I am doing a bit of research for a project. Just wondering what you wish you had known, before you got your first puppy. And would it have made any difference? Any thoughts very welcome Pippa
Re: What do you wish you had known Looking back more years than I care to admit, to when I had my first dog as an adult, having always had family dogs when at home , I wish I had known how profound my feelings would be at the sense of responsibility that came with owning my own dog . I can remember feeling panic , that " what have I done " emotion , not a regret but a real worry that I might not be able to properly care for him, train him and be there for him . The "he " in question was a Springer Spaniel pup called Rip and I neednt have worried , he became the most wonderful family dog to my own children , finally leaving us aged 15. It wouldnt have changed anything at all but I wish I had been more prepared for the overwhelming knowledge that my life would never be the same, that I didnt ever want to be without a dog ( or two ) in my life .
Re: What do you wish you had known That's an interesting one. I inherited Lady at 6 months old. Had I had the choice I wouldn't have had a dog at all, but if I did have one it would almost certainly have been a terrier. I was frankly driven pretty much to distraction by the absolutely wild, get up and go, full on nature of a through and through working Labrador, and when she broke my wife's leg very badly I nearly had her re-homed. So I guess in my case if I'd known what a young Lab could be like in advance I wouldn't have had one. That was then. If I had the choice now in full knowledge of what a Lab pup can be like, I'd pick a working Lab bitch again like a shot! Getting through the hard stuff to have an affectionate intelligent game for anything companion is so worth the effort. And looking back puppies are really good fun if you know what to expect and where things are going. She's just looked at me and there was so much in the look. Actually it might be just "feed me!" How you get that across I've no idea. So I gues
Re: What do you wish you had known Ooh tricky..... How hard it is to ignore their cries when they don't like the car/crate etc and how important it is to be firm when those beautiful brown eyes are pleading with you. Also how much time you have to invest in training and they don't even stay trained I knew Riley would be a tie but I didn't really think that it would change my life as much as it did. Always factoring in when we left the dog whenever we go anywhere. I know lots of people who leave their dog longer than I would feel comfortable with but that's probably quite a personal thing. Wouldn't have changed a thing I'd wanted a dog as long as I could remember and he's worth every second. I'm glad we got a lab because he's an absolute sweetheart and I don't think I could manage anything trickier for my first ever dog, he's also proving to be extremely tolerant and patient with the Lizzie so far!
Re: What do you wish you had known Don't want to be sycophantic, but......... I wish I had discovered this website and forum sooner - and known much more about the ins and outs of training and owning a dog before taking the plunge. Its really quite a responsibility, but by having such a rich source of information and advice such as I have gained from your website, books and forum, I have become a more "aware" and hopefully better carer and companion for our dog. I'm now more aware of all the mistakes that inadvertently we have made, in the earliest weeks and months of ownership. I think as a result I would do things differently next time. Its not nearly as easy as bringing up children....... jac
Re: What do you wish you had known I wish I had known about clicker training. Twenty odd years ago when I got my first two springers I had never heard about it. Only when I got monster dog aka Murffi the cocker two years ago did I discover clicker training and it was like a revelation. I use it now for all four dogs in almost all aspects of their training. ;D
Re: What do you wish you had known Thank you all so much for your thoughts, it's interesting isn't it? And thank you Jac for your very kind comments, I am so pleased that you have found the resources here helpful.
Re: What do you wish you had known Been off the site for a while so I'm picking this one up a little late. Mine is a practical thing, I was 10 when I got my first Lab, so I didn't have any preconceived ideas and nearly walked her paws off! I did everything the books said, walked, groomed, fed, took toys away etc but the one thing I didn't do was to check her feet or ears or round her face. Consequently she didn't like have any of these areas touched which made claw clipping nigh on impossible and on the one occasion she had to have the intra-nasal kennel cough vaccine - it took me, the vet, two nurses and my dad to hold her still (she was a big girl of the old school workers coming it over 7 stone) - and what did she do when we finally managed to squirt some into her nose? yes, she sneezed! We just hoped some had got through and fortunately she was fine.
