Hello - New here, soon to be Lab dad!

[Greg M]

Hi all, My wife and me will be getting our first Labrador on Dec. 26th from a local breeder. We are first time Lab owners and both first time dog owners so we are reading anything and everything we can in regards to diet, training, house proofing, crate sizing and use, etc. We haven't picked out a name yet for our soon to be family member but he will be of the chocolate variety. We have our appt. next weekend to actually select the puppy.

I hope to gain and contribute much information in the future here and getting to meet you all.

-Greg

[deidra]

Welcome!

[Sophiesmama]

Welcome to the forum Greg! How exciting! A new baby! We forum members are here to help with what you need, and to share our "war" stories with you! Labby's are a treasure and a handful all rolled into one! We had fun naming our chocolate. We call her Sophie, but her registered name is Cheyley's Cafe au Lait Sophia. Cafe au lait being french coffee with sugar and a little cream....she is sweet chocolate, so it fits her. As far as food goes, find out what the breeder is feeding, and if your pup is doing well on it, don't rock the boat. Especially at first. As questions arise give a yell and we'll help all we can....

[Tanya]

welcome.

the first person to ask all those questions is your breeder. they should be knowledgeable in dogs and their lines.

for food - feed what breeder is feeding for at least a few weeks. if it works, all the better.

get a crate! crate training is the way to go! get a bigger one and a partition to avoid buying more than one. 36" is the smallest i would get, if you can manage bigger than better!


the breeder should have asked you plenty of questions on the type of dog you want and your lifestyle to get an idea what puppy is the best fit and they should point those ones out - what you see from a short visit won't give you the best overall personality of the puppies (the laziest one may just be really tired when you see them and actually be the craziest).

make a vet apt for soon after the puppy comes home (within a week).

puppy should be 8 weeks when you bring them home (if not I would start asking questions).

Do the parents have all their clearances? Labs are unfortunately prone to MANY health issues - the best way to ensure the odds are on your side is to go with a puppy's who's parents have both been cleared of health issues (not done thru a vet check, these are specific tests and x-rays). hips, elbows, eyes, heart, cmn, eic.

look at training schools or teachers in your area, try to find a puppy class and sign up!

get vinegar or nature's miracle and LOTS of paper towels!

[tammyhuffman]

Congratulations on your new addition to be and welcome to the forum!

[Greg M]

Thank you all for the warm welcome, lots of good information from you guys right off the bat!

As far as crates go, do you find the wire type to be suitable? They seem to make these types in the larger sizes whereas the plastic type, not so much.

I found a breeder nearby that has been in business for many years, all puppies are "Guaranteed to be pure bred, registered with AKC, and that the Pedigree is correct to the best of their knowledge". The parents are on the premises and both looked healthy but that's just a quick observation of course. On the breeders website there is a page regarding the "Health Warranty" they offer but I hope I never have to use it. I will be taking the puppy to a vet during the first week for a verification of health check up. We are very excited

[Tanya]

do they do anything with their dogs (any competition)? doesn't sound like they do clearances either (not the kind of issue you can tell by "looking" at a dog) I guess it's too late to discuss what makes a good breeder if you have already decided, so I recommend you learn to make a more educated decision in the future (should you ever get another lab puppy).

wire is fine for a crate (I prefer wire). some dogs prefer the vari-kennel as it is more enclosed.

[Greg M]

Tanya, here is an excerpt from their website,

"We have been hunting with, training, and raising Labrador Retrievers since 1970. We are breeders of white, (light yellow), yellow, chocolate and black Labrador Retriever puppies. We strive to have intelligent, good looking, sound puppies with low-key temperaments, while maintaining an enthusiastic working ability. We live in Ontario, California which is near Los Angeles in southern California.

All of our dogs are OFA certified in their hips and elbows, and their eyes were cleared in March of 2010. Our puppies carry written Health Warranties including hips, are dewormed, all necessary vaccinations given, checked by a vet and are raised at our home.

All puppies sold are AKC Registered.

We can ship to any major airport within the 50 United States.

I would give you a direct link to the site but not sure if there are rules on here prohibiting that.

[Greg M]

Sophiesmama - Great looking lab you have there! I like the name too! How'd you fit the entire name of Cheyley's Cafe au Lait Sophia on the documentation?

[Sophiesmama]

Greg, you can use up to 36 characters, including spaces and apostrophies etc. I registered online. It will depend on the paperwork you get for your puppy. Your papers have to have a puppy number and a registration number. Some breeder's papers don't have these numbers and the papers have to be mailed in. When you go to the AKC website, there is a "name checker" so you can find out immediately if the name is available.