New Pup!

[DaSwede]

Bobby, what are your methods for house training for Duncan. so far not so bad with Lucy but she had a couple of in house hit's. i blame myself fot that more than her. i showed lucy the spot where she left her deposit and gave a gentle swat with rolles up paper on her butt. is that a good method? thanks good luck.

I found the best way to potty train them is to take them out very frequently and then reward the heck out of them. Verbal praise/treat, whatever. They will have some accidents still, never met one that didn't, but you can minimize it. They learn pretty darn fast that going outside to potty is well worth it. Good luck! My next lab pup is will be arriving next spring/early summer.

[reinhard1]

this pup has been a huge blessing to me. i'm retired so i do have the time to take care of her [and my wife's mother] properly. i do feel like a rookie all over again with a new pup but it's comming back to me real quick. i do take her out often and we have a big back yard with over 4 acres of woods [mostly oaks] with the first acre fenced in. so she has running room and all sorts of things to find to put in her mouth. i do reward her with praise and a treat when she does her stuff and no treat when she just wants to play and goof around [but i still love on her anyway].

both my daughters do the bell thing. started out as a novelty and now they ring the bell with their nose when they go out. just has a bell on a string where they go out. when they started out my daughter would ring the bell a little as they let the pups out. well they are now 10 month old and nudge the bell with their nose before going out. i'm with the old fashion way i guess but my wife would like to do the bell deal anyway. she has a few accident here and there but i'm getting to know when she wants out [i think]. chasing leaves around in the wind today LOL. good luck.

[sakazulu]

I got the dog of my dreams on Memorial weekend at 6 weeks! A chocolate lab! Ted is his name. Had him out duck hunting last weekend! I share your love a chocalate lab and miss his company when I'm at work! I like your on going story as it helps to compare with my experience with Ted. Keep it rolling!

[sakazulu]

OOOPS! Forgot to tell ya how good look'in your pup is!

Here's me and 6 month Ted last weekend

Keep the stories rolling! It's fun!

[reinhard1]

as you know i have a chocolate lab pup myself now, almost three month old. my daughter and her soon to be hubby left for california wensday and i am also babby sitting her lab pup who is 10 months old. got him till next tuesday. so far so good. stealing each other's rawhide bones and tug of war on the sweaky snake toys.

Koda [my daughters lab] is catching frisbies with my young gal trying to figure it out. Koda had destroyed two plastic frisbies already so i got to get something more "pet friendly". he does retrieve his feathered retrieval toy and sits and drops it in front of me. i have no clue how to train labs, but so far i think he is doing well and my little Lucy is learning something i hope. good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan Report- Well the young man has reached his eight month old birthday. The two other labs Barney and Bud I think have come to understand that he, Duncan is not leaving. He is housebroke and now we leave him alone with out worrying about how much trouble he can get into. I expect a few pencils to be chewed up but he has stopped chewing on the chair legs. Day time puppy naps are getting to be fewer but he seems to spend a lot of time with the cats doing what ever they do at three in the morning. The cats won't sleep with him yet but they do come up to him to get licked. With the older labs I have forgotten how fast a pup can run and jump. Grand kids look forward to coming over and they are the only ones who can keep up with Duncan's energy.

[Bobby Bass]

A few pictures of Duncan on the deck.

[reinhard1]

wonderfull!!!i get that same look with your bottom picture. good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan Report- Duncan has settled down here as of late. No trouble to report or maybe because nothing that he has been getting in trouble is new. He has learned a new trick, self taught I might add. Now when he wants to come in from outside he jumps up and rings the doorbell!

[landscaper]

great looking dogs guys!

How big or how big will your guys chocolate labs get?

The Wife and I are thinking about getting one.

[Bobby Bass]

I think Duncan will be around 80#'s by the time he is a year old, he is 8.5 months old now and weighs around 60# he has some long legs and huge paws to grow in to. My two springer/labs went about 95#'s before we put them on senior food and started to reduce their weight when they turned 8 they are both 11 now and weight about 80#'s if there faces and their gray faces didn't give them away you would think they are much younger.

[landscaper]

Thanks for the info.

We are kinda looking for a chocolate lab. Which would be mainly used for pheasant hunting and a family dog. How are they for our needs??

[mww24]

i would never punish them for having an accident in the house. It's going to happen. You just have to teach them the proper place to go as often as possible. I remember when my lab was a pup he had accidents at the back door. same door I let him out to do his business. That told me it was my fault and he needed to go out more often. it will happen. clean it up and move on. good luck with the pups guys. it sure is tiring.

[reinhard1]

hopefully Lucy [my chocolate lab pup] is housebroken completly. she hasn't had an accident in the house for a couple of weeks, and now sleeps through the night with rarely a need to go out. she has got the "bell" system down real good. let's me know when she needs to go out with her nudging the bell with her nose. when i first thought about the bell thing i thought it wouldn't work. but it does.

i have a bell by the door to the back yard hanging on a string. i started training her with this bell by ringing it and saying "outside potty". so after a few days of this and praising her for going outside she started nudging the bell by herself. then she will sit by the door till i come. then i praise her for ringing the bell and for going outside and doing her stuff. good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan Report- Today Duncan will be getting his second bath and the reason is he smells to good! He tore up a box of fabric softener sheets then fell asleep in the mess. He needs a bath so he will smell like a dog again !

[reinhard1]

LOL!!!!!!it would keep the mosquitoes off him but they are all gone now. good luck.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan Report- Duncan has been good as of late, still growing and coming up on his ten month birthday. I have found out he likes cherry Lifesavers candy, just like I do. Trouble is he spits out the rest and just eats only the cherry ones when he finds my roll of candy..

