Not Lab Owners, Yet...

Hi, All!

I've been creeping the forum but decided to join even though we don't have a puppers, yet. We've just started researching a couple of local breeders (we're based outside of Chicago) and hopefully getting on waitlists or whatnot. We're looking for a male English Chocolate to add to our family of me, my boyfriend and Rubie, the Dobermann. Rubie will be two in December and we are moving into a new house with a big yard in March so hopefully around then, we can bring a pup home.

Rubie and I started agility in June and hopefully will be able to compete within the next several months. Not sure what I'd like to try with the new pup but I know it'll be a long while before he can do jumps!

I did want to see if anyone has dealt with Cricket Hallow Farms or Riverroad Labs and how their experience went. Those are the two in our focus at the moment as they're close and I like the information they have on their sites; still haven't really touched base with either of them, yet.

Ah, and my boyfriend wants to name him "Moose," thus my username!

Nice to meet you all and don't mind if I creep around for the next few months!

Adding a gratuitous picture of Rubie from our hike this past weekend

 

Welcome to the forum! How exciting to be getting a new pup

I don’t think photobucket allow pics to be shown on forums anymore

 

Flickr does though.

 

Hi there and welcome from Ariel and I! Creep around all you like - there's an absolute wealth of information and well informed people on this forum. But also join in on some conversations...there's a couple of fun and/or interesting threads that you might find enjoyable and help you to get to know people a bit - The Labratour, Random hooman thoughts by our dogs, Random dog thoughts (or titles similar to those), I just found the Potential Chihuahau thread today (be prepared for much adorableness). There's also the heartwarming thread about Conchita, a kennel rescue dog.

Rubie's beautiful by the way!

 

How about this?

 

That works, yay!

 

Guess a larger picture of my Avatar isn't that exciting.

Thank you! I will absolutely check those out, thank you! Even the Doberman Forum that I'm quite active on, I still get lost navigating all the information available to some starting points are greatly appreciated

 

Welcome to you and Rubie - she's a stunning girl. I do have a soft spot for Dobermans.

 

Thank you! They are certainly special

I'm very excited to try my hand at training a lab and seeing how it compares to Rubes. She's super smart but pleasing people isn't always her primary goal. She's gotten better and, especially since we've start agility, she's a lot more focused. I think a lab would be a great compliment to her and maybe even make her more approachable. There are like 3 groups of people: People who love Dobes and can't wait to pet her, people who are terrified of them and pull their children behind them, or people who don't know she's a Dobe until they're already petting her and then say something super intelligent like, "Oh, I thought they were so AGGRESSIVE!"

Hopefully these pictures load!

We ran a couple of 5ks this year just to try it!


Our first trip to Devils Lake in WI. She nailed those trails!


We do a lot of hiking around here, too


I don't think this image loaded last time I tried so I'll try again!


And just looking magnificent, like she does


Thank you for the warm welcome

 

Oh my goodness, Rubie is GORGEOUS!
Welcome to the forum from me and my giant yellow Labrador Pongo. People say he must be crossed with a Shetland pony.
We did agility too, Pongo absolutely loved it - but we never got as far as competing!

 

Hi and welcome from me and 4 year old girl, Harley. Rubie is gorgeous. I do like Dobermans.

 

She's a lovely looking girl, but I have to say the ears and tail pain me. I appreciate it's a cultural thing, but for a multi-national lot like us, there are those of us who wholeheartedly believe that it is abhorrent to use elective surgery to alter a dog's body for aesthetic reasons. Many governments, including those of the UK and most other European countries, concur, which is why they've made it an illegal practice. It's also been shown that cropping ears and docking tails has a detrimental effect on both canine communication and human perceptions (links from this article https://blogs.scientificamerican.co...cropping-affect-dogs-and-not-just-physically/).

So, she's a beautiful girl, no doubt, but those ears? They make me wince.

