Hi everyone! I have just discovered this forum and look forward to joining in. I have an 11-month old chocolate labrador named Dexter, I will try and add a photograph of him, but my computer skills are a bit "limited" so it will be more by luck I expect : Being our 1st lab and us in our earlyy 60's we have struggled with him a bit, but hopefully he is calming down a bit now (famous last words!!) ;D I am looking forward to any advice, especially on whether or not to have him neutered.
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hi Heather, Lovely to meet you here on the Forum.....our Dexter ( ) is our first dog nevermind our first lab so we were hit with a massive learning curve but he's given us as many if not more smiles than dramas!he is nearly 2 now and we love him to bits The neuter discussion comes up regularly.....and it can make your head spin at times as not only do members all have their own thoughts on it,we cover so many different parts of the world that their are many cultural influences on owners decisions. We adopted a watch and wait policy with our boy.....we didn't have any behaviours that were pushing us to make a decision and if all had gone as planned we would never have considered it until he was 18 months old.Then when he was about 7 months old he showed a massive interest in a dog in season in the park.Its something we laugh about now but the strength he used to get to her ( he didn't manage too thankfully) frightened me and we realised to be safe and responsible he needed to have 'the chop' ;D We live in Dubai and this decision coincided with our massive Summer heat so my vet,who advocates it from about 6 months,advised against it until later in the year,and we were really hoping to push it on until he was as near as full maturity as possible.We were confronted with a decision when he was 13 months old as he had to have part of his tail amputated and we felt we should take,advantage of the general anesthetic he would undergo. His discomfort afterwards was minimal ( al though totally overshadowed by the tail recovery) and he is absolutely the same dog afterwards...no personality change whatsoever,no weight gain,no lessening in energy. That's how we came about our decision ,tell us a bit more about your Dexter,you sound like you have had some fun with him Best wishes and welcome,enjoy the forum and all the help and advice that will come, Angela x
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hi and welcome I live in Bristol in the UK. Harley is my first ever dog, she turned 1 last weekend and is fox red The challenges a dog brings is far outweighed by the company and love they show you Can't help with the neuter question sorry
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hello from South Wales. Our household is me, my wife and a 21 month old yellow Lab called Holly. Holly is our third Lab. We're both heading towards retirement age so getting on Holly was an important decision as she'll be in early middle age and very active when we retire. Holly keeps us both active. In recent months we've turned our daily walks into an exploration of our local area on foot. We've found all sorts of places that we didn't know existed. Today we went "off piste" in some local woods and found a cave. We've found dog-friendly pubs and tea shops, wonderful bluebell woods, ponds (many Labs love to swim), and some amazing viewpoints. We've learned that the first two years can be a challenge but, once they've got through their "teens", Labs are the most fantastic dogs. I'm sure that Dexter will settle down, but hopefully he'll never lose that Labrador sense of fun. One thing we've found useful (and fun) is to walk Holly with other dogs. Its good for her socialising, and also fun to watch them play together. Please post some pictures when you work it out. I've found that using the BBcode option from Flickr is quite easy.
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hi Heather and Dexter, welcome to the forum! Take a look at the Technical and help section, that might help with your photo posting. Lilly is our first dog, turned 4 in May, and is a leggy slim black girl (unlike me ;D ) Hope you enjoy the forum jac
Re: Hallo from Kent! A warm welcome Heather and Dexter from me Helen, Hattie 6 years and Charlie our rescue 3 years. Enjoy the forum xx
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hello and welcome from me and 17 month old Charlie. We live in London and Cornwall. Charlie is intact. I grew up with family dogs that were intact, none were every castrated. They didn't roam, didn't mark in the house, never had a fight with another dog, and didn't get any girls into trouble. So against that background, I was surprised - years later when I got Charlie - that my vet asked me when, not if, I would have Charlie castrated (and when I said I'd think about it, was told not to read any rubbish on the internet). Well, so far, I haven't had any problems, and nothing has prompted me to have Charlie castrated. So I don't intend to do so. I can't see a reason to do so (I'm unconvinced it has any health benefits). If I have any signs of problems, that castration might help, I'll reconsider.
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hello Heather! I'm also in Kent and have 11 month old and 2 (nearly 3) year old labs. We've had mongrels and other breeds over the years, but our first lab was especially lovely and was the reason for choosing the breed again now. I'm sure you'll have lots of enjoyment with Dexter, but don't expect him to be permanently calm yet. Labs seem to have the knack of holding onto puppyhood as long as possible! Great fun, though!
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hi Heather and welcome to the forum! We have a gorgeous chocolate lab called Benson, he is approaching 10 months old, and in the main has not been any trouble at all. We are very much in the wait and see camp when it comes to the decision regarding neutering. As he has a lovely gentle temperament with humans and other dogs we don't see any need right now. Actually he is if anything possibly a little lacking in confidence, he is not timid but cautious around other dogs, could be his age, but in my mind another reason for holding off. Also, I would like him to be fully mature as there is some evidence which points to a very slight risk of some cancers in early neutered dogs.
Re: Hallo from Kent! from a teeny tiny black 5 1/2 year old Lab known as The DivaDog and her pet human
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hello and a warm welcome from me too , I live in Cornwall and have black Lab Sam aged three and rescue scruffpup Millie , age unknown I think castration is a personal choice , I chose to go down that route and havent regretted it , also had my rescue girl spayed as I think its a wise decision for an older bitch , as long as you make an informed decision, thats what matters
Re: Hallo from Kent! I'm not far from you - in East Sussex - with a similar aged dog (although my Molly is a Lab cross). I'm going to have Molly spayed (cancer risks as well as convenience) but my last dog was a male choc Lab and I kept him entire as he didn't try to hump other dogs, people's legs etc.
Re: Hallo from Kent! Hello from another neighbour in East Sussex! I have Maisie, 5.5 months old. Enoy the forum.
