Responsibilities Of A Good Labrador Retriever Breeder

The following 7 procedures and practices are recommended for Labrador Retriever breeders in order to help minimize the suffering by both dogs and their owners stemming from unwise breeding practices.

1. Select a male and female of at least 2 years of age. Both must be free of physical defects and obvious behavioral deficits such as hyperactivity, aggressiveness, shyness, excessive excitability or inhibition, or hyper-reactivity to sound or movements.

2. Examine the parentage and grand-parentage of the male and female for health and behavioral problems. If negative factors are found, do not breed the descendants.

3. Investigate the environmental history of the male’s and female’s parents and grandparents. Do not breed them if they are from strictly kennel environments or puppy mills.

4. Have blood samples analyzed. This analysis should be performed by a reliable veterinary diagnostic laboratory. The female must not be in estrus at the time of blood testing.

5. Do not breed the female Labrador Retriever if the blood analysis uncovers any abnormalities.

6. Have the male’s semen analyzed by a qualified veterinary reproduction laboratory.

7. Do not breed the female Labrador Retriever more than once every 2 years. These procedures help to assure reputable breeders that they are preventing further spread of heritable problems that may plague their breeds.

Dog owner who fired semiautomatic says he’s been portrayed as criminal 

AUBURN - Robert “Bob” Nix spent most of Tuesday behind bars following a dispute in which he fired an assault rifle after a nearby property owner shot Nix’s dog because it attacked the other man’s turkey.

Garden City stings bees 
GARDEN CITY — At long last, Judy Severin may retire the flyswatter she’s used to protect herself from about 50,000 honey bees that have bugged her for the past five years.

Judge: Half a Billion Reasons to Dismiss Scaife Scuffles 
Margaret Ritchie Scaife and her husband are currently locking horns in a sealed divorce battle, which involves the publishers reported $1.2 billion net worth. But the couples marital problems became public after two incidents involving police.

Listen To The Experts When Labrador Retriever Training

All Labrador Retriever owners want their puppies to grow up as well-behaved, intelligent dogs. But the owner also has his or her prejudices and opinions about how to train their pet.

Unfortunately, most owners rely on their own past experience, advice from friends and relatives, books, and rarely facts for guidance in shaping their dog’s personality. Many puppies develop into acceptable adults despite adverse owner handling and care, which is a tribute to their psychic resilience. However, hundreds of thousands of other dogs are returned to their breeder, given away to unsuspecting new owners, deliberately dropped off in new neighborhoods, or taken to the local pound - all due to a lack of responsible dog training advice by the experts.

A Labrador Retriever’s personality, either pleasant or nasty, is observed in the behavior displayed, which is a result of learning. Learning is that which is absorbed and retained from the pet’s interactions with the environment.

A Labrador’s brain functions mature by the age of 22 weeks. Therefore, compared to children, the effects of early puppy experience on adult behavioral tendencies is more easily controlled and its benefits more quickly recognized.

Every Labrador Retriever puppy owner should be aware of this rapid development so as to ensure careful early treatment.

Adopting A Labrador Retriever From A Shelter

When adopting a Labrador Retriever, the first thing you have to keep in mind is that Labrador Retrievers are dogs. A Labrador from a shelter is not really so different from his counterparts: he has the same basic physical and emotional needs and the same capacity to learn and love. But he is special, too, in ways you will want to be aware of. For one thing, he is very likely a unique combination of breeds.

The majority of shelter dogs are mixed-breeds, though some (more and more every year, in fact) are purebred. Some dogs can be easily identified as crosses of particular breeds while others defy all attempts at genealogy. One disadvantage to adopting a mixed-breed dog is the uncertainty it involves. If you adopt a puppy of unknown breeding, for instance, you may not know whether he will grow up to be big or small, active or lethargic, outgoing or reserved, hooked on herding or fond of fetching, which are characteristics that you might be better able to predict with a purebred. If your sights are firmly set on a particular breed and you can’t locate the breed you want at a shelter or through a breed rescue society, you may have to purchase a purebred puppy in order to get exactly what you want.

However, with so many wonderful dogs that are in need of good homes, you’ll surely be able to find one with most of the traits you are looking for. When you adopt a shelter Retriever, you also do not have the benefit of meeting his parents and knowing his family background. You won’t know, for example, whether his mother had health problems that he could have inherited. And you won’t know whether his father was extraordinarily hyper or high-strung. Therefore, you will have to be especially observant and savvy when you choose your shelter dog.

Heredity aside, keep in mind that your adopted Labrador Retriever may have some leftover physical or emotional scars that you will have to help him forget, even though his basic constitution will be, for the most part, strong and steady if you choose him intelligently. Many shelter dogs have had difficult beginnings and unpleasant pasts. Some have been abused; some have been neglected; all have been abandoned.

They may not be ready immediately to trust people, and who can blame them? Fortunately, Labrador Retrievers are very forgiving creatures, and they will almost always respond, sooner or later, to affectionate overtures. Keep in mind, then, that your adopted dog will need extra doses of love, understanding and patience as he learns to place his confidence in you.

