[Leri]

Never had a lab before but my husband has (he says they break your heart). My daughter wanted one so here she is. Cadi our nine week old choc lab pup. So far an angel :-)
Any training or keeping tips or advice happily received - thank you :-)
She will be house dog, family pet but also working gun dog. We have six other dogs - outdoor/kennel/utility room dogs - spaniels and sheepdogs.

[Sandy]

Wonderful, we have 4
 

[Rosemary]

She's lovely 

[Old Shep]

What a lovely puppy - she looks as if she will be very well loved  

[Sandy]

All I can say is our labs are so easy to train as they love thier food. Our chocolate one sticks to me like glue on her walks, she joins the others but then comes back. Our 2 young ones are 18 mths and still will destroy my things like socks, pens, glasses, plastic stuff, not taken shoes since they were young. Labs often chew plaster off walls if they get board, also wood stuff like table legs, the closer the strain to working dogs the more board they get but with other dogs and children you should be fine.....usualy they grow up and chew no more but don't hold me to that one!!!!!!!!!! We are very proud of our Labs and your little Chocolate drop looks ace!!!!! Oh keep the pup on puppy food for as long as poss, around 12-18mths as they need to grow good strong bones!!!

[Leri]

Thank you :-)
She's got working blood on her mother's side and show blood on her father's side. Mother is a lovely sleek black lab, father choc. She eats little and often at the moment - going back and to to her bowl for little bits, she is on dry puppy food. She can 'sit' and will 'fetch' a ball. Got to teach kids to teach her 'dead' instead of drop it like they have with our other dog. She is quiet at night, quietens down once all lights are out - think we have been very lucky. She doesn't seem scared of anything - her curiosity has caused a few clatters but she takes it all in her stride :-)
Think she is going to be a pleasure 

[jaykay]

Both puppy and daughter are beautiful!

My first two dogs when i set up home myself were litter-mate sister labs. They chewed everything, including chair spars, were very affectionate, playful and easily trained. I think you're going to have great fun with her 

[doganjo]

Thank you :-)
She's got working blood on her mother's side and show blood on her father's side. Mother is a lovely sleek black lab, father choc. She eats little and often at the moment - going back and to to her bowl for little bits, she is on dry puppy food. She can 'sit' and will 'fetch' a ball. Got to teach kids to teach her 'dead' instead of drop it like they have with our other dog. She is quiet at night, quietens down once all lights are out - think we have been very lucky. She doesn't seem scared of anything - her curiosity has caused a few clatters but she takes it all in her stride :-)
Think she is going to be a pleasure 

She looks lovely!  'Dead' means 'put it into my hand' remember, not 'drop it on the floor'! So the kids must learn that whatever she brings them must be taken from her with thanks and without worrying how disgusting it is.    Don't grab things from her, encourage her to place them in your hand, eventually getting her sit first.  The 'hold' command is a good one to teach in the early stages so she learns to hold onto the retrieve article until you are ready to take it.   Tell the children never to chase her - always to run away from her.  They can play hide and seek - they can hide from her and call her so she learns to hunt for them.  She will eventually ahve to elarn spcific retreive commands - long straight retrieves, hidden retrieves, memory retrieves, split retrieves, but if your husband shoots he will know all that.  A good retriever trainer will be worth paying for.  She will also need to learn sit/stays as Labradors sometiems have to sit still for long periods on a shoot and it can be dangerous for them to roam even short distances.   Obvioulsy she must ealrn the 'emergency stop' as all dgos should, adn also an instant recall.
There are a lot of excellent gundog training books around.  A well trained gundog is worth it's weight in gold. Have fun and enjoy training her!

[little blue]

she's gorgeous ... I love chocolate Labs! 

[Sandy]

Your daughter is beautiful too!!!!Our chocolate Lab is more strongly built than my others with a wide head, she always brings me something when out on a walk, tonight, a small dead frog!!!

[Old Shep]

Just a thought - you probably already know this, so forgive me, but keep a check on how much exercise she gets for the first 9-12 months. I think its 5 mins per month of age, eg 3 months old only 15 minutes etc.. Just gives time for hips, elbows etc to get strong. Especially important for big dogs like labs and setters etc.

[Sandy]

That is important, some people forget the need for thier pups to sleep as well....they should not go up and down stairs until mature either....although sometimes that just happens but it puts a strain on thier hips etc!!!

[Fronhaul]

And save all worn out, single and shrunken socks.  Stuffed socks make wonderful toys/retrieving dummies for labs. 

She looks gorgeous and you will I am sure have great fun with her. 

Oh and no other breed has the ability to clear a low table with one sweep of the tail more effectively than a Lab.  Not even my Pointers who can do a fairly efficient table clearing job!

[faith0504]

oh she is adorable 

[SallyintNorth]

Beautiful!  (Pup and daughter both.)

My BIL has a gorgeous talented working red lab.  I am told that as my BIL is not a great shot, the dog has decided to retrieve for everyone else otherwise he gets long boring days...