Labrador Retriever Dogs Blog

I see this question come up quite a bit on the forums. A labrador retriever puppy that is vomiting and people are not sure what to do. A labrador retriever is not unlike you or I. When vomit it generally means that we are sick. Either we have eaten something that does not agree with us or we have an illness like the flu or a virus.

Labs are going to throw up from time to time. My dog eats so much grass and sticks when he is outside is almost always comes back up. Even the odd random time he will throw up if he eats too fast and then swallows a lot of water right after. I think it's the shock to the stomach. These are random or explainable sessions. Nothing to be concerned about as he will throw up once and that will be it. It's the multiple vomiting sessions that you have to be concerned with.

If your puppy or dog is continually throwing up over and over again the first thing you want to do is get them to a vet, no questions asked. You cannot  diagnose what is wrong them because you don't have the proper training. Play it safe and get them to the vetranarian.

Repeated vomiting could be signs of blockage in the stomach from something large that they have eaten, it could be poisoning from plants or foods or it could be even something more serious like "bloat". Either way a vetranarian is your best bet.

The internet is truely an amazing place. When I look at the membership of the labrador retreiver chatboard and forums I am always in awe over the fact there are members from all over the world come together to talk about their dogs. It's incredible that so many different people from different cultures and backgrounds can find common ground at first in their love and admiration for the labrador retriever of just dogs and then find so many other things to talk about.

When I look at the membership I see that we have members from pretty much every continent in world and all of them share a passion for their pets. It goes much beyond that. There have been so many cross continent friendship grow it is truely amazing. We have all learned many things from each other, things about culture and living in general that we just wouldn't have known about otherwise.

I was looking at the many places that members are from and as silly as it sounds I have never been to Las Vegas and think about going there one day, as well as many other places. I found myself looking at las vegas suites the other day online just to see what was available. I am not going anywhere soon but there are so many interesting people from interesting places it would be nice to visit them all.

Gene Linked To Common Ailment In Labrador Retrievers Identified

Researchers at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine have identified a gene in Labrador retriever dogs highly associated with the syndrome of exercise-induced collapse (EIC). After intense hunting or retrieving exercise, activities these dogs are trained to perform, affected Labradors start to lose control of their hind limbs. In most cases, their legs get wobbly and the limbs give out, and in rare cases the dogs may die. Labradors are the most common dog breed in the world and an estimated 3-5 percent of Labradors have this condition.

The research is published in the journal Nature Genetics.

The research team identified a mutant form of the dynamin 1 gene as highly associated with EIC. The dynamin 1 protein normally functions to maintain proper chemical communication between adjacent nerves, also known as synaptic transmission. However, the mutated form of the dynamin protein appears to have diminished function, interrupting synaptic transmission during intense exercise, and causing the muscle-controlling nerves to not fire when directed to do so.
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I thought I would do another blog post about how the labrador retriever chat forums and board have grown into so much more than just dog talk. Obviously the labrador retriever is the main focus of the board but there is so much more happening at the forums that it should interest a wide range of people. We discuss everything from hobbies, economics and social issues.

An interesting thread this weekend was about economic planning. An article on CNN mentioned that a person should have enough emergency money put away to last them at least six months. Members were discussing if they do or not and what steps some of them have taken to ensure their safety in times of trouble. Certainly by watching your debt and paying off your credit cards on time are things that can help. If you run your own business you might want to look into business performance management software to help you manage your investment.

There is more to the forums than what you may think. You can learn about a number of issues, get help with things in your daily life and of course see all of the labrador retriever photos you want.

Isn't it funny how a dog can affect your life. You have to water and feed them. You have to make sure they get their proper medical treatments and make sure they get their exercise. They become a part of the family for most of us. Well this was never more clearer to me when my other half and I started to discuss maybe purchasing some modern furniture. Not only do we have to take our tastes and preferences into consideration but we have to think about our chocolate labrador retriever as well. Not that we are taking his comfort level into thought, he seems pretty comfortable laying on a cement floor. What we are thinking about is the dog hair. It doesn't make much sense for us to buy something that would collect hair. Simple as that. We have to make our decision with our furriest family member in mind.