Aug. 19 : Letters to the editor

Olympian - The recent story on two pit bulls (in reality a Labrador/pit bull mix and a mastiff mix) chasing and maybe killing loose A walk down my street is a gauntlet of loose, nasty retrievers and sheepdogs. The county commissioners don’t consider it a More

Commercial News - Like Labrador retrievers, Dalmatians have a reputation for being high-energy dogs. Jodie and James have worked out a system, though. When James gets off his job at Danville Mass Transit, he plays with the dogs for a while in the couple s huge More

WANE-TV - Next come labrador retrievers, followed by german shepherds. The summer heat can be a factor in aggressiveness in animals so animal care and control recommends keeping dogs inside whenever possible. Parents are also encouraged to make sure kids don More

Record Searchlight - In his free time, Fusaro liked to hunt pheasant and duck with his black Labrador retrievers and go fishing with friends. “It was in his blood,” John Fusaro said. “He lived for that.” When the guys went fishing, Dom Fusaro would wear “perfectly More

Sitnews - Yes they do bite people - but Labrador retrievers bite more people than pits do. We walk our dogs through town , when we get to the docks the tourist look at us. I have had people tell me that all American pits need to be killed More

Dog attack spurs hunt for animal owners 

After a Nipomo womans dog was viciously attacked by another dog in Nipomo Community Park, she hasnt walked alone in the park since.
Source: www.theadobepress.com

Lab rallies to championship 

Susan Jenkins trained Caleb, who took the top spot in the Advanced Rally competition at the All-Star Performance dog Championship. HIGHLAND SQUARE Susan and Lew Jenkins dog, Caleb, is a top dog.
Source: www.akron.com

READERS’ PETS Sadie W/PIC Looking good 
Sadie Rainbow Donaldson, 4½, is looking good. Her owner is Shari Donaldson of Bradenton.
Source: www.bradenton.com

Diet And Stress In Labrador Retrievers

Physical conditions that can create stress in your Labrador Retriever include surgery, pregnancy, mange, dermatitis, diabetes and other types of diseases. Some of the major social conditions that induce stress are monotony, inconsistent treatment by people, excessive activity, noise and changes in routines. Canine nutrition experts recommend that you should feed your stressed Labrador a high-protein diet with moderate amounts of fat and high-quality carbohydrate. Increased potassium in the diet further calmed excitable types if a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet was fed. However, this sort of dietary adjustment needs more serious investigations by canine nutritionists and behaviorists. One difficulty in assessing dietary effects on dog behavior lies in the fact that several days to several weeks are required before changes are noticeable. Because behavioral work involves external environmental and social changes as well as dietary adjustment, it is impossible to accurately assess dietary effects alone. However, the following dramatic changes in excitable animals when diets are adjusted by feeding properly supplemented higher protein and lower carbohydrate levels are: Conditioning to commands and signals is better retained and the dogs are less hyper-reactive to incidental, unexpected, startling stimuli from the environment, such as other dogs barking . These diets are supplemented with a high quality lti-vitamin/mineral/amino acid/enzyme product. The well-known detrimental effects on the nervous system and behavior in thiamine and niacin deficiencies are often revealed in poor conditioned reflex formation before they become clinically apparent. Therefore, it is good “insurance” when working with problem dogs to give a high quality supplement even though they appear to be healthy. Generations of domestic dogs have now evolved while eating exceptionally high carbohydrate diets. Until recently, the idea that this may have produced animals that are more susceptible to nutritional hyper-sensitivities has either been ignored or sometimes disclaimed by animal nutritionists. However, attitudes are changing, mainly due to pioneering clinical work and a commercial awakening to the growing market for specialized diets. While most Labrador owners feed their animals for economy, more and more of them are becoming quality conscious and seeking alternatives. So many specialized diets are appearing every year. However, applying certain principles can be helpful for problem dogs. If your Retriever displays personality changes such as sudden bursts of activity, avoidance of formerly appealing people or situations, hypersensitivity to sounds, light or touch, etc., and for which no compelling environmental-behavioral cause is apparent, then he is a candidate for an immediate, complete physical check-up and nutritional evaluation, and a combination of medical/nutritional/behavioral program.

Owners open wallets wider for ailing pets 

Sixteen-year-old Taki gazed up at Mary Ross and licked her face one final time. For nearly a year, the still-playful and energetic Maltese had battled a brain tumor, somehow pulling out one minor miracle after another.
Source: www.timesleader.com

Lab rallies to championship 
Susan Jenkins trained Caleb, who took the top spot in the Advanced Rally competition at the All-Star Performance dog Championship. HIGHLAND SQUARE Susan and Lew Jenkins dog, Caleb, is a top dog.
Source: www.akron.com

Quincy has his day in the sun at the Bald Eagle Kennel Club show 
LOYALSOCKVILLE The dog that probably received the most odd looks for his unusual coat took best of show at the 67th annual Bald Eagle Kennel Club all-breed show Sunday.
Source: www.sungazette.com

Doodle dandy 
The Simcoe Reformer What some people may see as a mutt, others may see as a perfect pet. Designer dogs, as they have been dubbed, are all the rage with pet owners.
Source: simcoereformer.ca

READERS’ PETS Sadie W/PIC Looking good 
Sadie Rainbow Donaldson, 4½, is looking good. Her owner is Shari Donaldson of Bradenton.
Source: www.bradenton.com