Labrador Retriever Puppy tips?

[DVC Jen]

I totally agree with the chewing. That was always out biggest issues with puppies.

Be prepared for it and if you can not tolerate the thought of your furniture being chewed... you may need to rethink your decision.

We had so many chew toys available for our dogs when they were puppies, but for some reason they preferred our dining room chairs.

They are amazing doggies and we love them dearly. Enjoy.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Two words:

Fenced yard!

ITA!!!!

We have a doggie-door in the exterior garage door that leads into a fenced area. Since this is not a huge area, we then had the electric invisible fencing put in around our whole property. I highly recommend this!!!

The dog can go outside when he needs to...
He has our whole yard...
And, when we do need to confine him.. like if we have company and we need him to be out of the way... Or if we want to play baseball with DS without the dog being the 'catcher'... There is the garage and the dog-pen.

 

[Katie]

We got a yellow lab puppy at 6 weeks. I took two weeks off to train the dog, it worked.Actually,itworked probably after the first week.

Be deligent, and take the pup out every hour, Chloe only peed in the house 1x (the 2nd day) and never never pooped. We tried the crate thing,she cried and cried, which meant my DD (12, at thetime) cried and cried,so she was NEVER in the crate if we were home, even at night. Cassie and my DH slept in the living room with her for probably 2 week, then Chloe(dog) starting sleeping in the my DD room (in the bed, no less). We used the crate if were going to be gone for about the first 3 months, but then we left her out in the house.

Chloe loves her NYLOBONES (they are very hard plastic), however, she also things everything that is hard plastic is great (remote controls(to many to count), cordless phones(4) plastic hangers, and 4 (count em) cell phones. Ironically, everything she has chewed up has been chewed up when we were home, and not paying attention to her. She is the PERFECT dog when we are away! She takes things hoping the kids were start playing with her!

She also brings the coach pillow to us, everytime we walk in the door, doesn't matter if we are gone 10 minutes or 10 hours...she always is excited,wagging tail, and pillow in mouth...it is adorable!

My husband has trained her to stay in the yard, if he goes out to work. She just follows him everywhere. Our back yard (1 acre) is fenced, so she can go outside anytime she wants!

The only thing we use the crate for now..is TIME OUT! Just like the kids, if she sometimes needs a TIME OUT...and she just sits or sleeps in there for a period of time. Sometimes, if she gets a object and we want it back, we say: drop it, and if she doesn't..we say CRATE..and she almost always drops it!!! LOL

Our lab also loves the flashlight...you can play with the flashlight and her for hours...my son just got a small laser light..OMG..she loves it....loves it! It keeps her running around for hours!!!

Chloe is a great dog..and wouldn't hurt a fly, but she does hear everything and alerts us when anybody/thing comes into our yard...I don't know how she hears some of the things she hears..but she is great!

Just watch your phones!!!!

 

[OK!]

Just thought of something else: You might wait a few months and then get your puppy enrolled in obedience training. We've done it with all 3 Labs (and the Shih Tzu, but it never "took" with him....that's a whole other story to do with Shih Tzus, though) and it was the best decision we ever made. I can't emphasize that enough.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Read Marley & Me!

I bet my DH he couldn't read the last chapter of that book without crying and he was determined to prove me wrong.

Soooo... he picked it up at Sam's while I was shopping and got comfy in a desk chair. I came back about ten minutes later and he was sitting there all misty-eyed and his nose was red and running.

He saw me coming and put the book back. He said it was boring.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

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 agree with this. I have a Retriever and it's really sad when she crawls under my desk when it's thundering outside, since she's a hunting dog.

Something happened to her when I was gone one day, when I lived in Destin. She's been a noise weenie every since.

When I get my next dog/puppy, I will work extra-hard to make sure this doesn't happen again.

 

[Hercules10]

I bet my DH he couldn't read the last chapter of that book without crying

I thought the same thing about my wife. I warned her so she had a box of Kleenex ready.

BOY! Was I wrong! She got PEEVED!!!!
"How DARE they leave him and go on vacation while he's in that condition!!!!!"

Did prove she's more of a dog-person then I am.

Now the last chapters of "Where the Red Fern Grows"....worse then Ole Yeller!

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

This beautiful boy is at our local Golden Retriever shelter. He's half Golden and half Lab. I just looooove him and wanted to share his picture!

Isn't he awesome?

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I thought the same thing about my wife. I warned her so she had a box of Kleenex ready.

BOY! Was I wrong! She got PEEVED!!!!
"How DARE they leave him and go on vacation while he's in that condition!!!!!"

Did prove she's more of a dog-person then I am.

Refresh my memory... didn't they go to WDW?

