Possibly buying a puppy.... Advice?

[BYCforlife]

Never buy from a pet store because most come from puppy mills.

Try to find a good breeder and ask lots of questions.

It's very important to socialize your puppy to many different situations, people, and other dogs.

Enjoy your new pup

Linda

I wasn't planning to. This is from a good friend, and they're giving it to me for way cheaper than they could sell it for.

I will, our neighbors have a puppy at the moment.

Thanks!

 

[BYCforlife]

I wouldn't buy a puppy in December. When puppies are really little, they need to pee constantly, and having to wipe their muddy feet off every 20-30 minutes for weeks isn't going to be fun for you. Summer, maybe even spring depending on your patience and weather is your best bet. My (purebred) Labrador puppy was way easier to train than I thought he would be. The only problem with labs is that they will eat anything you put in front of them. I live with people that don't know how to take care of puppies, and my lab literally ate a sock this morning and puked it up. He could have died. -_- But, eating anything with remote flavor has its perks. If your lab has to take medecine, as long as he doesn't have a lack of appetite from their sickness, they will eat it right up.
Personality, my lab sheds like crazy.
Male dogs usually have better personalites from my experience, but there definitely are exceptions. It all depends on the trainer.
Prepare for accidents.
Give certain activities names, when you go outside say "outside" in a normal voice. When you walk back inside, say "inside"
And depending on if you want to crate train or have him go outside, say "Potty outside!" In a happy voice, and the same but without "outside" in a crate.
Crate training is more costly, puppy pads and such, plus awkward for when the dog is older. I have no problem with shoveling poop in my yard.
Don't walk your dog in public roads or on the ground where other dogs have been until he has had his parvo virus shot.
@PeepersMama

Too late! it's already picked out. I will keep that in mind though.

It's going to be in the garage, and there is lots of snow to clean paws in.

I will prepare. I know something has to go wrong, because that just happens to me.

He'll be staying close to home. No other dogs have walked on the snow yet!

Thanks.

 

[BYCforlife]

Hahaha...mature...at two??? I have a 9 year-old, ginormous, head-sitting (my head) Chocolate Lab who is still a goof! Lol. But I love him...View attachment 1198871

Hmmmm.... he looks pretty happy! I picked a calmer one from the litter, maybe it'll be better for my family. I almost picked the craziest one!

 

[BYCforlife]

Chew toys! Labs love to chew, so if your pup has lab in it, good indestructible chew toys are a must, and will save your shoes and furniture from getting destroyed! We loved Zogoflex chew toys when my two were pups. We also got into the habit of putting all our footwear into Rubbermaid containers that were too tall for the pups to get into.

Linda

Haha! I will be getting toys for sure. Good idea! I might do that too.

 

[BYCforlife]

Since the puppy is a mix, and I'm going to assume accidental litter, you are going to have some health problems to keep an eye out for. Basically anything that is common in either breed that isn't a recessive trait. And any recessives that are found in any 2 of the breeds in the family tree
Labs - hips, elbows, eyes and exercise induced collapse are going to be the big ones.
Chows - eyes, hips and elbows as well as patellas (knee caps). They can also be very prone to skin issues and hot spots. Especially in poorly bred dogs.

It wasn't accidental, but it's good to know what to look for. Thanks!

 

[Kusanar]

It wasn't accidental, but it's good to know what to look for. Thanks!

That's a crazy mix for an intentional breeding....

 

[JaeG]

That's a crazy mix for an intentional breeding....

'Designer dogs' (with a hefty pricetag) are pretty much all you see in petshops here in New Zealand and some of them make me stop and wonder 'WHY would you do that?' Like a Chihuahua crossed with a Miniature Pinscher! Or a Jack Russell crossed with a Chihuahua. And then there's the Ragdoll cats crossed with Persians. The whole point of a Ragdoll is to have a long haired cat that doesn't need much grooming to keep it free of knots as they have no undercoat. A Persian needs constant grooming and even then...

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

If the mother to the pups is friendly and reliable, you can generally get a good feel for what the pup will be like. However, do not get a pup from a dog who growls or nips at you. Generally it does not work out well unless you have a good background with raising dogs.
I use two recalls - one is the everyday kind of here. But, I don't use the word here. As here and come tend to get ignored due to the potential for over use. My dogs get a treat when they do what is asked.
I also have an emergency recall word that means come here now. I train them the know the difference. They get a higher reward like liverwurst or steak. I use a word that we never use in our vocab for that - pronto is my word, but it can be any word really.
When they are little though - potty training is probably the biggest obstacle.
There will be lots of advice, but as with anything consistency is key. So, choose what works for you and your family and then stick to it.
There are also dog forums like the byc forum where you can gather lots of info from as well.

 

[Kusanar]

'Designer dogs' (with a hefty pricetag) are pretty much all you see in petshops here in New Zealand and some of them make me stop and wonder 'WHY would you do that?' Like a Chihuahua crossed with a Miniature Pinscher! Or a Jack Russell crossed with a Chihuahua. And then there's the Ragdoll cats crossed with Persians. The whole point of a Ragdoll is to have a long haired cat that doesn't need much grooming to keep it free of knots as they have no undercoat. A Persian needs constant grooming and even then...

Yeah, my dog is a Chaweenie... Dachund and Chihuahua.... He came from a shelter, so I don't know if he was an intentional litter or not but I know that's a designer breed... Luckily, he just looks like a long necked, bug eyed min pin and is a fairly sturdy 13 pounds.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Haha! I will be getting toys for sure. Good idea! I might do that too.

For Lab mix only get Nyla Bone or Kong quality chew toys as Lab and Lab mixes are serious chewers who will demolish, eat, and choke or swallow those cheap bone pieces, and nearly anything else (we had a dog in club eat a whole bag of rubber bands...can anyone spell bowel obstruction and expensive vet visit?)

We've also had Labs crack teeth on the real, compressed bones, and raw hide chews are also bad gut blockers for these dogs.

Most Lab types are garbage mouths, so be prepared to canvass constantly in the toddler season or you quickly have baby diarrhea keeping you up at night. Just saying.