Hi All I’m came across this forum while doing my research on buying a Lab puppy. What a great forum this appears to be! So active and full of amazing information and perspectives - thank you all so much for the help! I don’t actually have a Lab puppy yet - but will hopefully find one soon. We’re looking for a black or chocolate lab as a family pet. If anyone knows of any litters or good recommended breeders in Herts or surrounding areas, please do let me know! We’ve already contacted several breeders but no luck so far. Ideal timing for us will be beginning August so that we have the school summer holidays to dedicate to the puppy during the early stages. Thanks all! I’m looking forward to contributing our experiences (and probably asking loads of question!). Matt
Welcome to you from Mags, Tatze and Keir from Manchester UK Tatze is my pet dog, a black Lab and she's five years old. Tatze means 'paw' in German. Keir is my sixth Guide Dog puppy, a yellow Golden Retriever/Flatcoat cross and he's twelve months old.
Welcome from me and Lilly! I believe many people have used Champdogs to help find their perfect dog/litter. Good luck,
Welcome from Maxx and I in Sydney, Australia. Obviously we can't help you from down here but good luck with your search and please keep us posted
We’ve found a puppy! My family and I are very excited! We’ve already done a massive order on amazon for crate, pen, kongs, etc, etc! I’ve been reading all the information and advice on here! So much to learn! We’re collecting the puppy at beginning of August so we’ve got plenty of time to prepare and try to make our home puppy friendly!
Hello from me and Kipper (9 months old lab pup), and congratulations on your discovery! Will you be going to see them? Have you got a choice from the litter? If you don't have it already, I'd recommend having a look at the Happy Puppy Handbook - it was our bible when we got Kipper at 7 weeks old and has so much practical advice in there. Well done on the Amazon shop, the excitement of a whole new world of puppy kit
Hi Hah We’re going to visit in a few weeks time to meet all the pups and will be able to pick from the litter. We’ve already bought quite a few books including The Happy Puppy Handbook and Total Recall. My hallway is currently an obstacle course made up of boxes and packages from amazon and other suppliers! I also spent a long time wandering around in a Pets at Home store yesterday examining products and reading the details but didn’t buy anything - I’m sure I looked like a potential shop lifter!!
Pets at Home drives me a bit mad, I think it's sensory overload! Your hallway sounds like a hallway of delights, all that potential just waiting to be unleashed. The boxes make excellent puppy toys - Kipper loved playing in them, under them, chewing them, climbing on them - and they're a Godsend for those first few weeks before full vaccinations. And when you're delirious through lack of sleep, you can make them into racing cars, boats, trains etc. to entertain you and your puppy (not that we did this or anything..)
We’re going to be meeting the puppy litter, puppy mummy and breeder next weekend! Very excited! The puppies will be about 4.5 weeks old. The plan is to pick our puppy from the litter. I’ve already asked the breeder to help us and indicated that our dog will be a family pet rather than a working dog. I’ve found some interesting articles and YouTube videos giving some tips on identifying a calm puppy that doesn’t mind being handled and is not too boisterous - probably not not completely accurate but may be a good starting point! Are there any tips on what I should look out? And particular things I should ask the breeder? Thanks!
Hi there, how exciting for you! It is really very hard to identify future temperament in such a young puppy. My advice is usually to focus even more on the parents than on the puppies. Assuming all the puppies are healthy, parents health tested etc, and you have done your homework and chosen a responsible breeder, it's a good idea to choose a puppy that seems confident and happy, and is comfortable with being handled. There are temperament tests available but they are not very reliable. For the most part, assessing the parents will be a much better guide to the puppy you are going to end up with. So if you like the mother and father and the breeder is doing a great job of raising the puppies it's okay to just go with your heart when it comes to which puppy to choose. Don't forget to ask to see the actual health certificates for both parents. If you have any concerns, delay your decision until you have had a chance to think. Lots more info here: Puppy Search A Step By Step Guide. Good luck and have fun!
Thanks Pippa. We’ve done a lot of research and we’ve contacted several breeders. We came across this litter on the Ettinsmoor stud page and the timing is perfect for us. I don’t think we’ll get to meet the stud but we will definitely meet the dam and the whole the litter. I’m trying figure out how we will narrow the selection down to a single pup! Else we may end up coming away with 4 pups (we’re a family of 4) !!
Hello from me and my big yellow boy Pongo! Our breeder definitely steered us towards the puppy that would be right for us (from the puppy's point of view). We were attracted to the energetic, vocal one - but she firmly told us that she felt that that pup would be happier in a lively home environment with kids, rather than our much quieter one (all our kids have left home and it's just us). She pointed us to the quiet, calm lad instead, and we have never regretted it - Pongo certainly turned out to be the most laid-back, contented dog ever. I'm not at all convinced that you can really tell future temperament from puppyhood, but in our case the breeder did seem to have good insights. (If you are really struggling to get a consensus - hee hee - you might want to take the breeder aside and ask her to recommend one for you?) Good luck! Read everything, get lots of sleep, and then be prepared for the fact that you won't be prepared! The puppy stage can be hard work, and I can almost guarantee you will go through an"OMG what have we done this is the worst decision we have ever made aaaaaaarggghhh" phase. Most of us have. But I promise you will come out the end of it very, very happy!
