Is there any of you outhere that have used METACAM? Can you share any information with me ragarding this treatment? It would be greatly appreciated.

searching for stud dog dark prince charming durham area

hi, iv got a lovely 3yr old choc lab with short legs and chunky head that i would like to breed although i dont know how to go about this im hoping someone could giv me a few pointers, we have all relevent paper work for him both his parents were working dogs although ours is just a family dog he has excellent temprament very good with kids very well manerd trained off lead etc any info gratfully recieved were in ipswich area suffolk

I have and 3 year old lab that belches a lot, took her to the vet, vet could not find anything wrong with her. Said to feed her with one of those bowls that makes them eat slower, we have tried that, she is still belching, she belches so bad sometime it comes up in her thoat. Has anyone else had this problem with their lab? Would like to have any imput that you may have.
Thank you

We have just got a gorgeous chocolate pup ( male ), only 5 days old so won't get him until march ( which we cannot wait for). He comes with all papers and everything and parents were on site. He has a small white flash on his chest. My question is, Is this a problem or is it more common than i think? and also will it effect him in the future? Ive just never seen it before thats all.
Thankyou in advance. Gemma

Hi - i have a 7 month chocolate lab (Arthur) who has developed a limp on his left front leg. My vet is of the opinion that it is OCD although we havent had xrays yet to confirm as we are trying anti inflammatories, supplements and rest first. Unfortunately, things dont seem to be getting any better. I have spoken to the vet about the operation and have decided that this is the way forward for Arthur (assuming that xrays confirm OCD), however, i am a little concerned about having the operation while he is still growing and to my mind problems could arise again. Is it okay to wait until he is fully grown to have the operation?
Thank you

i have a 2yr old bitch who has started pooping in her cage and the kitchen very regulary. its been every night since monday she done it and also twice during the day when i had to nip out. she is fed in the morning. she is let out first thing in the morning and whenever she nts during the day as im not working as on maternity leave (baby 6mnths old so beenhere a while b4 this prob started)she also let out for half an hour before bed time to. she used to do it every now n again before she started doing it regularly. please help with any advise as this is a last resort before we have to part with her as its not hygeinic with us having 3 kids aged 7 5 and 6mnths i dont want baby crawling in poo accidentaly. thanx in advance

We recently collected 'Bournville' our now 9 week choc lab pupster, he is adorable and already a real character. We have been feeding Beta Puppy Lamb and Rice as the breeder had weaned him on this, no problems so far other than how much to give him, he is still on 4 meals per day (8am, 12, 4pm and 8pm)but i am confused by the feeding guidelines on the packaging, it states expected adult weight, I have assumed this will be approx 30/35kg and at 6 weeks to 3 months they recommend between 210 to 580 grms per day, thats a big difference, we are currently feeding him 100 grms, 4 times per day which is 400 grms total but he eats it in 2 minutes, is this considered the right amount?
In 11 days of being with us he has learned to do his business outside, sit when commanded, give his paw, fetch etc... which we are delighted about but he is insistant on biting me and my clothes, a firm tap on his nose is follwed by a bigger bite and he is breaking the skin if he catches me off guard, i have tried ignoring him, saying ouch etc but he still is intent on having a chunk of me, I seem to have suceeded in the other elements of his training but I can't find a solution to this, any ideas would be welcomed before I look like a teabag!

Thanks Amanda and Bournville

Hi there my 2 year old chocolate lab was diagnosed with hip dysplasia before christmas and our vets hydrotherapy pool closed after he had completed 9 swims.... The vet noticed a big difference in the muscle tone and recommended further swims. By chance I was looking for a boarding kennel recommended by my friend when I saw that they had a hydrotherapy pool at the kennels. Today was his first swim at the new place, and he loved it, the set up is very professional and we are going bk again on Friday, each swim costs about 20.50 including vat, and can be in block bookings of ten sessions. Also dogs can swim for fun and they hold pool parties!!!

