Hi all, I'm looking for some advise I'm interested in getting a lab puppy for the family myself 25,Mrs 26 daughter 4 we've got a good sized house with a garden I grew up with a rescue dog (Jack Russell) milo he was 3 when we had him and I was 7 he had a great life with us and 12 very happy years as a family sadly when I was 19 we had to have him put to sleep he was having strokes and the vet said he didn't have long left couldn't see him suffer and only now 6 years later do I feel ready for a dog again.. anyway as I've never brought a puppy before I'm finding it very difficult to find a good breeder I've done lots of research and know not to buy from pet stores or puppy farms I know to ask for certificates for eye test hip / elbow dysplasia I'm wondering if anyone can recommend me a breeder I don't mind waiting if it takes a year or more that's fine I'm from the west midlands UK but will go pretty much anywhere in England, Wales possibly Scotland for the right dog as I'm HGV driver driving long distance doesn't bother me at all.. and really any general advise that you kind folks can help me with would be much appreciated I apologise if this is in the wrong place I'm new here so go easy on me .. thanks in advance.. Sam
Hi Sam, welcome to the forum! I'm afraid I can't help with finding a breeder. This article on the main site might be of use. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-breeders-how-to-find-a-good-one/ I know a lot of folk on the forum both current and previous waited quite some time to get a puppy from the breeder they wanted. I am wondering (if you are away a lot) whether you and your wife are set on a puppy with all the work that comes with it I can highly recommend Pippa's "The Happy Puppy Book" as reading preparation. jac
Hi thanks for the reply.. I will check the link out.. I don't mind waiting if understand this is something that cannot be rushed.. and I'm never away don't sleep in the cab at all I work nights so I'm home during the day the Mrs only does a couple of days a week and that's in the day 9am - 5pm or 11am - 7pm I work 5pm to 4am ish so I'm hoping the dog with never really be alone for more than a few hours a week and there's nothing really stopping me taking him / her to work with me.. gaffer's are all cool and I'm a supervisor so that shouldn't be a problem if the Mrs is going to be out late on occasion.. do you think this would be suitable? .. thanks in will have a look on eBay for the book.. I know having a dog is a big commitment and I will make sure that as a family we all understand what will be expected if I feel that the dog would be alone to much or the Mrs isn't willing to help when I'm at work to make sure the dog has company I won't have one at all I'm not like that..
Sounds perfect Sam. With a youngster around the house I would reckon a crate would be a definite boon. I think it does a puppy the world of good to learn to be on its own and settle so I don't think there are any issues! jac
That's great glad to hear it. I've been watching a lot of stonnie Dennis on YouTube I really enjoy his lab training videos.. I will do as much research as I can and I'll order the book you suggested if you think of anything else please let me know im happy for any advise thanks
Hello there, and a very warm welcome. It is difficult finding the right breeder (at least, I found it difficult!). You have identified all the right things, put health at the top of your list - it is no fun at all dealing with a dog with health problems, so do not compromise on that. Next, decide what characteristics in a dog are important to you. Might you want to do some sports with the dog? Do you think it's important that the dog looks like a classic Labrador? And so on. After that, a good place to start is the kennel club assured breeders scheme. Make a list of the breeders and look at their websites. Do you like what you see? Also look at the pedigree of the dogs and look at the parents - do those look good? Are health tests for the dogs available etc. You can also look at the breeders of the dogs in the pedigree of the dogs you like.... After that, you should be able to narrow it down to a few breeders that are breeding the type of dog you like the look of, have good health results and so on. Then, you start emailing and phoning, asking them if they have any puppies planned. Some might give you answers like 'spring 2017' in which case, be prepared to go on waiting lists. Best of luck with your search.
Hi Sam and welcome to the forum. Julie has given you some great advice on how to search for a puppy, and I can't add to that since I didn't go through that process myself. I will be taking that route for the next puppy, though (I'm not ready yet - I must stop looking at breeders!)... I had a quick look at the trainer you mentioned - my first glance made me thing, uh-oh, this dude looks like a traditional trainer, but it appears looks can be deceiving and, although I can't say I've watched many of his videos yet, he does seem to be saying the right things, and I haven't seen a shock collar yet, which are very common tools in the US for gun dog training. I'll watch some more when I have time, thanks for bringing him to my attention!
Hi snowbunny thanks for the reply and you won't see any negative reinforcement from stonnie as you watch more of his videos you'll see he is very anti punishment ( which is why I like him ) he won't use shock collars.. I'm my opinion we don't have dogs to punish them when you can teach them with positives instead of negatives
There is some great advice above. In a previous job I was allowed to take my dog into work. It was really good that she was never alone at home. Much of the time she snoozed in the corner of my office. Sometimes she had other office dogs to play with. At one point we had seven dogs in the office, which got a bit chaotic when they all decided to play! The hard thing was making the work area dog friendly. It took a bit of planning. We had to remove or cover anything hazardous such as cables, rat poison, cleaning materials etc. Also it was important to make sure that the dog could not escape from the building through open doors, so dogless colleagues had to be made aware of the need to close doors. We clubbed together for some "accident" cleaning material. We had a green area on site that we partially roped off as a poop zone. I'm sure we did other things, but I can't recall them right now.
Yep, he (Stonnie Dennis) is one seriously "deep south redneck looking dude" but I really like his videos, too. He goes through a whole series of training a Lab puppy and a Mal. I've not watched all so I really hope he doesn't use shock collars and the like - seems like all positive reinforcement so far. Plus he uses his other farm animals (pigs, goats) alongside the dogs. The goat on the agility A-frame is not to be missed. ;-)
Thanks everyone for all the replies im really happy with the response my thread has received feel welcomed to the forum.. and Emily I've watched the whole series on stonnie and I've never once seen him punish any of his dogs and I've never seen him use a shock collar in fact in one episode he mocks the people who does use them
That sounds challenging but great fun.. bet it made your day so much more enjoyable with the dogs something I would definitely be interested in doing thanks
Haha, I'll have to look out for that one. I love goats and would love to own some one day. Training them to do agility would be amazing!
Goats make great pets my work mate has 2 dwarf ones and they are like dogs they are naughty but so sweet
True story - I was out walking Brogan (that handsome devil to the left) one morning in Florence. We're up on the hill overlooking the city which is basically a big park area, when out of the blue I see this guy running WITH A GOAT. Yep, with a goat. Not on leash (can you leash a goat?) but just happily traipsing along behind the guy. Brogan stared, I stared, the goat stopped and stared at us. The guy kept on running but yelled to the goat the Italian equivalent of "Get a move on" and the goat hurried to catch up. I just wish I would have been faster with my camera!
