**Super_Dogs**

This morning I noticed my Rotty is squinting and closing her eyes. She can open them her eyes, but not fully. She mostly is squinting or has her eyes closed. Her eyes do not look swollen. She is eating and her behaviour this morning has been normal. I only noticed as her head banged into the wall.......she must have had her eyes shut. Has anyone has an experience with something like this? Did you work out what it was? Did it just get better? Thanks

I have no experience with this, but I was given some advice as I was thinking of mating my two. I was told it is best to keep them apart until your bitch is ready. The reason for this is because when the boy tries and the bitch is not ready, which you can be fairly sure will happen, she will get up him. If this happens a few times the boy may just give up.

One of my dogs also have "issues" with small white dogs. She has had this issue since she was very young. At training when she was younger she was be under control in a stay then suddenly bolt to the small white dog. I spoke to my trainer about it and she said much the same as Nekhbet has said. My dog would respond to the erratic behaviour, she would then run over and the dog would bark, which is a squeeky bark, exciting my dog further. What I noticed with my dog it was an equisitive response, but to the other dog owner they interpreteted in as aggressive. Also unfortunelty the dog owners I has experiences with at the dog park did not help this situation by picking up their dog and getting in a tizz. They would response like this as soon as my dog started running over!! One day when I was at the dog park and this happen, the lady who owned the small dog was there with her brother. When she picked up her dog her brother got up her telling her she is making the situation worse. It does not help that my dog with these issues is a Rotty (a breed alot of people are unsure about). If I am at the dog park and a dog arrives that I know my dog will respond to like this I watch my dog closely and as soon as she gets that look......I just leave.

I know this would be annoying, but when I read the topic I had a laugh . As others have said they usually go back to the same spot because when they have gone once it leave a smell. You need to give it a really really good clean with something that will get rid of the odour and bacteria, not just mask it. Good luck.

That is so true!! Labs are really easy to train .......... but they have to be trained

Agree.

Only you know what is best for your family. It is great to ask questions, but remember everyone has a different opinion. Yes dogs can be expensive, but you can save money by shopping around and being sensible. Trust me with 4 large dogs I know!! I love labs and think they are the best dog ever. They are friendly, easy to train, devoted........the list goes on. Lab puppies are bouncy and lab puppies are mouthy. However, some more than others. I don't have children, but when my dogs are with my nieces and nephews who are ages 1 to 6 they are fantastic!! Naturally so gentle. The only thing I have to watch is when my young dogs get over excited, the mouthing/nipping. The fantastic thing about labs is they are so easy to train. I only spend 5 mins every day (or every second day) training my puppy and she is 8 months and is working in obedience classes of lead. I have trained dogs before, so I do know what I am doing, but there are so many great books if you are willing to learn yourself. I personally find training my dogs very rewarding. I recommend taking your dog to formal obedience class for a min of 1 year. This one year investment will a lifelong difference.

So important when young children involved!

There are alot of people that cope no problem with a lab puppy and small children. My last litter several of my puppies went to families with small children and the puppies have been wonderful :D . IMO the biggest consideration for any puppy is time as puppies are hard work. So the question is "Do you have the time to spend time with your puppy and train your puppy?" When you have several young children for some this is no, where others actually have more time as they are an at home parent. As most of you training a lab is sooo important and even more so when there is children involved. If you don't have the time to train your puppy it is best to wait. So my advice is research the challenges, as well as the good points about the breed. Then be patient and wait for the right litter and the right puppy. Yes labs are boisterous, but some more than others!

You will want a small collar go for the puppy collars used by breeders for little babies! Try Here This site you can buy them individually - other sites you have to buy a pack. I use these collars as the quality is great!! If you want to make the collar more exciting they can put paw prints on it for you

Growing up one of our boys, a golden, was rather messy and would work leave marks up the walls. Yuk! I am very grateful my current boy is not like this. It seems so boys are just messier than others!

Unfortunetly what I know about it has a bad ending. A beautiful 12 week old baby I knew got this as a secondary disease. So she was already very sick and with this also she had to be PTS. Sorry this is not a good news story. When I read about it at the time I did read that the disease on its own (when not a secondady) can be managed. I hope this is the case with your baby.