The trained hydrotherapist is Jen Stewart, she works most days other than a sunday and later bookings are also available. If your dog has similar health problems to mine and you live in South Lanarkshire then I would recommend you go along to Allers Farm, Stoneymeadow Road, High Blantyre, 01698 820238.... hydrotherapy pools are hard to find, and this is a good size pool compared to my vets, well heated within a clean environment!!! NO HOISTS are used, life jackets supplied and Jen gets in the water too....They do have a web site but don't seem to advertise.

Now my lab has found a new pool he no longer needs the Metacam or surgery!!! Direct Line insurance Advanced policy pays for 10 swims at 25 pounds each, but if your vet recommends more then I haven't had a problem with getting the insurance to pay out.

hope this info is useful

Gill

I have a little lab who is 11 weeks old we have had her a week now and she is settling in lovely, but i need help with getting her to stop jumping up all the time, i know she is only young but i wanted to nip this problem in the bud whilst she is young as i have a young child. I also dont want her to be one of those dogs who scares people by jumping on them any ideas? Ive tried giving her treats when i tell her to get down and she listens but its like a game to her, as she then jumps up then straight back down and sits down to wait for her treat before ive had chance to tell her to get down, any advice would be great thanks

Hi everyone
We have an 18 month old choc lab bitch and in May last year we got another pup from same mum and dad so we now have have her 7 month old brother as well. We had Tasha spayed at 12 months old and we are now looking to have Toby castrated. What is the best age for this, does anyone know? He has only just started to show a very slight interest in trying to mount his sister (only tried a couple of times and didn't really know what he was doing!) They have always got on very well but Tasha does tend to let Toby have all his own way. This morning for the first time he showed a bit of aggresion towards her. Should I nip this behaviour in the bud now and have him castrated fairly soon?
Also, I have made a rod for my own back without realising it - the little one has never been out on his own or done anything without his sister there and I know I need to start doing things with them on their own so he becomes more independant. If he can't see her for a couple of minutes he starts crying and gets distressed and when my husband comes out with me walking with them at the weekends, Toby is constantly looking behind him to see where we are, I don't know if he is looking for me or his sister. How can I start making him more independant without causing him distress (note here I am trying to minimise distress to him but at the same time I am having his b*** chopped off - a bit contradictory I know!!!)
Any advice would be much appreciated - absolutely brilliant website amd message board, I think it has saved the sanity of a lot of lab owners.

Hi, i have bought a gorgeous little Chocolate Labrador puppy and am going to be picking him up this friday @ 7 weeks old. i have made a lovely home for him with toys, beds, and a cage for the car, i have also made the back yard suitable so he has his own little exercise area.. he is a male puppy from good parents... my concerns are... i am going away in 3 weeks to Egypt for a week and my girlfriend will be looking after him at her place, she is going to take his bed/cage/toys etc.. will this cause confusion? he will know my girlfriend but he will be kept at my house until i go on my holiday....

question 2...

I am due to go back to work in April... (until then i am only doing maybe 1 shift every 2 weeks) my work is night work in where i am security at a holiday park... and will be working 7pm until roughly 2am... my puppy will then only be around 5 months old... would it be best to take him with me as i walk around and drive around a lot at work or leave him at home? as i work nights would he sleep through this if left at home? he will be totally spoilt every minute im home and would love to be able to take him with me to work for companionship but am not sure if this will be too much for him?..... sorry for the awkward questions

Jay

I have a 4 year Chocolate, who over the last 4 months keep getting a rash on her tummy, starting red and warm to touch then turning purple and flaky when starting to heal. We have been to the Vets , 3 times, they first thought it was hayfever so treated with piriton and creams then to be told they didn't have a clue and would have to do bloods and skin allegy testing. She's has steriod jabs, creams, sprays and antibotics but nothing seems to work longterm. Her bedding is washed with non-bio we have no carpets downstairs so could elimate dust bites etc. Has anybody had any similar experiences. She is starting to show signs of aggression towards my husband especially if disturbed when asleep which is so out of nature - but can understand her frustration and discomfort.