Re: What do you wish you had known Just visiting this old thread. For me, the thing I'd wished I had known before getting my first Lab, was just how much of a nervous streak some of the working lines had, as then I'd have been much better equipped to handle Mojo's defensive behaviour towards strangers and children. For the first few years I was convinced I'd done something terribly wrong when socialising her, and somehow had caused her to be this way. It was only later on, I realised LOADS of working line Labs are wary and defensive towards strangers, despite any amount of socialising, and so I stopped blaming myself. For all our early difficulties, I wouldn't change Mojo for the world though. She has been my once in a lifetime dog and she'll always be my soul mate. And now I know how to handle the more nervie types, all thanks to her .
Re: What do you wish you had known I agree Jules, working labs can be very sensitive souls, and socialisation does not necessarily alter this. In fact, I feel that the powers of the socialisation process have at times been overstated. My show/work lab puppy Rachael is a funny mixture, liking strangers, but rolling on her back in apology I so much as 'raise an eyebrow' at her. Pippa
Re: What do you wish you had known I met a woman at the weekend with a lovely working line lab (quite unusual here in Germany), who had no idea at the time of purchase that these dogs are different to show strain labs. As a consequence, she has a lab who chases deer, rabbits and hare at every opportunity. She told me she really wished the breeder had been more honest with her.
Re: What do you wish you had known Before I got my first Lab I wish I had known not to let him run up to every dog to say hello - one day he got attacked very badly. I realised that I was being careless with his safety and became a lot more aware and discriminating after that about who he got to say hello to. My second dog has taught me how significant basic temperament is, as I see the differences between my first dog (very compliant, very patient, very quiet, a bit inclined to nervousness) and my second dog (very curious, wants to know the reason why, patience of a gnat, very vocal, very confident). The first boy was one of the quiet, gentle/friendly ones in the litter. The second was the most outgoing and lively in the litter. Both dogs are wonderful and both suit us perfectly in their own ways, but now I know to put a lot of emphasis on puppy and parent temperament and that will inform my decisions next time.
Re: What do you wish you had known How scary it is when puppy goes into the bushes in the garden and you can't reach her.
Re: What do you wish you had known I wish I had trained my six year old, Jasmine, better. She minds really well and can do the basic commands, but I was in high school when I first got her so I didn't invest as much time in her training. With my three months old, we have started her training already and will be enrolling her in classes at Petsmart when she is five months old.
Re: What do you wish you had known Re working line versus show bred lab, in my ignorance I actually thought working meant not suitable for showing. I had no idea it was a completely different strain of dog. I thought it just meant dogs that didn't come up to scratch looks wise. I'm sure a lot of folk think that too. Having gone up the nearly vertical learning curve now, it was actually a happy mistake to make because the worker fits more into what I'm looking for in a dog. It's good to know as well that workers can be difficult to socialise properly. I thought it was just me doing it wrong and the dog's history (taking her on at 6 months old) that meant I'd missed the boat). She's very nervy and also always takes far too much interest with what's going just behind her if we are walking in the street for example. She can also get really spooked by "strange" people and can appear aggressive which she isn't. On the hunting front she won't chase big game like deer or sheep, but since she latched on to what shooting was all about and started picking up fresh birds she's now like a live wire hunting them out of cover etc and REALLY fully focused when sent out to pick up. Her parents were both of that ilk and real live wires in the field. My Lady has inherited a lot of those characteristics so looking at the parents is also essential. Having knowledge of her parents good hip scores didn't help with her elbow displasia. Just bad luck but expensive to fix so make sure puppies have adequate cover asap because it's too late after something like that is diagnosed. I think the owner needs to be basically fit too to own a working Lab. They need a lot of exercise both physical and mental. I mean she's giving me the hard "I'm bored stare" right now as I type this. Ok just coming to play ...... ;D