My last litter, after costs I was left with about $1500 also. But then there is the loss of income from my day job - so profit = zero! This was an easy litter. If there was complications I would have lost money as others have mentioned they have. Then there is the blood, sweat and tears (many tears ). When we had the litter people would ask how much we where selling them for, count the number of puppies and you could see their eyes light up $$$. I would then tell them we are breaking even - there jaw would hit the ground. Until you do it - you just do not realise how much it costs. I am sure there are ways to cut costs, but I want the best for my bitch, the puppies and the new owners.

I have a "plan" for the next 2 years. Plan being, if all things go to plan.....with mating, testing etc etc etc.

Currently my pup, 8 months, is left inside with another one of my dog while I am work (fencing issues!!). Everyday before I go I shut every door and put everything up high. When I get home everyday I walk around to find what she has destroyed (not if she has!). It is a good day when it is just an empty box. The other day I was out for 10 minutes and she pulled my handbag off the table, pulled everything out and chewed my purse. But.......she is so cute!!! (Can't you tell my looking at her she is trouble ;))

Not essential to crate train - but I tell you the best think I have ever done!!! I don't have kids, but I can imagine it would be so useful. My youngest dogs are crate trained and my pup I crate trained properly following Susan Garrett’s method. She has a DVD called crate games which I HIGHLY recommend!! To give an example of how useful it is at training I stay back after the class and help out. While I am doing this I leave my pup in the crate. She is so relaxed in her crate that she does not fuss, no crying - nothing. I makes taking your dog places a pleasant experience. Also very handy when popping out for a few hours - you know you are not going to come home to puppy destuction!!! It is also very handy if you have any plans to travel with your dog. I would without question crate train my next dog. As previously mentioned don't get the fabric crate for your puppy - as we know they love to chew and may wreck it. I have a wire crate that is collapsible and when my dogs get other when we go out I use the fabric crates (alot easier to cart around).

I agree with this. I had 3 for 2.5 years and there was always one dog left out as they prefer to play with one other dog, not 2. This year we added number 4 and they now always have someone to play with. It is not always the same dogs playing with each other, however I have noticed they do usually play the same games with each dog and each play different games with each other. Also means no-one is ever left home alone as I never take more than 2 out with me. 4 is a good number!!

Yes the blue one i have is massive. This is the one I am using now......still having problems though. I got this as the one in the middle did not hold enough.

I just brought one of these! Glad to hear it is good :D

I am having problems with a little piggy labrador who is making herself sick becasue she eats way too quickly. I have been using a few different slow down bowls but wondered is anyone has found any to work better than others. The problem I have found is the food on top if easy to get to so she gulps this up quicky therefore not solving the problem. Here are the pictures of the bowls I have tried using. Any recommendations for others to try?

Thanks for your replies. :D I too think it is because she is eating way too quickly!! I did at one stage think about talking to the vet, but the go slow bowel stopped the problem at the time. Before I changed to the larger go slow bowl I would put half her food in the bowl and then put the other half in when she had finished. I might try this again. Even though the go slow bowls are great, they can still eat the food on top quickly. Elevating the bowel is a good idea - not quite sure how I will do this though. I know you can get stands, but these are for normal bowls, not the go slow ones. I might start recording when it happens and how I feed her to see it I can pick a trend. I wonder is different types of bowls are better. I might put up a new post for recommendations.

My 8 month old pup sometimes will vomit after eating. She starting doing this when she was young when I stopped putting water on her dry food. I thought it was because she was eating way to quickly (would call it inhaling not eating!!) so I brought her a go slow bowel. This seems to have worked, but still ocassionally she still vomits after eating. When she gets towards the end of the food she has a strange look on her face then runs off and vomits some of her food up then eats it again. So because it was still happpening I brought the larger size go slow bowel as the medium one has a layer of food on the top she could inhale. So we now have a massive go slow bowel. It solved the problem initially, but it is still happening every now and then. There is not pattern to when this happens. Every now and then she will do this for a couple of days in a row and then it will stop. Does anyone have any suggestions as to why she is going this?

yep - price doesn't guarantee anything, at least with a healthy good scoring dog you have the right foundation. I agree. Also look at the parents - do you like the look of them? Also what do you want to do with your dog? Do you want to show or train it obedience, agility or dog sports? If yes, you would be best getting a puppy from a litter who have parents that perform in the area you are interested in.

I agree. Expecially when pet shops are selling puppies for close to $1000.