 

Me too, absolutely. And I cannot condone the e-collar, either, let alone the prong collar she is wearing under the bandana.

 

Hi there and welcome to the forum

I thought I'd just mention the comments you have received about Rubie's ears.

This is perhaps an unusual forum in that we have quite a wide range of nationalities among our members. And from time to time that throws up some of the differences in dog husbandry and training techniques between countries in different parts of the world.

Both ear cropping and the use of e-collars are not normally practiced in Europe so you’ll find both are controversial topics here. With quite a few members unable to understand why dogs are ear cropped in some regions. In fact most docking and cropping procedures had a purpose at one time. In dogs that fight for example, ear injuries are common and close ear cropping - such as that seen in American Pitbulls today - had the purpose of avoiding those injuries.

Nowadays, with pet dogs, many countries have taken the view that these practices are no longer needed and of no benefit to the dog. And as has been pointed out, ear cropping is now widely illegal in Europe. As this is a forum with an international membership, you’ll find a great many people here that have never seen a dog with cropped ears in the flesh. And it’s unusual to see even photos of crop eared dogs here in the UK.

So it’s quite a shock for us to see here.

Obviously there is nothing you can do about your dog’s ears now, but I believe that there is a gradual shift away from docking in the USA. It would be interesting for us to know if views are gradually changing in your state? And whether you would consider leaving your dog’s ears un-cropped if you ever had another Doberman?

When it comes to training your Lab you'll get loads of interest and support here. I should add that we have a forum policy of only promoting modern positive reinforcement dog training methods, so you'll find some of our techniques and principles rather different than those that e-collar trainers use.

There are some very experienced trainers on here though and we'd be glad to help you if you are interested in sticking around.

That's quite a lot for a new member to take on board. Do feel free to ask questions, and hope you enjoy your stay!

 

Being from the US, I'm very used to seeing Dobermans like this so it doesn't look as odd to me as to most of the UK members. While I prefer natural ears on Dobies, I must say Miss Rubie is just beautiful.

I received lots of flak about my dog in public once I moved to Europe. Brogan's tail was docked at 1 day old, long before I adopted him as a rescue, and he was also neutered as a puppy as required by the rescue group. Both lack of tail and lack of his boy bits got me lots of scorn in Europe. As I used to say, I'd love it if he still had his original parts, but I can't add them back on after the fact.

What is really interesting in an international forum like this is that you do get to learn about other people's ideas. I've gotten my eyes opened to a different style of training (for example the 100% positive methods) and different ideas on all sorts of things. Plus it's just fun to see pics of everyone's dogs in all sorts of places that are really exotic to me, like Australia and South Africa. Or Illinois.

So speaking as someone else with no Lab and also coming from a non-Lab background, welcome to you and Rubie!

 

I also want to comment on ear cropping and on dog fighting. Yes, dog fighting as a ‘sport’ is one reason why ear cropping began. In that sense its proponents would have argued that it had a ‘purpose’. But holding dog fights for sport is a revolting and immensely cruel practice that can never legitimise removal of ears or any body part.

For our Australian members... In Australia ear cropping has been illegal for decades. Tail docking is also banned in all States and Territories.

 

The same in Germany - ear cropping is completely illegal, and rightly so. Tail docking is also illegal, apart from dogs actively used for hunting. The use of e-collars is also banned, as is the use of pinch collars.

 

I've never heard of ear cropping, please could someone explain to me what it is and why it is done?

 

It involves cutting off quite a bit of the external, floppy part of the ear to allow the ear to stand upright (this still requires the ear to be sort of strapped up with supports for a time, though). Dobermanns naturally have floppy ears like a Labrador.

In America the breed standards for a large number of breeds call for cropped ears (so, Dobermanns, but also Great Danes, a lot of Bull type breeds, Schnauzers I think...). The American Veterinary Medical Association is opposed to it and it’s illegal in some US states but plenty of vets there must still practice ear cropping, evidently.

 

Thanks, @Oberon .