A friend who hadn't been over in awhile and hadn't seen Cooper commented on how fat he was getting. To us he looked just the same but then again we see him everyday and we just fluffed the comment off and didn't think too much of it. It just so happens that we had to go to the vet the next week and sure enough our vet was surprised about how much weight he had gained. It's easy for a labrador retriever to gain weight, as you know they can eat like it's the end of the world and they can as they get older get lazy or become more inactive.

As you are probably not going to give your dog Tonalin or other diet pills to keep their weight in check here are some steps we took to make sure Cooper remained healthy. One, make sure your dog gets daily activity and exercise. Not so much that they are pushing themselves past their limits but enough. What I mean by this is make sure they get a least one good walk a day, even when you are lazy make sure you take them out at least once. Even if they get a walk make sure they get some other exercise or playtime during the day like playing fetch or even a swim. They have to remain active daily. Secondly, watch what you are feeding them and how much you are feeding them. Pay attention to the servings on your dog food bag and be careful what treats you are feeding them. They love peanut butter but just like us too much are not good. Supplement their treats or snacks with things like apples, carrots or bananas. Finally, you are paying your vet good money every year. Set it up with them so you can bring your labrador retriever in and have them weighed every few months and keep a log. Our vet doesn't charge, we just bring him in and weight him and track it. If there's a huge weight gain or lose then you can discuss it with them.You want your labrador retriever to live as long and as healthy as possible so give them a hand.

I probably couldn't even being to count how many times I have been asked about labrador retriever puppies chewing something expensive on their owners and what they can do to train their puppies not to do it. You have to accept the fact that labrador retrievers are chewers and some are more aggressive than others. Unless you are content buying shoes on a weekly basis or buying discount furniture on a regular basis you have to change your lifestyle as much as you have to train that labrador retriever.

If you don’t want your things chewed then don’t leave them out so they can be chewed. Labrador retrievers are curious and they are chewers. It didn’t take us long to learn that we have to have a hallway door put up so we could block off our shoes. We had to start closing bedroom doors and bathrooms doors or our toilet paper was going to be ravished everyday that we left him unsupervised. Don’t leave that remote control on a low lying table or your labrador is going to get it. Put things out of harms way and they will be safe. You wouldn’t leave cupboard doors open for a toddler to get into so don’t leave doors open for your puppy.

Of course at some point your labrador retriever is going to benefit from good sound training. Until that time train yourself to be a better puppy owner and don’t give them a chance to get into trouble.

Just yesterday I was teasing a girl at work because she wanted to dress her labrador retriever up for Halloween. She has looked all over town at clothing stores and pet food stores and could not find anything. She was asking me if I could help her out by finding a place that sells halloween costumes for dogs. It is really hard to find anything locally so I went online today to see what I could find for her.

After searching through Google I found a great site that specializes in selling dog clothes and costumes. They have a great selection of dog clothes that you won’t find in any local pet store. The hardest part of picking out clothes for your dog is selection and they have plenty of that. You can find anything from sweaters, footwear, general outdoor wear and even jackets for dogs. The great thing is that they have lots of different choices in each category not just one or two sweaters like most places. They have over thirty different styles to choose from. I also know what it’s like to buy something like this at other pet food stores. You spend a lot of money for something that doesn’t last. Well they have some great sales on right now on all of their dog clothes so you can grab something nice at a decent price and the quality looks great.

Don’t settle for anything less than great quality dog clothing at more than affordable prices with great selection.

Cooper and I were out for a walk this weekend and decided to take another route than we usually go. It's funny how many things you can see in your neighbourhood that you never notice when you are just driving by. You see some houses that have been renovated up very nicely with great landscaping and you see others that are falling apart and in need of some good fixing. You see some old cars and nice cars in laneways and we even seen a small bus for sale the other day. You get to see lots of different and interesting people as well. If you want to get to know your neighbourhood better start walking the dog and take a different route every so often and mix it up. You neved know what you are going to see.