It's FINAL - NO MATTER What

[Christopher Laurencio]

So the puppy (Boxer/Lab)or Beagle! came for a vist on Saturday morning to my house, late two hours. You know hindsight is 20/20 right? Well, I take blame for this irresponsible act of bringing a puppy into my house that may not be staying! My five year old loved it, my three year old liked it also but started screaming and crying to get the pups attention, he grabbed the pups paw and the pup fell over, (it's gonna happen). Well the lady who brang the pup starts making faces and little noises, with my sons yelling and touching of the pup. I ask "something wrong?" and she starts with this "we usually don't adopt out to homes with children!" I ask "would you like me to get a grown dog that would react badly to three year old tugging on his ear?" My wife asked me "what do you think" to me, before I could say much she was out the door with the pup!

My son's especially the five year old was crushed! Very tough on him to have her run away with the pup, GONE in a heartbeat!



That's my bad, I should have never put him that situation.

At this point I could not have his little heart crushed like that, it was sad to say the least, and my fault.



I drove him to a breeder and let him pick out a Lab! $400 bucks (yikes). Any way, he picked out the biggest one, chocolate male, green eyes, 8 weeks old. At least I somewhat know what I am getting in a lab. I think he's gonna be a good one too! From minute one, he wimpers at the door to go out to do his business!



Sorry for all the drama, thanks for all the help. pictures to follow.

Parenting!!!!

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Oh I have had black labs before, but never a chocolate. His paws, nose, lips everything is chocolate colored! The breeder said about 80 pounds full grown. His parents are registered with the ACA not the AKC. What's that mean? I'm sure he is not "perfect" but an 8 week lab should be very trainable.

 

[Rich D]

Chris,



I have a lot of issues with shelters. Granted alot of them do good work, but a lot of them have very unrealistic views of pet ownership. I think the lab will be a great dog. My dad has a chocolate lab. Very pretty dogs!



By the way, we did a couple test runs over the weekend with Molly out of the cage, today is the first work day out of the crate!



Rich D

 

[Michael S]

CJL....



Lab owner myself. I have heard that the chocolate labs are more hard headed than the black and yellow....don't know if that is true just what I have heard. I am sure he will be a great dog. Like any dog they will test you.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Here he is!!

 

[fatrap]

Not to defend the shelter or anything but in some areas placing a puppr/dog in a home with little children brings up some legal issues.



fatrap

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Fatrap - Understood, but this was about my kids hurting the dog, not the dog hurting the kids.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

How do I make it smaller?

 

[Rich D]

Here ya go

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Rich - Thanks, his name is Bosco

 

[Brian Ingersoll]

Now why did you have to go and post pictures?? I miss mine being that small.(he's 4 now)



You're going to have a great time raising that pup. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of patience a lab will have with children. My daughter is 14 months and uses my lab for a stepping stool to get on the couch. He doesn't even move when she steps on his head and feet.



I've never heard anything about the colors making a difference in their trainability (all three will come out of the same litter- same genes). The main factors to contribute to being hard-headed are "male" and "lab"



I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way, but I can't wait for mine to get older so I can get another puppy to start training (hopefully one of mines offspring).



Good Luck- you have years of enjoyment coming.

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!! What a cute Pup. Chris, you know I have a Chocolate so you also know how I feel about them. I don;t know what the A.C.A. is but because his parents aren't registered with the A.K.C. is why you got him for $400.00..

I don't agree with JimBob, no offense. My experience has shown me that Blacks are the hardest headed, followed by the Chocolate and then the Yellow but all can be great dogs, with proper training. Knew that was coming didn't you By the looks in the picture it appears he's going to be a big boy..

Pups are a lot of trouble Chris, but well worth it. Good luck and you know if there is a problem you can ask me anything, anytime. Tell Bosco hi from Sandy, Buddy and Newt



Bill

 

[Barb Baggott]

OK, I have 2 chocolates, and the mom's name is...get this...Bosco. We must be from the same year CJL. I love them chocolates. I'll have to email you some pics.



Have fun, they grow up fast!



Barb

 

[TrepMan]

Chris - To answer your question 'How do I make it smaller?' you DON'T!!! They grow from here!!!! LOL



CUTE pup!

 

[Jeff Garrow]

That pup looks GREAT!!



I have an 8 year old chocolate lab - greatest dog I've ever owned. Looked a lot like your picture when he was little. Most likely those green eyes will turn into a nice golden shade in a few months.



They are super easy to house break - sounds like yours is already there though.



My biggest advice is to keep him loaded down with chew toys as a pup to reduce damage. The only damage we got during teething was a slightly chewed baseboard corner. Not bad at all considering my buddy had a yellow that chewed through the copper tubing of his AC unit.



If you are not dog savvy I do recommend some form of obedience school when he gets a bit older. The kind of school that trains you and the dog at the same time ).



Labs are loving and gentle - that is as long as he doesn't come from too strong of a hunting blood line. If he does he will still be loving, just maybe not so gentle.