Hello,
I am looking to provide a very good home for a chocolate lab puppy. Ideally available now. I live in Bristol so ideally within 100 miles. Not sure what it is about the South West but all the chocolate labs seem to be bred in the north! Please get in touch if you have any for sale. Many thanks, Sarah

My girlie, Button is almost a year. For the last few days she has refused her food which is unheard of! We changed it to see if that would help and she did eat some of the new stuff last night, however she refused it again this morning.
She has had an upset tummy but is happy and playful enough in herself.
I'm mnore worried because she is due to spend the weekend in kennels.
Any advice/thoughts? Thanks.

We have a seven month old chocolate lab. He has recently started to become more aggresive toward us. He barks and snaps at us (mainly me) when we are sitting down. Is this just a phase they go through, or how can I corrct this behaviour.

Also he pulls on the lead we have tried; canny collars, slip leads and walking with food to heel.
But nothing seems to work.

Hi everyone,, im getting a lab pup in the new year from a very good breeder, what i wanted to know was which pet insurance company is the best, ive trawled through pages of fine print and am still none the wiser any help would be appreciated

we have a beautiful choc lab smudge whos 2 and have recently been thinking about breeding her. we want to try and find out as m uch info on breeding as possible as we dont know anything. any information would be greatfully appreciated. i would also like to say what a fantastic site this is reading some of the posts took me back to when we first had her, all the chewing shoes, phone chargers, books, money, tables, walls oh the joys of chocolate labs lol

I have a 7 yr. old black lab called Chomper. A fantastic dog in every way but has a slight problem. He has always tended to 'drip' every
now and again from his penis. The vet when I asked about it just dismissed the problem which wasn't very helpful. Is this a common
problem with labs? I'm having to shampoo the carpets every 10 days or so which is a bit of a pain. I haven't seen any information anywhere
about this problem. I got him from a well respected breeder as a puppy so there are no abuse issues that might be bothering him. Any help
would be great. Thank you. I will keep the carpet covered in the meantime! :-)

Hi,i have a gorgeous male 4 1/2 month old choc lab Max.He gets fed in the morning and evening and walked twice a day..The only thing is he has started eating his poo in the mornings usually.we have him on Pets at home dry puppy food for large dogs... Hope someone has some advice for me..

hi I'm hoping to get my first lab puppy soon and have done a lot of research but am still not sure on the hip score issue. I am only looking at Kennel Club registered breeders at the moment. A litter has a dam with a total hip score of 30, 20 one side, 10 the other. The sire has a total score of 6. Is this bad? I read that 16 or less was average but how much is inherited from the dam and how much from the sire? Are these puppies likely to have problems. All advice welcomed. Thank you.

Hi,

Im wondering if anyone can help, my partner and i rescued a chocolate lab when she was 8 months old from a friend who could no longer keep her. The only problem was that the papers given to her by the breeder to send off were never sent and have since been lost by the orginal owner of my lab. I have tried in vain to try and track the breeder by contacting the kennel club and the loot news paper (which is were the dog was advertised) and also rang up breeders in the area of which i think the dog came from, however i have had no luck so far. The only information i have to go on is that the labrador came from either the Wrexham or Chester area and her date of birth is the 8th February 2008. I realsise that this is a long shot to find the breeder but i would really like to get the dog registered properly and get her papers (which i dont even know if its possible to do so after such a long time) as maybe in the future i would consider breeding her as she is such a lovely dog it would be wonderful for her to have pups of her own and for us to be able to keep one.

I would be very grateful of any help or advice.

Thanks
Zara

Hi my seven month old choc lab is driving me crazy, i get up every morning to her having messed in her crate,she goes out last thing at night around 11pm and i am up at 7.30 in the morning, she has her last meal around 6pm. is it that she is being feed to late or is she just still behaving like a normal puppy? please help...

