What You Need To Know About Raising Labrador Pups
Perhaps you’ve watched The Dog Whisperer and thought I’ll never have those kinds of problems with my Labrador puppy! Unless you are very familiar with Labrador puppy care, you could easily become Cesar Millan’s next client. Labradors are high-energy dogs when they are young. With their intelligence and energy combine, you have a recipe for general canine mayhem. Keep an eye on their diet so they don’t get hyperactive.
Labrador puppies are discovering the world for the very first time. Get down on your hands and knees to get a puppy’s eye view of your home. Puppies explore the world with their mouths. They will give in to temptation. Remove anything you don’t want the puppy to destroy. Leave things that are okay to chew, like toys or Nylabones, for the inquisitive mouth. And be patient and persistent. Dogs aren’t dumb, but they need to learn in their own time. Repetition over time is a great puppy teacher.
It’s never too early to begin training. Keep training sessions short (only a few minutes long), do several every day and end a session with a lot of praise. Keep your Lab pup’s attention on you by randomly treating or praising whenever the puppy looks at your face. Never hit your puppy (and you will be tempted). Growling or speaking harshly makes the puppy know he or she has made you upset. By observing your Labrador puppy closely, you will begin to know when they are thinking of doing something you don’t want to do.
Burn up some of your puppy’s energy with daily walks and play sessions. Neutering or spaying will also keep your Labrador well behaved and looking to you for all good things. Labrador puppy care includes regular check ups with your vet. You don’t want to over work your puppy (say, going for ten mile jogs a day) when the bones are still growing. Your vet can help you work out a proper exercise regime and diet.
You need to have your Labrador pup look on you for the good things in his life in order to get his attention. Your dog won’t be able to follow any commands if he’s not paying you any attention. Successful raising of a Lab pup means you reward for when the puppy looks at you or follows you around. You don’t have to reward every time, just enough to keep your puppy’s attention.
You can greatly improve your chances of raising a happy and well-adjusted Lab puppy by making sure he is neutered. This keeps him in an immature state of mind and looks to you as his parent. He is also not preoccupied with looking for a mate. Keeping your Lab on a sensible diet and regular exercise will keep him from getting too hyper. This is a breed that needs to be active every day in order to keep from going insane.
Everyone should have to pass an IQ test before being allowed to bring Labrador puppies home. There would be a lot less abandoned Labs if people knew basic Labrador puppy care before buying a Lab puppy.
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Excellent article.
Great post, I bookmarked your blog so I can visit again in the near future, All the Best, Tierra Panto
Hi, we have a 11 week old chocolate lab puppy. She on the whole is a wonderful little (getting bigger by the minute) thing. She has done really well with housetraining and is good at night time. The only issue we have is what I call her “cujo” moments. When she jumps up at the kids (aged 6 and 2) and I tell her down, she barks, growls and jumps up and bites. Everytime I tell her “down” and “no” it’s the same thing. It’s getting to the stage that the kids are frightened of her. I’ve tried pinning her down until she relaxes but she just jumps up again. Help!!