alanglen

Lovely weather today for a trial that was exceptionally well organised and run. Hastings Club members always pitch in and put on a great trial every year. We had fun!

Looks great, job well done, but yes some action photo's / results page for members would be a great idea!

Well we seem to have landed on this debate again!! I have three female labs who all adore each other and have never had a moments grief. I personally prefer females and have no dominance/aggression issues. Personally I think absolutely nothing of this "bitch" aggression rubbish and will happily have further females. My girls make a lovely trio and welcome house guests, male or female. That being said, it would be very smart to desex your girl and let her settle for a few months before addin a pup in that she may otherwise feel obligated to mother!

My theory is the there has to be someone there just for fun and entertainment!! That's me! But yes KCC is really wet underfoot. The training ground on teh northern aspect was too wet to train on thursday night as quite deep in water. Here's hoping a week of nice weather will dry it out, it usually drains really well so fingers crossed.

Oh my goodness, KCC is that bad today it's puddles are starting to join and is almost flooding!

Wow, fantastic to see you on here Charles! Charles is one of our best surgeon's here in Victoria! Very very highly regarded!

I hadn't thought about the state of my boots after Wangaratta! Off to do some cleaning! I'll be there on sunday.

I know many lab's have lost way too much weight on Royal Canin, personally I wouldn't be too fussed with the brand as long as it's premium quality (that includes Hills and I have fed it very successfully in the past!), try the training change with set meal times and you could try adding little bits of things to his food occasionally, like chicken pieces, mince etc. Also a hungry dog eats! Perhaps a good walk before meal times!

Very much breed dependant, personally I would have thought she is likely to get left with quite a lot of pink. See how she goes, zinc works wonders to avoid the sun!

When did you get the pup?

You really need to feel very confident with your decision so take your time! You are right the pup can't be registered after a certain time but from memory it's quite a while (18 months rings a bell but I think it depends on the state etc) Reality is, the pups should be main or limited register, many of my pups go on limited register but would never suggest to not register a pup! You sound oike you have made a wise choice! Best wishes for the new baby when the time is right!

Vet check and bloods/scans, particularly considering her age and breeding, loosing weight could be a sign of something deeper within, particularly that big an amount.

I'm sure one of my girls has the exact opposite effect! When the headcollar goes on the youngest (8 month old labrador) the rest of the dogs are happier to walk with her! Not as much pulling and yanking all over the place I presume. Also lots less stopping of the group by me to get her better settled! She is well trained to walking with me one on one but has only just really started big kid walking with the team and think she needs to race the others! They really settle when she gets the headcollar on, works beautifully on all of them then! Much easier walking! Perhaps your crew are just a bit more protective of this one because of the health problems, they known he is special and they want to protect him? Head collars must look pretty strange to them! But thank heavens for them!

I love the pairs so much, I would gladly start all the titles again!!! SP in agility and jumping and go throught the levels again! pairs doing gamblers would be hysterical!! I have two teams on the go with my two dogs and we have lots of fun! More fun than just agility on our own these days!! And my girls adore having a mate to celebrate with whilst we fumble for leads!

Priority one - health testing, priority two - socialisation and appropriate raising of the pups, priority three - registered breeders should only be selling registered pups. Just my opinion!

Not a BARF expert by any means, but my lab pups are started on chicken wings etc from 5 weeks and by 10 weeks the manage 1/4 to 1/2 a chicken carcass for a meal, very easily. Personally I prefer the bones in the morning and dry at night. The bones take longer to eat and so they keep them busy during the morning and any upset tummies settles by mid afternoon instead of asking them to hang on over night!

Start with hard crates for labs!!!!!! Soft crates look nicer but are far too hard to clean and far too easy to be chewed!

Just my personal opinion, seperate them! Also my personal opinion, rethink getting two pups at once. I know you don't want to hear this but I own and breed labs, I have three chockie girls in fact and I am so thankful that I have never tried to do toilet training with more than one. Friends have littermates and all of them have had really big issues with toilet training. One family have now virtually given up and the pups have become outside dogs which was never the intention. I too had a dog at obedience school at around 10-12 years of age, and I do think it's a magic age to start and learn that bond, but really with two of them, the kids are going to have to try and break the bonds between the littermates to get themselves involved, a hard task. I rescue lots of dogs and have had lots of litters of young pups here before desexing and rehoming, toilet training and getting their attention away from their mates is always the hardest part. Lab babies are simply gorgeous and I adore my girls, I'm abslutely certain that you are thinking of your family but perhaps try to meet some-one who has done the two labs pups thing before you completely commit yourself. Anyway best wishes, lots of lab puppy cuddles and good luck!

Do a search, there is a few links already on endurance. It's 20km in 2 hours with forced breaks. Lots of vet checks for ehart rate, pad condition and temperature for the dogs, humans can ride a bike or run with the dog. Lots of fun!!

You can use anything you like! I frequently get gigles from judges when I call "Wobble" for the see saw!, Well see saw just takes way too long to say and they know exactly that wobble means it will move so go slow!!

Not a "puppy thing" more a teenager now! Would advise getting yourself some help to assess the situation and put a stop to it.

I second the reccomendation for Wing Tip, if my girls get hurt, I shall find him wherever he is, he cares so much and is very very good. Also very open to all options. He will explain well and he looks after his patients extremely well.

KCC Park State trial is august 2nd, National august 3rd. Open to the public. yes you can bring your dog (if VCA registered), but really it's such a busy day that they don't always enjoy it! people everywhere!. I guess it's nice to have the quiet dogs visiting but if they are excitable then best to stay at home. The top dog entry for the obedience is in state trial usually around lunchtime. Always very good to watch!

Just bring your wet weather shoes! The carpark which is unsealed has an enormous amount of water on it!!

No difference in setup than most clubs but the experienced trainers and a well set out foundation program is the big difference. The gear is expensive but would pay itself off, it's really the people skills. There are some amazing trainers out there but they only have so much time they can volunteer and the present clubs zap most of that out of them, some people donate so much time that it's often to the detriment of their own dogs. So many hanks goes out to those trainers.