I have a 10 month old chocolate labrador and she sleeps in a cage at night but she is out during the day. She was in the front room but she howled in the night so we put her in the garage but she is still howling and not just during the night. If the house is empty she will howl until somebody comes home. Our other dog doesnt do this and we are not sure on how to cure her problems. Any help would be much appreciated.

My chocolate lab puppy is almost 4 months old and I've noticed grey hair patches on her tail and a few bits on her back. She is a full pedigree. I'm a bit worried that i'm going to have a lab that looks about 10 before she is even 6 months old. Has anyone else experienced this and do the hairs molt and come back grey?

can anyone help, I have just noticed that my 16 month old black lab has a red grape like mark at his bottom. He is trying to lick it and it appears to be bothering him, could this be his glands?? I have bathed them to clean the area, can anyone advise what to do, i ve had male dogs before but never saw this, my other lab is fine

Hi, hope somone can help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a 14month old Chocolate Lab, he has suddenly started to chew anything wooden? how do I get him out of it. He sleeps in a cage at night but in the day we let him have the run of the downstairs, this started about two weeks ago we have blocked off the lounge so he cant chew any more in there so he has now started in the dining room, does any one have any advise how we can stop it??
Thanks for reading, Julia.

my 6 month old lab keeps being sick after EVERY drink of water. Its only fluid that he brings up never food. Can any1 offer me sum advice.

My 3yr old chocolate labrador 'Bruno', has started having his eyes weeping, a sort of conjunctivioutus. Has anyone know of any causes and the best form of treatment for him?

have wonderful older lab (10 years old almost 11 ) . He is a heavy lab 100lbs .start last year with bad hips.. now due to the fact of chasing a deer he blew his ligament in the back right leg / knee joint.
now its been 6 wks he is limited to controled walks . short distances.
is it worth doing the surgery to repair , or just keep him on controled walks...

has any one dealt with this surgery and recovery before?

thoughts

Hi can anyone help I have a 11 month old chocolate lab who wont jump in the back of the car ? as anybody any suggestions we have tried treats to coax him in my friends dog even jumped in the back but he still wont jump in himself he weighs 37 kg so he is quite heavy to lift has anybody any suggestions ?

Hi All
Hey, what a great website.
We acquired Oscar at age 12 weeks. We had lost our darling boxer aged 13 (amazing age for a boxer) about 6 weeks before. I wasn't keen on getting another dog so quickly, and if and when I did get one it was going to be another boxer.
However, my dear brother felt sorry for my hubby and I and told us his friend had a litter of choc labs and we could go and pick one if we wanted and he would pay for it. Well, when you go and visit a litter of 7 choc brown bundles of fur who clamber over you nipping and licking you could you resist...?
Anyway Oscar is now 4 months old and a nutcase to say the least. I was warned I have to admit but didn't realise just how loony these muts are lol.
He is gorgeous, he has grown so quickly and although a rascal is a real character and a very quick learner.
I am having a problem with his diet. I started him on Royal Canin puppy which was recommended by the vet when she saw him at age 12 weeks. His pooh became loose and runny. However I continued with it. I was using the food for a few weeks and when it ran out I went back to vet for more food and the receptionist recommended the junior Royal Canin due to Oscar's gain in weight. This food proved no better and he still had loose pooh.
Took him to vet and she said it is a matter of trial and error and that the dog is completely healthy (which he is).
So I have tried him on a cheaper make of dried food - Bakers Complete, an expensive canned food, James Wellbeloved puppy food, and Iams. None of these have helped the loose stools. I have just today put him on chicken and rice and will continue this for a few days to see how he gets on.
I do need to find the right food for this dog because although he is very well, energetic, happy and playful etc etc - the loose pooh issue is very embarrassing when trying to pick it up from the street. As he is a young dog he can't always wait until we get to the wood for his walkies.
The dog drinks like a fish, I have never seen a dog drink like he does. I know dogs are inclined to drink loads when on dry food but he drinks loads even when I give him meat and rice. Is this normal?
Other problems: I have two cats, one ginger who is very territorial and master of the house and a timid tortoiseshell who is slightly nervous. The dog being a pup wants to play with the cats and chases them around the house barking at them. The ginger cat will hiss and spit, - back arched high and he just stands his ground. However, today Oscar went like some maniac on an illicit drug (!!!) and chased the cat around the house at the speed of a greyhound - into the garden and the cat was forced to jump on top of the shed. Now, we have a busy road outside and the cat could have run into the road with shere fear. The cats are clever and don't go near the road at all but being chased by a lunatic brown monster they may/ What on earth do I do?? How do Imake Oscar realise that geriatric cats do not want to play the chasing game? Oh the joys of the chocolate lab eh.
Right, that's me for now.
One last thing, Oscar has dandruff - too scared to add any oil to his diet because of the loose pooh issue.
Thanks for reading.
Yvonne

