Labrador Retriever Puppy tips?

[bgirldeb]

Well, DH has the puppy bug, and after quite a while of research and discussion, we have decided on a Labrador Retriever. We picked out a male yellow lab puppy that is 9-10 weeks old that will be coming home at the end of the month.

Does anyone have any tips for Labs and Lab puppies? How about any food and toy recommendations?

We both work full time and have two boys, aged 5 and 6 that are old enough to help out with the care taking.

My main concern is, are Labs okay being left alone during the day? I actually am home by 3:30 in the afternoon after picking up the kids. I just don't want him to get bored or lonely.

Thanks in advance!

 

[clarabelle]

I would get a labs for dummies type book.
We had a lab until last year (she was 14).
They are great kid dogs.

One common problem with labs is a fear of loud noises. (Thunder, fireworks etc...) I wish now we had tried harder to train her out of this fear. It wound up causing real problems (trying to tear down doors etc)
There are ways to train them away from it -I wish we had worked on it from the beginning.

I would also consider a kong or other toy you can stuff with food.
Crate training
Lots and lots of walks and games of fetch.
Good luck on your dog.
Ooh also there is a show on animal planet -called Barking Mad -I have gotten lots of training tips from this show.

 

[noodleknitter]

Crate train, and know that they chew everything, and longer than most breeds. Labs are great dogs...and you don't have to wipe their heinies....!

I miss smelly puppy breath! Have a great time with your puppy!

 

[Lanshark]

Crate train and have a lot of chew toys. My golden loves nylabones. He is 5 years old and still chews on his toys.

I bought a wonderful book called Golden Retrievers for Dummies. I'm sure they have one for labs.

 

[Hercules10]

Get a good crate for him when you leave him during the day. Leaving a pup that's under 2 y/o alone and to his own resources will result in a house looking like a disaster area.

We fed our pups cottage cheese til they were 9 months old. It's a great source of calcium for growing puppy bones. But be careful of Pano. Some large-breeds can develop it.

Also plain lowfat yogurt helps with their digestive system (but makes for some REEEEEALLY stinky doodie)

Some folks suggest Vitamin C (bioflavin) and super-blue green algae supplements for large breed dogs as these have shown to help with hips.

Ground turkey is a great source of highly digestable protein.

In the end, the dog will end up eating better then you.

Good Luck!

 

[almacdonald]

Read Marley & Me!

 

[bgirldeb]

Thanks Clarabelle! And sorry on your loss. I'll watch for that show on Animal Planet. We have a Petsmart nearby that offers a training class for a really reasonable amount.

Noodleknitter, the funny thing is I read that other thread (wiping, etc)after I posted this one. Eek! Talk about timing!
Puppy Breath!

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Congrats!!

We have a two year old Yellow Lab and he's the love of our life! Labs are wonderful dogs.

The puppy stage is wonderful and challenging. I agree with the previous poster about crate training. I would also suggest putting up gates in the house and keeping him confind to just one or two rooms to begin with.

Puppies have small bladders, so I would suggest having someone come to your house while at work to let the little one out. They are also high energy dogs. They need a lot of play time and exercise. I'm lucky that in my neighborhood a lot of people have dogs and we actually have play dates for them. My yard is fenced in so it works out great. I also walk my dog three times a day, and it's about a 2 mile walk.

Labs are wonderful with kids, so your kids are going to have a great time, and the dog will just love them unconditionally.

Regarding dog food, you will get a lot of suggestions. We feed our dog Solid Gold Hund-n-Floken. It's a wonderful dog food (and they have puppy too) and it's all natural.

Since your little one is coming home at 8-9 weeks, that is a great age to start training. We had a professional trainer come, but you can also do it on your own. We used the rewards and clicking method and it worked wonderfully. Your kids can also do the training. I don't know what neck of the woods you live in, but if you are in the NJ/NY area, and are interested in a dog trainer, I could PM you the name of the man we used. He was fantastic.

Again congrats, and if you get the chance post some pics of the little one.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Read Marley & Me!

Oh this is so true. What a wonderful book, and boy does my pooch have many things in common with Marley!!

 

[bgirldeb]

Thx lanshark- Nylabones and Labrador Retrievers for dummmies (check)
They do have it at amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Labrador-Retr...ef=sr_1_1/002-4522082-3862403?ie=UTF8&s=books

and they have Marley & Me (thanks almamcdonald!)

 

[annej]

Watch out for the chewing! Left ours home alone whan he was about 3 months old and he ate the arm of the couch and the rug it sat on! He ate our drywall and wallpaper off the walls. BUT - he is the best dog ever! He is getting gray now and slow to move and still loves to lay on the floor and devour a rawhide bone in one sitting. We just always had stuff for him to chew and once he got around the age of 3 he quit chewing things that were not his. We keep a basket by the tv and he just gets what he wants out of it when he feels the need to chew. Have fun with your puppy. I miss those days as he is growing old.

 

[bgirldeb]

Congrats!!

We have a two year old Yellow Lab and he's the love of our life! Labs are wonderful dogs.

The puppy stage is wonderful and challenging. I agree with the previous poster about crate training. I would also suggest putting up gates in the house and keeping him confind to just one or two rooms to begin with.

Puppies have small bladders, so I would suggest having someone come to your house while at work to let the little one out. They are also high energy dogs. They need a lot of play time and exercise. I'm lucky that in my neighborhood a lot of people have dogs and we actually have play dates for them. My yard is fenced in so it works out great. I also walk my dog three times a day, and it's about a 2 mile walk.

Labs are wonderful with kids, so your kids are going to have a great time, and the dog will just love them unconditionally.

