Lab Puppy search

[Lolly2803]

I am looking for a Lab puppy. We are a family of 5 with 4year old twins and a 2 year old. I want to make sure I get from the right place with the right parents and breeder but beyond the kennel club website I don’t know where to look, or what’s good and bad. Can anybody offer any help or advice?

@Lolly2803

I feel like whenever you post anything dog related people always say basically don’t get one! I don’t understand how all these young families I see at the weekends have dogs and I don’t understand then by reading all the comments, or a lot of them why the Labrador is the number 1 family dog and also sometimes a therapy dog.

I was just about to say this! If MN advice was taken no one would EVER have a dog. Your almost a bad selfish person for even wanting one. Millions and millions of families have dogs and manage quite well.

@getsanta 100% agree!!

Totally agree about this board too!!!
Our family have always had various retrievers… gentle, biddable, easy to train. Now have a lab, completely different… he chews, runs away, lovely but bonkers…treated no differently to the others… calming down slightly at the age of 2, but he still has bad manners… maybe we are unlucky!! I got my goldie when my DTs were 18months, had my hands full at times but ddog good as gold….
You may find it tricky to find a breeder who will let you have a puppy with such young children, I did. Finally got him from a breeder who also had young children. Tracked down the breeders with litters via the kennel club/breed society
Enjoy your puppy!!

We did manage fine but it's quite hard. DH grew up with labs and retrievers but it was more difficult than I thought it would be and we were very strict with Ddog. Lots of reading and training and classes.
He's also got a fairly laid back temperament and isn't as chewy as a lot of labs.
I don't regret getting him, but I did until he was about 4 months old. I think people are just aware that not always as much thought goes into getting a dog as it should.

Ah thank goodness I’m not alone in my thinking! I’m not by any means thinking it’ll be easy. I had 3 children under 2 so I’m aware how hard things can be! My children right now are 4.5 and 2.5. The 2.5 is very grown up for her age. My sister also has a very jumpy and untrained dog!! I would take it for training classes straight away and as I said I am at home all the time so plenty of time for teaching. I would also do my research which I was attempting to do here! I love Labs and I was also drawn to them because they are great with children and families. I’ll keep reading but thanks for everyone’s advice it really is useful to read others experiences.

I'm sure most people who get a pup at any life stage are absolutely fine and raise good dogs.

My caution is that it is hard, hard work. If you're not fazed by that.

Personally I would not have been able to cope but I can now, easily, now my kids are older. Or, I probably could have when my kids were younger but I would have had no time to be a person in my own right.

I'm just conscious that women taken on so much when their children are very young. If you can do it, brilliant. If you are feeling onder the slightest bit of pressure... Don't do it because you are important too.

Under

Labradors are fantastic assistance dogs and very obedient however it takes 3 years to train a Labrador as a guide dog. Even if you want just some of the obedience they have it is full time training to reach that level.
I am not trying to put you off but just show the reality of having a dog, especially as you say you've never owned one. You are best being prepared for the challenges you will face, too many people get a dog because they like the idea of one and see the way assistance dogs act but are not prepared for the hard work that goes with it.

Oh yes don’t get me wrong I don’t want a guide dog nor a therapy dog as I know they take years and years of specialty training. I would just think my daughter who can’t talk would love the safeness and security and loyalty a dog could bring to her. I’m under no illusion it’s hard work and appreciate all the flags, they are definitely considerations.

Angry man what a kind and thoughtful post. You’re right as women we do take on a lot. My children are demanding but with them gone for the days I could also do with some purpose and some company as well.

@Lolly2803

I feel like whenever you post anything dog related people always say basically don’t get one! I don’t understand how all these young families I see at the weekends have dogs and I don’t understand then by reading all the comments, or a lot of them why the Labrador is the number 1 family dog and also sometimes a therapy dog.

Hmm - in my experience, most people with young children and dogs had the dogs before the children came along, so they got the puppy stage out of the way and made sure the dog was well-trained and fairly calm before introducing small children into the mix.

Alternatively, they waited until all the children were at school before getting a puppy.

That's not to say you can't have a puppy and small children but I really don't understand why you'd want to create all that extra work for yourself, lol. Yes, you could end up with a dream puppy that toilet trains in weeks and never destroys anything, but the reality is that puppies are tough.