Hi, seen your comments re. barking but...
I have 3 dogs - if they see someone outside the window or hear anything then one starts barking and so do all the rest, it is a din - if I am there I shout and they shut up but its the poor neighbours i worry about when i am not in. i was off sick the other day and husband left at 7am - i was in bed and later they all started barking and then howling! really not sure what to do. yes good to bark re burglars but it is at the slightest thing and i dont want to get or the dogs to get an asbo!!!
Any help suggested would be great thank you

Our dog is outside in the day, he has got toys and bones to chew but he has chewed the outlet pipe for the washing machine and the waste pipe from the sink which are both on the wall outside. Is there any spray or anything i can put on them to stop him chewing??? Please help!!

I have a choc lab, he is nearly 3 years old. He seems to be constantly shedding. I have bathed him and groom him often, but does not seem to help. Have heard eve primrose capsules may help, has anyone tried this or would recommend it??

I would like to thank everyone who has wrote about lab puppies we are hoping to get one in the near future, not sure what colour as yet. Some friends of ours has a black lab boy hes the butes..... we have two cats so please if anyone knows that they get on with cats please email me once again thank you for the helpful tips

Louis a he not a she - we were thinking we get a girl but the only choc was male - I still forget .

Posted the other day see vomiting - now resolved.
Anyway - new puppy - male choc lab gorgeous !! However he's my 1st pup and despite dpoing research for ages I'm still finding my feet and need to know if I'm doing ok - and he's doing ok.
I have a toddler son and slightly older girl and Louis our pup (8wks - brand new !) will at times when excited nip and bite skin and clothes which though i understand is normal - we clearly dont want . So ... I go with the method of yelp/ouch and turn away ignore which with me works and sometimes with the kids too though on occasion i have to pull her off especially when it's clothes. Am I going the right way and eventually she'll learn ?
The turning away and ignoring seems to help with jumping up.
Any advice appreciated especially as today my eldest in tears as the bite was hard and left a mark.
Obviously I supervise them all together and seperate when I need to leave the room -Louis is quick though !
Thanks

Need some advice here . We got our choc lab the other day and he has brought up his food on a couple of occasions. I try to make him rest for as much as poss after eating (although he goes into garden straight after for a pee ) . His last throwing up episode was 2 hrs after he ate and it was simply his doggy food.
First off he wants to eat it right back up and a bit agitated that I dont (should I let him??) secondly should I re feed him seeing as that feed wont of actually done anything for him ?
Also why is he doing it - stress of new home ? too much play ? Any tips on stopping it or is it actually serious ?
Other than that he's fine - eats well and just a typical lab pup .
Advice appreciated .
Thanks .

Hello, I pick my new choc lab puppy up soon and have started to purchase a few things in readiness for his arrival.
But what type of lead should I be purchasing and in what material !! I've always disliked the ones that clip directly to the collar and much prefer the slip type ones that go directly around the dogs neck. Can anyone offer any thoughts or recommendations on collars and leads.