[reinhard1]

too funny!!!Lucy is almost 5 months old and up to 44 pounds. still has long legs and not chubby. take her for walks every day [about a mile and a half] most of it through woods in the park. i think she's going to be a big girl. loves liking our plates at night. good luck.

[CC Hurl]

Great to hear you guys are enjoying your puppies as much as I am. Boyd is doing very good as well. He is pushing the scale at about 55 Lbs. now at 8 months. Potty training is no longer an issue and he is progressing well as an antler hunter. He is such a lap dog too. Must be because I put him on my lap every once in awhile even though he is bigger now. He must have know I needed a hug before work this morning as he forced his way on my lap and just put his head over my shoulder and rolled onto his back. Either that or he needed a hug too. I think they get to know our moods as well. Thanks for your updates as I enjoy reading them.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan turns one today, where did the time go? I would report on his weight but the two of us together push the scale past it's limit!

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan is fourteen months old and guess it is time for an update. He weighs in at about 65 pounds and still has some growing to do. I compare him to a gangly teenager with his long legs and big paws. His head is large and he loves carrying a basketball around in his mouth. It took awhile but he finally ignores the house cats but is a pest with the older dogs Bud and Barney. He does not walk anywhere but runs constantly, as he grows older this next year I expect he will put on some more weight and widen out some in the rear end. [img:center]

[reinhard1]

Bobby, my Lucy is now almost 9 month old and weighs in at 75 pounds. vet says she is in good shape and may still grow. i always thought females were supposed to be smaller than males. she is now bigger than my two daughters two male labs. they are over a year old. they used to gang up on her when we visited them and now they tend not to do that very often . Lucy's dad was a big Lab and her mom was about 65. so who knows. she apperantly loves to collect wood a lot. just got done raking the yard yesterday and already i can start a small fire with the wood she brough from the woods. part of my yard has my fence running through some woods. loves to catch frisbee's and chewed up 3 already. two soccor balls and one basketball has bitten the dust as well. good luck.

[tacklejunkie]

RH1, do you plan on hunting with your lab or just a pet?

Mine is the same age as yours and he's about 75 lbs also. I've had the chance to get him on game preserve birds and he did pretty well but also flushes red wing blackbirds, sparrows, chickadees.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan and the old man Bud sharing some sunshine.

[Bobby Bass]

There comes a time when it happens to almost every dog owner and everyone I knows dreads it. That first time when your pup comes face to face with the most feared animal in the woods, a skunk! Last night Duncan was introduced to a skunk and I am pretty sure that Barney had something to do with it. I let the dogs out the back door, turned on the deck lights and headed for the kitchen for something to drink. For some reason in the back of my mind I was thinking that I have not seen or smelled a skunk all summer so far. I was pouring myself a glass of juice and heard the first bark through the open window and then that first whiff. Hoping it was not in my yard I went to the back door to find Bud waiting to get in and Barney out on the deck barking and looking back at me in the doorway. He had that tattle tale look about him and as I called for him to get in the cabin Duncan came trotting up out of the darkness, head down and I could smell the skunk on him.

This morning finds his collar hanging from a fence post as a reminder and he is prancing around the cabin after receiving his second shower. He smells a lot better and was needing a good cleaning anyway. Surprising how after the wife learned of his encounter with the skunk that he became "My Dog" Bud and Barney I am sure can still smell skunk on him and are keeping their distance. All three cats have come to sniff Duncan and then as only cats can do turn and walk away with that all knowing look and attitude of it would have never happen to them.

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan's first grouse.

[Bobby Bass]

The Duncan Report- Duncan is coming up on his twenty month old birthday and I think he is done growing. His paws actually look like they fit the rest of him now although I am still amazed at what he can carry around in his mouth. A fully inflated basketball is no problem not to mention the feather pillows from the beds that he carries to his hideout behind the big desk in the den. He splits time with the wife and myself but has picked the Bud the old lab to spend most of his down time with. Find one and you will find the other which is a good thing as it seems to have put a little extra spring in Bud's step. The cats for the most part are ignored by Duncan since he has now found out about bird hunting and looks forward to the walks and rides in the truck. I got really lucky with this guy as for me he is everything that I was hoping for. I know we have some other guys following this report as we all got pups around the same time, how are your dogs doing?

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan being fearless.

[Bobby Bass]

Tomorrow is Duncan's birthday, how quickly did he get to be two years old.

He has been excellent with the grand kids and has learned not to chase the cats, unless they run. He shares his food with the other dogs and takes turns at the water bowl. We did spend some time grouse hunting this past season and he did well. Of course he is first a family pet then a hunting dog so as time goes on I expect him to get a little better at the hunting part. For being two he is pretty laid back and well mannered. Still a puppy though as when strangers come to the cabin he will bark but will come to stand behind me looking for protection. I have noticed that he is starting to stand in front of me blocking visitors. I know this because his tail is beating my legs up from wagging so hard. Normally by now he should be done growing but he seems to be having one last growth spurt as he can now look over the kitchen table. Sometimes a little unnerving when eating breakfast and he pops up on the other side looking for my last strip of bacon.

One last thing I should mention on his report card is his singing voice. The other day both my wife and I were gone and the daughter was home but Duncan did not know it. The daughter said Duncan sat at the top of the stairs and howled. That kind of howl that only chocolate labs seem to do, the I am all alone what am I to do blues. The daughter listen for awhile and started laughing, Duncan heard her and sought her out and only as a lab can do made it look like the joke was all on her and there was nothing wrong. Of course five minutes later he was back on the stairs howling, guess he still had a verse left in him,

[Bobby Bass]

Duncan, Bear hunting... He is still such a pup!