Labrador Retriever Dogs Blog

Kathy (HunterBoozer) has chosen the theme of “SMILING LABS” for this months’ theme. Here is her example of her smiling Lab:

The winner of the January contest will choose the theme for February and also receive a collar with a heavy duty black, plastic buckle from our photo contest sponsor, www.3dirtydawgz.com

Please uncheck the box that says “Show your signature.” In the event you forget, I will periodically go through and delete signatures and comments just to keep the thread streamlined for voting purposes.

* Only ONE photo per member — no series of photos.
* No thought balloons, altering (via Photoshop or other programs), or borders on the photos.
* Anyone can enter, but you must have 100 posts or more to win.
* This must be a photo of YOUR dog that YOU took.

Contest is going to be closed on Tuesday, January 29th. Good luck to all!!

You can enter the contest as well by joining up at the Labrador Retriever Chatboard.

HunterBoozer (Kathy) !!! :party:Here is her winning entry for the “Regal Labs” theme:

You have NO IDEA how close this contest was, with Kathy winning by a narrow margin over runners-up: Herc, ALuv4Labs, Page, Darwins Mom, and SuperCooper. Also garnering several votes each were SoCalLabLover, MRS LISA, Txnative, Karebear, Priceless Gem, Patex, Gatorblueyes, GailG, Ang, Asquared, and Peakwagger. A total of 46 other pictures also received a few votes. So by taking 3 votes from each, we had quite a variety, but I feel like I got more of a feel for the most popular.

Kathy has chosen a theme for January, and is mulling over her choice of collars from our sponsor: www.3dirtydawgz.com.

Again, congratulation, Kathy, and thank you to all the wonderful entries in December!!

 You can enter the contest as well by joining up at the Labrador Retriever Chatboard.

In the summer we worry about keeping our pets cool, come winter and it’s time to think about keeping them warm and dry. Here are some simple ways you can protect your pets this winter.

The easiest, safest way to keep your pets warm is to keep them indoors, especially overnight. Older dogs, puppies, and dogs with certain diseases such as diabetes, heart and kidney problems should never be kept outside. All cats should remain indoors.

Some dogs tolerate cold weather better than others. Some dogs can take cold better than others, such as Alaskan Malamutes and Huskies. Short -haired and toy dogs will have a particularly hard time in the cold.

Snow and ice can pose problems for dogs. Snow can get packed between dog’s toes and freeze, causing pain and discomfort. To avoid this problem, keep the hair between the toes cut short.

Read the rest of this entry »

You’re the proud owner of a new puppy. Unfortunately, you are also the not so proud owner of a soggy living room carpet. It doesn’t take long to realize this can’t keep happening. So what do you do? It might just be time to housebreak your new pet.

Housebreaking may sound painful but relax. It really isn’t all that difficult. It is your dog’s natural tendency to want to keep its living area clean so once the home is firmly established in your pets mind the problem will be resolved. There are several ways you can assist the process to move faster.

The first thing you want to do is be sure your pet is healthy to start with. If your pet has not been to the vet already, make an appointment. Your dog should be checked for overall healthiness and for conditions that would make house training difficult, such as cystitis and kidney or bladder dysfunction. While your pet is visiting the veterinarian, ask to have them checked for worms and parasites also by way of a fecal exam. Also bear in mind the truthfulness behind mothers’ wisdom when she said “You are what you eat.” A poor quality dog food, in addition to contributing to a poor nutritional state, can cause digestive problems resulting in loose stools, thus contributing to your pup’s inability to control itself. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a mild Saturday in January and my dog Cooper and I were off to our weekly outdoor training course. The training took place on a high school football field which was located near a river that flows through the middle of our city. Of course, as any of you know keeping a Labrador retriever dog out of the water even in January is a hard thing to do.  As with every Saturday over an eight week period I fished Cooper out and dried him off. A week or so after the last training course was finished I noticed that Cooper was scratching his left ear constantly. It looked like he was very uncomfortable. When examining his ear we noticed that there was allot of "brown gunk" inside it and the smell coming from it was terrible. We took Cooper to the Vet for a check up and she confirmed that he had an ear infection. It was obvious that the infection had come from the water that he was swimming in every Saturday. We purchased a bottle of a commercial brand solution which was to clear his ear infection up. Cooper's ear infection never got better though. We continued to use the solution and even bought a second bottle in our fight against it. Read the rest of this entry »

This can be a very exciting time! It can be a very emotional experience to fall in love with a dog and want to take them home. Although there are a lot of factors to consider as to what kind of dog is best for you to adopt. As a dog trainer I've come across a lot of problem behavior in dogs due to owners not being aware of how important it is to meet their dogs needs. The amount of exercise a dog needs is usually one of the most important needs that often do NOT get met properly. If a dogs needs are met, you will have a great companion full of love for you. If you don't meet your dogs needs you will run into problem behavior that can be a nightmare. This article will help you to truly understand what a dogs needs will be so you can pick the right match for a successful life together! Read the rest of this entry »

While it is normal for a Labrador to chew, it is not normal when what he is chewing is your highly priced living room carpet or your new pair of designer shoes. Chewing problem is not unusual to a Labrador or to other breeds as well. It is a common problem concerning dogs and must be corrected as soon as possible.

Dogs chew for various reasons. Of course, it is natural for dogs to chew. But that is not the sole reason for chewing. Other reason why dogs chew is because of physical problems, feeling of pain in their teeth or because of the simple reason that they are bored. Chewing, when their teeth are causing them pain, helps ease the pain, thus your dog will just chew and chew on anything that he can find. When your dog is chewing himself, he might be affected with some health issues such as skin allergy thus causing him to itch. Read the rest of this entry »

Jessy (Jessamyn) has chosen the theme of “Regal Labs” for December’s contest.  The idea is to get pictures of your lab with a serious look, standing/sitting straight and tall, looking as beautiful as we all know they are. The catch: it has to be a photo that you took yourself. Here’s an example of Annie’s “regal” picture:

The winner of the December contest will choose the theme for January and also receive a collar with a heavy duty black, plastic buckle from our photo contest sponsor, www.3dirtydawgz.com  To enter our contests please visit our forums at the Labrador Retriever Chatboard.