How to Choose a Lab Puppy
Puppy
Selection
This is the fun part!
You are an active participant and hold the final
decision as to which puppy you want. Through the use of
descriptions and photos, we will help you with your
selection.
Here’s how it works:
During your communications with us, we take
detailed notes as to what you desire in a pup. We are
with the pups every day, and can easily use your notes
to narrow the search. We then e-mail you the photos and
speak with you about the temperament of individual pups.
Each one is microchipped, so there is no
doubt as to proper identification. Once your selection
is made, if you are local, you can either take your
puppy or if you need to wait, we can look after your pup
until you are ready to take him/her. For those families
that are long distance, we would take the appropriate
steps to send the puppy to you.
Example of how to choose
LPM-10 Joe &
Misty Litter
Click each picture for a larger image.
Each puppy is listed by the last 3 digits of
their
microchip number.
|
 |
 |
| Female
#850 |
Female
#825 |
The female choice would be
either #850 or #825. This is based on the last 3-digits
of their microchip number.
You will find that professional
breeders have a keen eye regarding each and every pup.
The enormous amount of time spent with them will
outweigh any benefit you may have of seeing them in
person, though you are always welcome to do so. Even if
you spent all day with them, you would not have a true
picture of temperament. Don’t rely on the books that
promote puppy testing as the way to go. (Some books
recommend flipping the pup on its back, or holding it
down, to see if this is the “correct” pup). These
methods fail miserably, unless in search of a field
trial dog, and performed on numerous occasions by
professionals. In the event a pup is not desirable,
(that has never happened) we will be glad to float your
deposit to any other litter. We want you to end up with
the pup that will make you happy. Keep in mind that many
environmental issues will influence the attitude of your
pup. For example, crate training tends to produce a
hyper dog with little self-control. We will be glad to
work with you regarding the best methods for producing a
mentally healthy Labrador Retriever.
Seeing the parents
Photos of the parents
can be found under the current litter page. You will see a link
that says the parent name. You can also come for Retriever Fest,
held every six months, to meet the parents. (We have some of the
parents present at each event). You can rest assured that if the
Sire and Dam did not meet our strict criteria for health,
temperament, and looks, we would not have them as parents.
Y our
New Puppy
So, what will your first days with your new pup be like?
Crying
-
As they will miss their
kennel mates for the first few nights, you have two choices.
Sleep with them, or endure five or six nights of them crying
themselves to sleep. If you take the latter route, I don’t
recommend responding to their howling, or they will have you
trained! One night soon, they will figure out that the howling
is keeping them awake, and quit.
Call of Nature
-
As far as housebreaking, I often
have new owners
ask me how we
managed to train them
at such an early age. We don’t. They will naturally want
to go on something organic (like grass or straw). Place a
patch of straw outside where
you want them to go, and get them familiar with the location.
Then it will be up to the humans to read the proper signals! You
will not want to punish accidents – just reward good behavior.
Digestion system
-
Puppies have an extremely
sensitive stomach. Switching too fast or slamming to another
food can cause diarrhea (in some cases with blood)
vomiting, and in extreme cases, death. If a puppy gets a hold of
bark, leaves, paper towels, etc.. They can have an upset
stomach (when a puppy digests a foreign object, they could
develop diarrhea, and in some cases you may see a little blood
in the stool (At least this is an all natural material). This is
normally caused by the foreign material (the bowel of a puppy
will bleed very easily ( the saying is "trash mouths (meaning
they will eat anything) and baby stomachs (meaning very
sensitive) ", unlike humans the severity of this is low. Should
this occur, don't be alarmed.
Diet
-
I highly recommend spending the extra money, and using a super
premium. You will either spend the money in a good food now, or
in vet bills later. I use a super premium all natural food that
was developed by leading canine nutritionist Dr. Tom Willard,
PhD . We believe strongly
in quality nutrition.
The convince factor is excellent.
JaxMax.com
has the ability to schedule re-occurring deliveries on a
time frame you
can
decide on and modify.
This
food is not available in stores, and probably will never be
(as this food does not have
sugar and fillers to drive consumption) . It sure beats lugging
heavy bags of who knows what home! Most foods (yes, even some of
those highly advertised brands) use the cheapest
ingredients and fillers. They are also notorious for advertising
high protein. What they usually fail to mention is the lack of
digestible protein. After all, your dog can’t tell you. (Another
advantage to using a food with little or no fillers is less dog
mess in the yard).
www.JaxMax.com
Toys -
Everyone loves to shop for their new
puppy! Some things you have to watch out for are buying
"contaminated-products". The leading pet supply warehouses that
allow pet in the building, can lead to the spread of the deadly
puppy virus known as Parvo. If you would like to purchase you
puppy chew toys and pet paraphernalia, you can go a couple of
different ways.
- Purchase
from an online store ( For this reason, we have established
a partnership with
www.JaxMax.com
for our customers).a retailer that does not allow pets in
the building.
- You can sterilize the products you
already purchased with a
- 15% bleach solution. ( Note: This
increases the risk of you puppy catching a virus ).
Disposition
-
Labs
are known for their love of humans, and thus make great
family dogs. They are chewers by nature, but with some
gentle guidance will
learn what is OK to chew. The worst thing
you could do is
to punish them for
this act. Simply take your television
out of their mouth, and
replace it with a piece of wood. They
will need attention, such as walking, or
swimming. They traditionally
show a love of water and retrieving. You and a tennis ball will
be their best friends. As they have a need for space and
exercise,
they are not ideal
apartment dogs. To put one in an airline
kennel while going to
work, or tethering
one to a chain is unthinkable.
Obedience Training
-
There are a couple of routes to
take here. You can
send them to
obedience school, or train them yourselves. You
can train them as a gun dog for serious hunting, or as a
family pet with a few
simple commands. You can
customize your own program. I
use a great book called
WATER DOG by Richard A. Wolters.
Inside or Outside?
Of course, your dog will almost always
want to be with his/her human family. The ideal situation is for
them to have a choice. As they have thick coats, they can cope
with fairly cold weather,
as long as you will provide them with a
draft free place. For
summer, a child’s pool will earn
you doggie licks!
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