wilbur 17 week old lab; 17 kg) lives so you could see just how much daily work goes into socialising him in the street, cafe's, car, park and at home. We go to obedience twice a week and then practice every day intermittently. He is exercised once and often twice a day. He is taken out into the community every second day to practice new behaviours and socialise. We constantly train in terms of being bitey/mouthy - Wilbur is shocking with his mouth. Despite much practice i anticipate it will be a while before Wilbur will be able to walk nicely out in public - we're still working on it daily. It would be impossible with a pram, a few other children and Wilbur. He is crate trained...this took two very focused training sessions twice a day for over two weeks. I still do a maintenance training session once a week with him so that he continues to go into his crate on command and sits up when i open the crate door. All training (not just crate) needs to begin without any distractions around to get the foundation behaviour achieved- having three little ones in the home will make this very difficult. And you might say, 'but isn't that with all puppies?' and the answer would be yes and no. Yes you need to introduce initial training behaviours without distraction with all dogs but you may get away it with a smaller breed. Factor in a boisterous large breed puppy and i don't believe anyone would get away with being able to focus a lab pup with three littlies around. Is it likely that several times during each day that you would have time alone with the pup to do small focused training sessions?...it's not enough to go to obedience school; you must practice practice practice during the day. Wilbur's interactions with small under 4 yrs children have been often and very controlled. he's always on leash, with me controlling him and the parent with the child so that Wilbur can be controlled; otherwise he'd knock over the child with his boisterous enthusiasm...he's only half of his estimated adult weight and he's already too big for little kids. He loves them though, but with just way too much vigour

Wilbur is a house dog, as labs like to be. He goes outside when he wants to but generally he doesn't like to be left outdoor on his own for long periods of time. We accept this, as it's a breed specific behaviour. I really want you to honestly, rationally and realistically reflect on your ability to have & supervise a boisterous puppy (with years of puppy behaviour to come) in the house with 3 kids under 4. And reflect on your ability to commit the time necessary for initial and ongoing training throughout the labs life.

In the last 10 weeks we've spent a lot of money. $1400 initial puppy; $290 air freight transport; $120 heartworm; $40 worming; $250 crate & delivery; $125 puppy school; $69 initial vet health consult; $180 vaccinations; $230 kibble; $100 raw; $60 treats for training; $50 council registration; $40 ANKC registration transfer of ownership; $66 obedience membership; $147 outside bed; $90 indoor futon; i'm guessing between $300-500 on toys/enrichment items (sandpit; wading pool; boomer ball; enrichment food puzzle; kongs; wobble kongs; ($100 on Tuffy toys alone) etc); $20 x 2 collars; $5 x 3 Scan ID tags; $10 x 3 ID tags; $45 shampoo & conditioner....it goes on and on. We are just about to purchase $125 worth of 10 swimming sessions at our vets hydrocentre - we don't have a safe swimming environment to go to & the swimming is excellent exercise for a growing lab with joints that we need to be careful about. Obedience class finishes in Nov for the year and doesn't restart till Feb so we have decided to invest in another training service until Feb, which charges $125 for blocks of 5 sessions. there are lots of things that i've spent money on that aren't essentials, but even the essentials alone are an expensive outlay; they are also non breed specific costs. Your finances are your business alone, but i wanted to give you some idea of the costs involved.

I urge you to reconsider either your choice of breed or look at a mature lab/partly trained older pup lab. I realise you want (and should have) a dog socialised around your children...but this is part of the problem - the ages of your little ones around a boisterous lab puppy are a recipe for disaster. I don't want to see your children accidentally hurt or a lab puppy turfed outdoors away from its pack because it has no self regulation around the kids - or worse re-homed because it all turned to custard. Labs isolated from their family pack display undesirable behaviours like, barking, chewing, digging, howling etc. It's not fair to do that to a pup/dog whose innate desire is to be with the family.

I honestly think there are better breed choices of puppy for your current family situation. There are other breeds that are better suited (both in size and temperament) to younger children families that want them socialised with the kids. If a lab is what you want despite the advice offered on this and other threads, i would strongly suggest looking at a more mature lab.

You've asked for, and received sound advice from the lab thread people. Please, please take the time to rationally & realistically evaluate if you can provide the enormous ongoing commitment to a lab puppy who quickly becomes adult in size but not in behaviour. Yes Yes Yes they are fabulous family dogs; but it takes a lot of ongoing effort with training and then time for them to mature in behaviour before they develop into the ideal.

