We just got our new lab pup!

[maxybrown]

Just wanted to say Hello as we are so excited!

He is being such a good boy and already a very welcome addition to the family

He is 9 weeks and we've called him Casper

Pics on profile (in a minute!)

Hi thanks everyone

He hasn't been sick today - yay! But I realised last night that we have only had him just over a week and in that time his food has been changed - so possibly not a surprise? It just feels like he has always been here. He had a very firm poo this morning (TMI?) and not seen the others as my Mum had him today when I went to work and then DH been out with him. He is fast asleep atm. He seems bright enough in himself so will just keep an eye on him.

As far as I know he has always been on dry food. I hope we are giving him enough?

Ah 3cutedarlings - Casper is just a week older then! it's like having newborns all over again

lisad - nooooooo our beloved Camper has gone now - Helga, so could be you have seen her around, she lives in kent now - we didn't half cry when she left us I can tell you!

Yup sure is although he has settled down fab over the last few days, he no longer howls in his crate at night and slowly but surely realising that he is indeed a dog and not a crocodile . Think he's quite a bit bigger than your boy atm, i took him for a health check with our vet at 8 weeks and he weighed 5.95kgs . His parents are both very slim slight working labs but his great grandfather was quite big (for working lab). The breeder owned both the parents, the mums grandmother and both great grandparents, she also had the GGG grandparent until last year, it was quite something to see them all :).

Food wise i am just changing jake over onto our local pet shops own brand (he's currently on beta puppy) i was going to try James wellbeloved but the lady in the shop showed me the ingredients on the JW and there own and they are almost identical, so far he seems to be fine with it, although ive mixed it with the beta so he's having about 80% beta and 20% of the new stuff.

He has his last jab on xmas eve so i can take him walkies on new years eve, i can wait

It sounds as though he's absolutely fine - but if he is sick again, I'd take him to the vet for a check over. I wouldn't muck about with a puppy so young. Like babies, they can go downhill very fast indeed.

Where's he at with jabs at the moment? And how much food is he getting at each meal? As long as he is growing and at his age feels as though he has a good thick blanket between your fingers and his ribs if you run your hands over him, he's getting enough food.

I expect he's also getting a bit of extra food in the form of treats at the moment too. . I really doubt he's being underfed.

we've stopped treats atm due to him being sick, but he hasn't had that maby tbh he is so good though!

No sick at all today.

That's interesting isn't it with jabs? Your pup a week younger and ours can't have his 2nd lot til 6th Jan so be mid jan before he can go out! He is on about 100g of food per day. He is only little then! he was 4.25 I think when we took him to the vets and he was almost 9 weeks then. He was 2nd biggest of the 4 left too but apparently Mum not very big. There was one dinky little one too - awww.

He was def fine tonight when we got back from shoppinh, helping to unpack bags and pretend he was training for the 100m sprint - most helpful

Thanks for chatting everyone, made me feel much better.

Macy - I've just checked the JWB website for quantity - guidelines for puppies and it looks as though he needs a bit more food.

I'd expect him to reach about 32kgs as an adult, so at nearly 3 months old he could need as much as 405g per day!

TBH, that sounds like a mammoth amount for a tiny pup - but their food requirements soar in the first few months because they grow so much.

How many meals a day is he having? I'd manage the necessary increase in quantity over 4 small meals a day I think - it'd make the change easier to manage for him.

Are you taking him out and about with you? Obviously, he can't touch the floor, but it's really important to carry him about to get used to things - cars, busses, lorries, men in hats, men with sticks, screaming people, lots of people, motorbikes, fire engines, everything really. Sit on a bench with him on your lap for 5 mins and just watch stuff.

When they're tiny, they are pretty bullet proof and just accept everything you introduce them to. Socialisation is the most important thing you can do with a puppy - it will result in a calm and confident dog who has no fear.

The window for socialisation isn't massive - so my advice is get him out and about - I resort to a rucksack for mine when they get too heavy to carry!

I meant Maxy - typing lying down in bed is not easy! Sorry.

He sounds an absolute star Maxy, my last lab holly was tiny as a pup too, but she was from a massive litter of 13! she was a normal sized (working) lab bitch fully grown. Jake was from a litter of 8, It was the mums first litter and refused to stay in with them from 2.5 weeks, she would just go in and feed them when she felt like it, so the pups had more solid food earlier on.................dont think anyone told her about baby led weaning ;)

I was surprised about the jabs, i think it depends on what your vet jabs use tbh, but i deffo remember waiting till holly was 13 weeks before i could take her out.

Glad to hear Casper is no longer sicking up, he'll most likely gobbled his food down to quickly. I couldnt actually tell you weight wise what im feeding him, he is on 3 feeds a day i just fill his dish which is a small puppy plastic thing it probably hold about 2 handfulls, tell you what i have a measure cup to ill see what that says when i feed him at lunch time.

aha! Right, because daisy - you have read the JWB just like I did and just like DH did - but that seems a ridiculous amount doesn't it? The pets hosp that sell it (2 both said same) folled him for his weight now - which working on the 20g per kg rule, is right! So guessing he is getting on for 5kg then 100g a day - no? My DH is a teacher and one of his studenst Dad is a veyt and i think he did the same - 20g per kg rule. Crikey I fully BF DS so no idea in terms of all this measuring

He isn't crying in the night though or anything and he certainly isn't lethargic - so i can't see that quadrupling his current food amount would be right? Would it? vet didn't seem to think he would need that much. plus that's also double the amount of Iams - which isn't as good quality, so so many things about that amount seem wrong?

Sorry, what boring old fart I am!!

We uintend to "socialise" him asap. Been so manic with Christmas that everytime Ihave gone out it has been either to spech therapy or Christmas panic shopping. DH finishes work today though so we will do that. He is very very friendly and not in a mnaic way either, with the people he has met so far but I know he needs to get used to sounds etc.....hmm, might dig the rucksack out

sorry for all the sp mistakes

You're right - it does seem a mammoth amount of food for a teeny pup.

I've never fed JWB, and don't pay much attention to the feeding guidelines tbh, I really do go more by eye and poo quality . Also by what level of activity the dog has each day.

He sounds perfect - and at least you know if he looks hungry you can up his food quantity a bit with no worries!

As regards to taking him out and about maxy ive been reading this [http://www.labradorforums.co.uk/ftopict-77538.html here] makes interesting reading, not sure it is for me, but the poster speaks alot of sense imo. My DD1 has ASD and i have to say Jake is certainly doing her the world of good! she has been taking him out for wee's and walking him up and down the garden path on his lead, oh and working on his recall these four legged friends certainly know how to win a childs heart, even if they are still just babies :)

woops here :)

3cutedarlings, my girls have ASD too snd the dog has been great for them too :)

ooh I will look at that later thanks

But Daisy - don't labs ALWAYS seem hungry? I feel rubbish as I have no idea what to give him and our vet was so bloody vague I'll carry on with the 20g per KG rule i think for now and see how we go! We have a JWB measuring cupp too and it would be like giving him 6 or 8 of those FULL a day!! No way??!!

Diana on lab forums speaks v, v much good sense. Pretty much always. . Her advice is sound.

she sure does Daisy, have to say i cant believe how much ive learnt from various posters on there, despite having a lab for the last 14 years :).