Hello all from Toronto! Last month I adopted a lovely little yellow lab named Boomer. The flags that were raised to us from the shelter and vet was his low weight, need for socialization work and we were starting from scratch in training. His overall temperament with human handling is great and he has no issues with resource guarding (but he tries to steal from other dogs)! We think he might be a dudley, but I guess we will see in the summer if any of his pigment turns black (as it is winter right now). He is 7 months old now and our first month was a bit stressful (attention (or protest?) barking, chewing, mouthing hair and limbs, t-rex like jaws when taking food) However after our month of training and puppy classes, we have definitely noticed him becoming more calm, able to more easily redirect his chewing and he picked up potty training quite quickly. At the moment our existing challenges that we are working through is his leash reactivity and excitability when seeing other dogs and humans at a distance, learning to play with other dogs, loose leash walking and transitioning to full time work schedule. I am excited to join this forum to connect with other lab owners and will likely have lots of questions for advice as I am a first time dog owner! Aly
Hello Aly and welcome from me and my two dogs It sounds like you are doing a great job with your lad , but yes please feel free to ask away about anything , we`re always happy to help if we can
Welcome Aly and Boomer from Hattie 8 years and my rescue boy a Labrador x Pointer Charlie 5 years. You might consider buying Pippa's Total Recall and The Happy Puppy Handbook and going back to basics. Total Recall has exercises to help you recall your dog from humans, dogs etc. I don't know what a dudley is? Good luck with Boomer as rescues can be trying as I found out and still am but ask any questions you have as there are quite a few members with rescue dogs and we have all experienced everything you are at the moment. Helen x
Hi Aly and Boomer and welcome to the forum from me, Willow and Shadow, who are 19 months and live in Andorra. It sounds like you're doing a great job with your new boy, well done! From what I believe, you can often tell "dudleys" from the colouring around their eyes. Most yellow Labs will have dark pigmentation around the eyes, whereas "dudleys" are pale. You can't just use the nose, because some yellows' dogs noses go pale either with cold or age and never go back. My boy had a really black nose when he was young, but it's now really pink. The rims of his eyes remain very dark, though. His genes mean he doesn't carry chocolate, so can't be a dudley, anyway. I had never heard of "dudleys" until recently. I don't like the word at all, but I think that the unusual look is lovely. Either way, I'm sure he's a lovely boy. We'd all love to see pictures of him!
Hello and welcome to you both from me and Lilly in Scotland. It sounds like you are rising to the challenge! I hope you find plenty of information and support here on the forum. jac
Waving at you from over here in Alberta! My dog is a Lab/NewfieX and we got him when he was around 9 months old, so we had some training issues to sort through at first too...which is what brought me to this wonderful forum. Ask any questions, there is a great deal,of help to be found here. Also check out the main site and all the great articles there!
Big waves to everyone! Boomer and I really appreciate the warm welcomes from around the world. I managed to upload a picture the little guy. We were curious regarding the lighter colour around the eyes, nose and mouth and it had been pointed out that he could be a "dudley". Our trainer also mentioned that he appeared to be an "American" lab. Ultimately it doesn't matter to us what his markings are, his lab type or if he is actually a cross and we love him all the same! Thanks for the book suggestions, Charlie. I'll check them out! Recall is definitely one of those things we are working on. When another dog is around it is like we don't exist and treats are no longer very special!
Aly, Boomer is stunning, what a very handsome boy he is. Can you show us a larger photo of him please? x
Welcome to the Forum,sounds like you are all enjoying getting to know one another. Have I missed how old is Boomer? Best Wishes Angela x
Aww thanks . Here are some larger pictures of Boomer! The larger close up picture was when he was 6 months and it was our car ride back from the shelter where we picked him up. The picture below is of the little "big" guy today at 7 months a little confused with the phone camera.