 

[Hercules10]

Refresh my memory... didn't they go to WDW?

I can't remember. I was too wrapped up in what was happening to the dog too.

 

[horseshowmom]

Just in case you haven't heard this enough already , they really do chew that much (up to at least 2 years old - our mix kept it up until 3 years old).

Ours came to us as a one year old that had been abandoned. She lives outside and is extremely energetic. She's also adorable and full of fun (ALWAYS happy). She loves to play with the horses, the cats, and anything else that will move. She LOVES to be wet. The rain is her friend! She loves to take a running jump into the largest water trough that we have for the horses and SPLASH! She also used to love to get in the garbage (no more, thank goodness). She was a firm believer in turning every piece of paper she came in contact with into MUCH smaller pieces. This summer she learned how to pick tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelons - we just can't figure out why she wants to pick vegetables (but she does enjoy chewing on them!).

My brother's came to them as a puppy (registered) and lives in the house. She ate the legs of the dining room table and the chairs. She ate my brother's expensive boots (well, just one ) and my SIL's expensive boots too (yeah, both of them ). She also ate the arm of the couch. In fact, she ate anything she could get her teeth on.

BUT, a lot of that was because she spent a lot of time unsupervised. Once she got through all of that, she's been fine (and is the light of their oldest daughter's life - who got her for Christmas many years ago).

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Thanks for all this great info! I know that a lab is in our future!

Okay...just one request...please no Marley & Me spoilers my DH bought me the audio book for my birthday and I have just started it (sorry to admit I am not a reader but I love how the story sounded.)

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Thanks for all this great info! I know that a lab is in our future!

Okay...just one request...please no Marley & Me spoilers my DH bought me the audio book for my birthday and I have just started it (sorry to admit I am not a reader but I love how the story sounded.)

I don't think you have to worry about that with me, or with Hercules! Obviously we don't remember too much of it.

Heck, I can't remember what I ate for dinner two nights ago!

Enjoy your pup!

 

[bgirldeb]

Thanks to everyone for the great info! And feel free to share your experiences even if you feel like you're repeating info. The more the better!

And those pics, My heart is melting!

 

[CanadianPaco]

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!

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!! And decide if you want him on the furniture - when we got ours, it was so fun to snuggle with him on the couch. Then he grew into a 99lb lab and took over the couch! Ugh!

Good luck!

 

[noodleknitter]

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!! And decide if you want him on the furniture - when we got ours, it was so fun to snuggle with him on the couch. Then he grew into a 99lb lab and took over the couch! Ugh!

Good luck!

Yeah...I always loved sitting in the vets office with a mammoth dog on my lap! She figured out when she was litle that I could hold her on the couch...but she wasn't allowed on the furniture!

 

[YourMajesty]

Anyone have any advice about labs and digging? We resuced a lab from a friend's parents(they think she was dumped). She is very good with the kids and a beautiful dog. She does love our backyard but likes to dig giant holes and barks a lot. She sleep on a bed in our rooom and likes to be in the house but loves the backyard. I'm wondering if we should crate her during the day when were are gone so she doens't dig? She was a little overweight when we took her to the vet...I'm thinking she may not have had access to a yard?

 

[horseshowmom]

Anyone have any advice about labs and digging? We resuced a lab from a friend's parents(they think she was dumped). She is very good with the kids and a beautiful dog. She does love our backyard but likes to dig giant holes and barks a lot. She sleep on a bed in our rooom and likes to be in the house but loves the backyard. I'm wondering if we should crate her during the day when were are gone so she doens't dig? She was a little overweight when we took her to the vet...I'm thinking she may not have had access to a yard?

We have a kennel outside that we use fairly rarely. When ours is in it, she has dug some pretty impressive holes. She doesn't try to dig out, she just likes to dig holes to lay in. Her barking hasn't really been a problem (although, to be honest, she did spend last night in the kennel because she barked so much the night before - but that's just a coincidence).

 

[♥DizzyDizney♥]

Awsomers! I just had to come to this thread because I have 1! His name is Harley like the motorcycle, lol... he's isn't that train, all he can do is sit, stay, come [not really] and shake paw. We are teaching him how to roll over! His picture is in my signature!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I don't have a lab (though commend anyone who does!!) but I have to say that Marley and Me was one of the Best Books I've read this year. (and yes, they went to WDW!!!!). I finished it last weekend and cried myself to sleep. I truly was inconsolable. I think everyone who loves animals should read it!

The only advice I can give related to labs is that 1)crate training is a blessing 2)obedience training is a must 3)the kids have to train as well to establish themselves as alpha 4)feed a good quality food (www.dogaware.com will tell you everything you need to do)

Congrats!!