Getting a Lab, Need Everything

[gonefishin11]

I'm getting a lab puppy around christmas time and need a portable kennel, shock collar, other items and any hints or suggestions anyone has to offer. Thank you very much.

[fish2live]

is the pup going to stay inside? if so i would suggest getting a big wire kennel that folds down flat to transport they are nice because they come with a devider so you can customize the kennel to the puppy as it grows and you don't have to keep upgrading(i think the one i have is a precition bought at petco around 100.00) as for the shock collar i personally like tri tronics and haven't ran into anyone that has had any problems with them but, have ran into others with diferent brands that wish they would have bought a tri trinics, really just a preference i'm sure people have had troubles with tritronics too. i assume you will be using this dog for hunting. if you have never trained before get a book called gun dog by richard wolters. any of the books by this author are very good. besides that any other questions just post here and there are always guys that know way more than i do willing to help a guy out.

[Mr. B]

I would also buy every chew toy you can find. Then everytime you find your puppy chewing on something he should not be (you will be amazed at what they will chew on) you can give him something exceptable to chew on.

I was told that if you are planning to use an e-collar make sure you do not use it on the puppy until they are at least six months old. Every good e-collar will come with a video or manual on how to use it. I do not have a Tri-Tronics, I have an Innotek and from everything I have read here I am the only person that has never had a problem with my collar.

Biggest thing to remember is that it is a puppy and it is going to make mistakes so just have fun with him.

[Esoxmn]

The age for useing the e-collar realy depends on the dog. You should never use it unless you absolutly know the dog knows the commands you are giving.

[marine_man]

I agree with esoxmn... the right time to use the electronic collar is when you're ready to formalize the commands you've already taught the dog.. which typically is around 6 months or so...

I'd recommend a Dogtra collar, as that's what I have and have had good luck with... but everyone's got different opinions...

I'd also look at the 10 minute retriever book by Jeff and Amy Dahl - it's a good comprehensive book that covers a lot of puppy training, as well as elements of force fetch, should you decide to pursue it.

The biggest thing is to not rush things... take the first month or two and just have fun with the puppy... develop the bond with the puppy, which makes a huge difference down the road.

Let the puppy be a puppy for a while!

Oh... I'll also second the chew toys... if you do decide to get a puppy bumper / retrieving dummy don't let the dog use it as a chew toy.. that'll only lead to problems down the road.

Have fun... and post a pic if you can...

marine_man

[fishnhooks]

You can't buy this, but you'll need time and maybe some more time and maybe some sleep. Like others have said enjoy the pup for a while and try to teach the basics first. What a great Christmas present! Have fun and good luck!

"hooks"

[Bushwacker]

For a crate, I keep my labs in metal wire crates in the basement. They really love being in there because they both go and lay in there even when don't have too. I have a dog pillow in the bottom of them that is waterproof, just in case, but they NEVER have accidents in them.

For a collar I really like Dogtra. I have the 1200NCP. It has nick, constant, and page. I really like the page feature because I use it 90% of the time. If you dog is collar conditioned, they will associate the page with a shock.

I really like the Evan Graham Smartworks I & II and Smartfetch. They take you from the basics to very advanced force fetching.

I also agree with the chew toy thing. Some labs chew right away, some start chewing at 5 months, but they all chew sometime. So it is best being prepared.

[marine_man]

I forgot to include in my original post that I have a Dogtra 1200 NC... similar to Bushwacker and like it... never had any problems...

And I also highly reccomend Evan Graham's Smartwork Series... great books... and, coming soon, DVD's of certain portions of the books to further illustrate the concepts.

marine_man

[gonefishin11]

Thank you very much for all the help guys! Where would I find those wire crates, bushwacker?

[Bushwacker]

We actually got our second lab about 3 months ago and my wife and I shopped around at a few places picking up all sorts of puppy stuff and we found that Gander had the best quality for the best price. Nice slide out tray on bottom for easy cleaning and double latched. Our two year old lab's crate has a single latch and she can get out of it like there was no latch at all, so that is something to watch for. I put a carbine hook on it and that does the trick. I did see that Mills Fleet had some close out on crates last week and they looked like pretty good prices too. Be careful not to buy too large of one. I have heard and I agree that the dogs view the crates as their dens or caves. They only need enough room to lay down. If you get too big they will have "accidents" in there because they can go in one area, but not have to lay in it.

[gonefishin11]

Bushwacker, What do you use to transport your lab?

[gonefishin11]

I am also wondering what brand of food everyone recommends for a lab or just the basic ingredients to look for. Everything I have read so far says puppy chow for 5-10 days and then slowly mix in adult food until it becomes completely adult food. Is this consistent with what everyone has done? Thank you again!

[Bushwacker]

I feed my pup Eukanuba puppy food. I feed my last dog puppy food for 6 months and then slowly mixed to adult Eukanuba. That worked great for my 2 year old so I am doing the same with our new pup. You hear all sorts of different theories on puppy food, but I just think it is only six months or so and that time is very import as far as nutritional diet for bone, muscle, and brain growth. The most important thing, no matter what you feed your pup is to make sure that she does not get overweight when she is a pup.

I have a metal crate, a plastic transport crate, and a collapsable travel crate. I use the collapsable crate all the time now for transport. I think it is a PetsMate brand but I am not 100% sure without looking. It is made by the same corp. that makes Clam fish houses and assembles very similarily to them. It is super light, camo for goose hunting, and I can fit two of them side by side in my Suburban. I paid $60ish for it at the GameFair this year and it was well worth the money. My wife can carry it with one hand when she takes the dogs to the lake or for a walk, instead of my having to load up the bulky plastic crate the night before for her.

[gonefishin11]

Marine Man,

I see you are a mechanical engineer. I am a junior ME at NDSU. I was curious which company you worked for.

[marine_man]

I fed my dog Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy (I've got a lab mix) for about 3 months or so, per my vet's instructions then switched to Nutrisource Adult Dog ever since.

Nutrisource is made in Perham, MN so it's a regional brand, but I've been really happy with it.

The best thing about feeding a higher quality dog food (other than dog chow, puppy chow, etc) is that they don't [PoorWordUsage] nearly as often since the food is more protein than corn, which means less clean up for you, plus I think my dogs coat is a lot shinier with the higher quality food.

In regard to crate size, I purchased a large crate right away and built a divider for it (which was a piece of pegboard, with a board screwed to it for the bottom and wire tied / zip tied it to the vents on the side of the kennel and simply cut the board shorter as the dog got bigger) to adjust the crate size to what was reasonable for the puppy, and gradually increased the amount of space as he got bigger, until I took the divider out... it worked great...

As far as where I work... I work for Bobcat Company in Gwinner as a Design Engineer... if you have any questions shoot me an e-mail at waletzko at hotmail (Contact US Regarding This Word)

marine_man

[gonefishin11]

Thanks again for the help guys! She will be coming right around the New Year and I will post pics then.

[Bryce]

If you have a Sam's Club membership, you can't beat Exceed Professional Formula. Under $20 a bag. We feed this at all life stages in our breeding program. Nutrisource is a very good food other than the price. Purina One is another good food for the dollar and easier to get than Exceed.