Re: What do you wish you had known liking this thread .....I wish I'd known how important it was to not let working strain labs (and probably all labs I guess) chase at an early age. I used to take Brodick rabbit hunting when he was wee and he had a ball. I do remember my sister, who has his big sister from an earlier litter, gently suggesting I might live to regret that, and I have! The importance of keeping these pups engaged with you on walks, and building in elements of 'management' from an early age, is really clear to me now. with Cuillin as she was my first dog I enaged with her a lot more on walks from an early age as it was just her....she has a very different nature to Brodick, he is a hard wired hunter, but that aside she would engage with me for the whole walk now if she could and is easy to manage in terms of wildlife...Brodick is a work in progress! Agree that you need a lot of energy, for some working labs anyway, Cuillin always wants to be on the go, she needs alot of mental stimulation or she gets very angsty and will pace....so I spend a lot of time doing things with her during the day to keep that clever mind engaged! Like Jules and David I also wish I'd known about nervy streaks in working labs. I spent a lot of time worrying that I had 'raised Cuillin wrong', she is so nervy and very sensitive about things, I thought I had somehow caused this. Along comes Brodick, he has had to share me so not so much attention as Cuillin, but otherwise the same approach to his upbringing and he is really really laid back, and not scared of much.. got to say I love the working labs. they are so intelligent, sparky, full on and up for it, and I really like that. Mind you I'm a bit hyperactive and always on the go myself so that helps! Oh and I probably wouldn't have got brodick so soon in hindsight. At 9 months old Cuillin was perfectly behaved....got brodsie, and Cuillin developed dog fear issues! this has been harder to handle with another pup around, so I would probably wait till eighteen months next time round to see what issues are still to emerge...
Re: What do you wish you had known One thing I would probably have done differently, had it been possible, would have been to avoid getting a puppy while a 13-year-old dog was still around. We couldn't avoid it (we had a sixteen-year-old dog as well until shortly before, and the other half was working from home for several months so it was the perfect time from that point of view), but it was very hard on poor old Bones for the first couple of months. Poppy really gained A LOT from his company - she never cried or was lonely, and his calm kind demeanour was really great for her - but she did bite him and knock him over and generally make his life a bit of a misery. He was terribly kind to her, never ever snapped or even growled; he would just cry for us to come and rescue him, poor old lad. Once she reached four or five months it all clicked into place and they loved each other from then on until his death. A puppy and an older dog can and often do become really good friends, but ideally the older dog should still be young enough to play and protect himself. I think once Poppy is a little older I'll be looking at getting a second dog again.
Re: What do you wish you had known I wish I had known how terribly difficult it is to rescue a 9 month old lab x pointer puppy that had been allowed to do whatever he wanted, the work, stress, time and training is endless and very slow in terms of getting where you need to be to lead a normal life. I wish that the rescue centres would be honest about the dogs they are placing in families and only place them in appropriate homes that can cope and understand the breed. Not a lot to ask when you want to help, love and do your best for a homeless dog. Helen x
Re: What do you wish you had known [quote author=charlie link=topic=1205.msg8615#msg8615 date=1363779482] I wish I had known how terribly difficult it is to rescue a 9 month old lab x pointer puppy that had been allowed to do whatever he wanted, the work, stress, time and training is endless and very slow in terms of getting where you need to be to lead a normal life. I wish that the rescue centres would be honest about the dogs they are placing in families and only place them in appropriate homes that can cope and understand the breed. Not a lot to ask when you want to help, love and do your best for a homeless dog. Helen x [/quote] For a couple of years I was an area coordinator for a springer spaniel rescue and one of my jobs was to find the right home for the dogs I had assessed and sometimes fostered. I had many many sleepless nights worrying if I had made the right decision about each and every dog I rehomed. In the end I had to step back from that position because the rescue dogs were taking over my life and leaving no time for my own dogs. I still do home checks and dog assessments and try to assist as much as I can but I never want to be responsible for deciding who adopts which dog again. Most of the dogs that come up for adoption are young spaniels that have been allowed to run free on walks and the owners have lost all control. At least I only ever had to deal with one breed of dogs, and I breed I know well, I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a rescue to assess all kinds of different breeds and cross breeds. Not easy at all. ???