Regarding dog food, you will get a lot of suggestions. We feed our dog Solid Gold Hund-n-Floken. It's a wonderful dog food (and they have puppy too) and it's all natural.

Since your little one is coming home at 8-9 weeks, that is a great age to start training. We had a professional trainer come, but you can also do it on your own. We used the rewards and clicking method and it worked wonderfully. Your kids can also do the training. I don't know what neck of the woods you live in, but if you are in the NJ/NY area, and are interested in a dog trainer, I could PM you the name of the man we used. He was fantastic.

Again congrats, and if you get the chance post some pics of the little one.

Thanks for all the tips! We are definitely doing crate training from the get-go.

We are in the Mid-South area, but thanks anyway about the trainer rec!

Thankfully, DH works five minutes away from home, so he can come let him out. That's a good suggestion! I'm looking forward to having a 'walking partner' because I'm also trying to walk more.

 

[bgirldeb]

Get a good crate for him when you leave him during the day. Leaving a pup that's under 2 y/o alone and to his own resources will result in a house looking like a disaster area.

We fed our pups cottage cheese til they were 9 months old. It's a great source of calcium for growing puppy bones. But be careful of Pano. Some large-breeds can develop it.

Also plain lowfat yogurt helps with their digestive system (but makes for some REEEEEALLY stinky doodie)

Some folks suggest Vitamin C (bioflavin) and super-blue green algae supplements for large breed dogs as these have shown to help with hips.

Ground turkey is a great source of highly digestable protein.

In the end, the dog will end up eating better then you.

Good Luck!

Thanks!

 

[Hercules10]

Read Marley & Me!

You might want to read that AFTER you've gotten the pup!

My neighbors were looking at Lab puppies and they read that book and then quit looking! COWARDS they are!

 

[bgirldeb]

You might want to read that AFTER you've gotten the pup!

My neighbors were looking at Lab puppies and they read that book and then quit looking! COWARDS they are!

Yeah, I noticed the full title is Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog Hmm...

 

[Wishing on a star]

Crate Train... Labs love their crates. This is our dogs 'space' he sleeps there. You will find that when he is older and this is how you use your crate (not necessarily to confine him...) just remove the door.

Baby Proof - he will chew EVERYTHING.
Teach your children that they must learn to accept a new presence in their house. One that can destroy their toys if they are left out!!!!

Put in a Doggie Door that goes out into a fenced area so that he is not stuck inside, having to wait to 'go' all day. I hate to see a dog, especially a large dog, who does not have space to go outside.

Obedience train him from the get-go. We did not really do this, and now our Lab can sometimes be what the man who runs the kennel we use called 'bullheaded'. Labs are smart! But, the obedience may not always come naturally.

There are some excellent books on Labs. And, on puppys. A couple of those would be a good investment if this is all new to you, as it was me...

Labs are one of the most very social dogs!!! He will want an need a lot of your attention, expecially if everyone is gone all day. The more you give him, and interact with him, and train him, the better everything will be!

Enjoy your puppy!!!

 

[mtdevine615]

Labs are great dogs. I, we have two chocolat labs that are great. I think crate training is the way to go and obediance training when the puppy is ready. Both of our dogs go hunting with me and it's not very hard getting them use to loud noises. We feed the dogs only Hills Science Diet. They have changed kinds as they've gotten older. The chewing can be a problem if you're not careful. My sister found that out the hard way when she locked her dog in the basement for the day. When she got home the dog was laying on the sofa. When she checked downstairs the dog had actually ripped the entire door off the wall. Have fun!!!

 

[PlutoPony]

Just to reiterate, labs can be chewers and that does include toys left out! That caused more than a few problems in our house when DS just wouldn't get in the mode of putting things away..... often they didn't NEED to be put away later . You've gotten great suggestions here, just want to mention that consistency is very important when training and disciplining. Use the same words to mean the same thing (ex. - off or down - pick one to mean get off the furniture but don't use them interchangeably to mean the same thing) and that can be difficult when kids are involved in the training. Labs are wonderful dogs, very affectionate and people oriented (usually) but they're puppies for a LONG time.
Good luck

 

[Chicago526]

Two words:

Fenced yard!

I have a lab/border collie mix and for a long time I lived in a condo with no yard. I took her for 3 twenty minute walks a DAY to burn off energy (otherwise she did quite well in what amounted to a large two bedroom apartment). We now live in a house and we put in a fence, what a relief! No more walks in 20 degree weather! I can just let her out whenever she wants!

 

[OK!]

Congratulations on a wonderful choice for a puppy!! We've had 3 Labs, starting with Sable, a yellow that my brother got when he was 12. She had 1 litter of puppies, and my brother gave me the pick of the litter--Katie--for my HS graduation. When Sable passed away after several bouts with cancer in 1999, we got Molly. We rescued Max, a Shih Tzu, a few years ago, and then Katie passed away from old age a few months ago, so now it's just Molly and Max. I'd always grown up with German shepherds and a few mutts, and now I don't think I'd ever get any other breed of dog other than a Lab. They're fantastic with kids and are genuinely happy to be alive and thrilled to see you (even if you've only been gone 5 minutes) and want nothing more than to make you happy. Anything else is gravy to them.

I don't have any additional advice, as it's all been said above, but I definitely second the crate training idea. Just get one of the giant-sized large breed crates and set it up to be the puppy's "home" whenever you're not home or at night when everybody's asleep. There'll be a few accidents (naturally) at first, but the puppy will learn astonishingly quickly that he doesn't want to make a mess where he has to sleep. It was a miracle worker with all our puppies.

Molly, the day we brought her home