[suziwong66]

I have an 8 month old labrador boy in care ATM, hes gorgeous but was surrendered to a pound due to being too much for young children, and owners not having the time for him! Hes just a typical young Lab who needs a bit of training

$350 with all vetwork done if anyone in Adelaide is looking for a Labrador ;)

awww if i didn't have the commitment of young Wilbur atm i'd be there in a flash!

[Gayle.]

If lab puppies are so awful and such hard work, how on earth did they get a reputation for being such great family dogs?

I've had 3 Aussie pups in the past few years and I can honestly say that not one of them was even a fraction of the work that's described here.

[suziwong66]

If lab puppies are so awful and such hard work, how on earth did they get a reputation for being such great family dogs?

I've had 3 Aussie pups in the past few years and I can honestly say that not one of them was even a fraction of the work that's described here.

I don't interpret labs as awful; yes they are hard work though....work that i'm willing and able to commit to. I don't think their reputation of being great family dogs is misrepresented...but it takes a great deal of work to develop the pup to the great family dog. Perhaps the hard work isn't adequately represented by the media? It wouldn't be the first time the media failed to represent a breed adequately or truthfully would it?

And like you, i've experienced other breeds that weren't half the work.

Edited October 20, 2011 by suziwong66

[Alkhe]

If lab puppies are so awful and such hard work, how on earth did they get a reputation for being such great family dogs?

I've had 3 Aussie pups in the past few years and I can honestly say that not one of them was even a fraction of the work that's described here.

I know! I remember so many of my friends growing up had labs as family pets, and none of them were real dog people who did formal training or anything.

Actually, thinking back, I have no idea how any of my family's dogs ever ended up being such pleasant dogs, because none of us ever had any idea about training, none of the dogs ever attended obedience or anything else - it's just strange, looking back. I'm always so concerned about this, and I wonder how we all got to where we did just by fluke.

[wantsapuppy]

Suziewong thank you do much for you honest post I really appreciate it after reading it I'm thinking maybe something smaller unless I could go d an older lab is proberly a better solution until the kids are all at school while yes I would love a lab I honestly think that after all you have written it would be foolish to get a big dig that's puppy like for so long just at this stage THANKYOU

[OSoSwift]

Wantsapuppy, I know I have them and could be biased, but have you considered a Whippet??? Quiet, non-smelling, low shedding, trainable???

Some are more full on than others, but I have found even the more full on ones are nothing compared to my Dobes I have had. A decent walk, or training session or off lead run as an adult and then they sleep the rest oft he day away on the lounge. If you want something bigger maybe a GAP Greyhound?

Edited October 20, 2011 by OSoSwift

[Red Fox]

In the last 10 weeks we've spent a lot of money. $1400 initial puppy; $290 air freight transport; $120 heartworm; $40 worming; $250 crate & delivery; $125 puppy school; $69 initial vet health consult; $180 vaccinations; $230 kibble; $100 raw; $60 treats for training; $50 council registration; $40 ANKC registration transfer of ownership; $66 obedience membership; $147 outside bed; $90 indoor futon; i'm guessing between $300-500 on toys/enrichment items (sandpit; wading pool; boomer ball; enrichment food puzzle; kongs; wobble kongs; ($100 on Tuffy toys alone) etc); $20 x 2 collars; $5 x 3 Scan ID tags; $10 x 3 ID tags; $45 shampoo & conditioner....it goes on and on. We are just about to purchase $125 worth of 10 swimming sessions at our vets hydrocentre - we don't have a safe swimming environment to go to & the swimming is excellent exercise for a growing lab with joints that we need to be careful about. Obedience class finishes in Nov for the year and doesn't restart till Feb so we have decided to invest in another training service until Feb, which charges $125 for blocks of 5 sessions. there are lots of things that i've spent money on that aren't essentials, but even the essentials alone are an expensive outlay; they are also non breed specific costs. Your finances are your business alone, but i wanted to give you some idea of the costs involved.

Some of these things are necessities but most aren't. $100 raw and $60 training treats would last my large breed adult dog 2-3 months. Toys can be cardboard boxes to shred and plastic bottles filled with kibble - they don't have to be fancy or expensive. A large sized decent quality steel crate retails for around $100, heartworm/worming combo chews are <$10 per month and I can tell you that I've never spent $100+ on a dog bed!