My dog has a scar on his ear to this day that he got while I was there picking him out. Get this - the runt of the litter gave it to him while holding off FOUR of his brothers at the same time. I asked if the runt was still available (since I appreciated his spirit) but the breeder sold him to a duck hunter the first day he placed the ad in the paper. I imagine he's still out there hunting today.



Enjoy!

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Bill, My last lab was pretty smart and my father in laws hunting black lab was even smarter, so let me ask you this. You mentioned once about training the dog for boundaries without electric fencing, is that possible? How hard is it to do? I was thinking with the snow on the ground in a couple months that it would be harder but to late if I wait till spring, whats your thoughts on that.



Bill, BTW took your advice already, he has a crate on the first floor near the family room and is sleeping in a cardboard box with blanket in our room at night. I will take away the box soon. From what we can tell, he does not soil overnight and cries at the back door to go out. Mind you that my wife is a stay home mom so lets him out frequently. I do plan on her taking him out less frequently as he gets bigger. The one we picked was not the most energetic one in the litter he moved close to us and sat down and watched us as the others jumped about like crazy trying to get our attention, he just starred at us, was that a good choice.

 

[Steve Rizza]

Cute pup Chris.

I just got one also,he's about ten weeks.

I don't know about choc or yellows,but know my black is hard headed as can be.When he is laying in the yard soaking up the sun and doesn't want to come in,there is no way to get him in other than to carry him.If you try to stand him up he will just go limp and let himself fall back down.If you hook up his leash he will just lay there and let you pull.No amount of treats or calling can get him to budge.

Good luck.



Steve

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

As an aside, when I got my weimaraner, the breeder would not sell to anyone with kids under 8. There are some pretty good reasons. Young children sometimes don't understand the limits with dogs. Pulling ears and tails, grabbing handfulls of hide and a thousand other things can result in a problem dog as they get older. If by chance you get a dog with a low pain threshold (the Monks advise to gently squeeze the skin between the toes until they yelp or pull away to test a pups pain tolerance, you can get a dog who bites, nips or gets skiddish around other children (even if he has learned to tolerate it from your kids). It can manifest into chewing, eliminating in the house and a lot of other bad behaviors (Bill?). I don't think the lady handled it as smoothly as she could have but she may have had her reasons. Monitor your kids and teach them to be considerate of the dog, it is now a member of your family. No hitting or hurting. You've got the books you should be fine.



TOXIC

 

[Terry Heydt]

Chris,

ACA is the "American Canine Assoc". The ACA was created as an alternative to the AKC, which is more "breed standard" oriented. The ACA is more "service oriented" and allows someone to have their pups health certified without the bloodline tracking required by AKC. Especially with labs and similar high-popularity breeds, there are tons of irreputable "backyard breeders" (puppy mills). At the least, the ACA registration shows that the breeder has at least made an effort to have the pups' health certified. It also provides you with a lifetime of services. For more info check out:
http://www.acavet.com/

 

[Mike L.]

Chris.....Nice Pup!!!.....Mike

 

[Greg Meyer]

I'm jealous... I haven't had a Lab for over 30 years and I still "ache" for my last one...

 

[Steve Rizza]

Chris,

just found this message board.
http://lab-retriever.net/board/index.php?s=

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Geeez, just where to jump in here.. I talked to my wife, whom if you remember, has worked as an Animal Health Technician for 28 years and has also been involved with Golden Retriever rescue for almost the same amount of time.

The A.C.A,, according to her was set up by breeders for those dogs who could not meet A.K.C. conformation. I did not look at the web site Terry listed. She told me the A.C.A. will register "puppy mill" dogs that the A.K.C. will not. I don't personally know.

I agree with Toxic that you have to inform your children as to what is and is not acceptable behavior in regard to their treatment of the puppy.

Chris, Yes training the dog to obey boundaries without an electric fence is possible. I suggest seeing a trainer. You MUST delineate the boundaries! The best way I know is to get some of those little flags at Home Depot and place them closely together around the property. That will be his limit. E-mail me Chris or call me and I will go into this in greater detail. Much to involved to type out here

One suggestion I would have Chris is to move the crate into your room. Dogs are pack animals and want to be with the pack. Just eliminate the cardboard box and put him into your room until he gets older and then we'll deal with that.

He has to go out OFTEN at this age so be aware.

As for getting the "laid Back" pup, I don't know, time will tell. All puppies in a litter should be energetic. I usually look for the most energetic and wanted the one who was trying to get of his/her containment.

Order "Leader of the Pack" from Amazon and READ IT!



Bill

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Here is a pic of my Chocolate Labm, Buster. He is the best!!!



Carlos



PS we were old that he woudl get to 80lbs. he is on maintenance at 100 and in good shape!!!

 

[Texas Transplant]

Great looking pup. We may be getting another, before too much longer.



I love the coloring on the choclate lab's. But we really loved having a Golden (15+ years).



Tex

 

[Mr Bass]

Here's my one, names Russel, best dog yet 2 years old now