They pee and poo all over your floor, they bite (and draw blood), they jump (and a lab puppy will easily send your DC flying), they steal things, they chew your children's toys (and your furniture), they eat things they shouldn't do, they hate being left alone, they cry in the night and they can never be left alone with the DC.

So, yes, while it is possible to deal with all of that AND cope with three small children, the question is - why would you want to do it all at once rather than wait a couple of years when your DC are older, a bit calmer and you have more time?

@Lolly2803

I feel like whenever you post anything dog related people always say basically don’t get one! I don’t understand how all these young families I see at the weekends have dogs and I don’t understand then by reading all the comments, or a lot of them why the Labrador is the number 1 family dog and also sometimes a therapy dog.

In response to this- a lot of families have them but a lot are badly trained and a lot end in rescue. Therapy dog labs are absolutely different- bred for calmness, friends are puppy walking one now and its completely different than a normal lab. I have a GSD, my 5th dog and two kids and I underestimated how difficult it is so Im really working on training. Its really 18 months of hard, repeated work to get a puppy correct. I think your kids are way too young.

I think you should wait till they are all at school. It's extremely demanding having a puppy and three young kids especially a lab that will need two runs a day ! I waited till mine were five and still really struggled with the demands of the dog and it's exercise needs

I agree with fairylightsandwaxmelts of course you could cope but why put yourself through it!

If you wait until your youngest is a bit older they too can enjoy the training and bringing up the puppy.

Having a puppy can be fantastic but get one when you all have time to enjoy it and not at a time when it will cause stress and hard work.

Re all the other families out and about with happy dogs and children in my line of work I see a lot of very stressed unhappy owners who are at their wits end with trying to train their "willful" dogs who are understimulated due to the owner having to many other commitments

My friend made a very well researched decision to buy a lab, when the prices were sensible. She has a good pedigree from a good breeder. But despite her preparation, and it was super thorough, she was still unprepared for the first few weeks. It really is like having another baby.
Insurance is essential, ours cost us well over £2000 in vets fees in the first three years, on top of routine injections. She had a viral gastroenteritis that nearly killed her, despite being a perfectly fit and healthy pup. Add to that the average cost is between 2-3k for a good pedigree pup. And you will be carefully screened by the seller. They don’t want the pup back after six months when it is so much more difficult to resell or regime the dog.
Have a read through some of the doghouse threads where people have struggled with their pup and are seriously looking at rehiring.
I wouldn’t be without my lab but I have lost some lovely shoes and no end of socks. No toy is safe, in fact nothing below waist level is safe.
My one tip is invest in a pot of Vicks vapour rub and apply it to any surface you don’t want destroying. It’s the only thing that I have found that deters a determined Labrador.
Things that my labs have destroyed

1. The inside of a car
2. The cat flap before the scraping
3. French windows woodwork
4. The legs of a butchers block
5. A large quantity of toy dinosaurs
6. At least one shoe of everyone in the household
7. Enough footballs to supply the entire premier league and the same amount of rugby balls. I’ve lost count of tennis balls

They love to roll in smelly stuff, their favourite is fox pop so make sure you have a downstairs shower. They shed enough air to stuff a small three piece suite at least three tim s a year. They love water particularly muddy water, the more stagnant the better. However they do come in handy after mealtimes. You will no longer need to clear up the floor after the children have eaten. Our last dog was a brilliant hoover. They are brilliant company and generally good travellers. They are good with children but the children have to be good with them.

Scraping- escaping

AngryMum your post really made me laugh!!

Just wanted to add some positivity here!

We got a flat coated retriever puppy 6 weeks ago and have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. It's been absolutely fine. Far easier that I imagined.

She came from a breeder who had a 5 year old and 1 year old at home so the puppy already knew about kids. To start with we gated off the kitchen and in the evening we did a sweep of the house to remove small toys and let her roam. Now I let her roam in the daytime as I WFH.

Yes she's a bit nippy but she leaves the kids alone and is mostly obsessed with chewing me. The kids have grown in confidence so much around dogs in such a short time. My 4 year old was scared of dogs before we got one, 6 weeks on she was standing in a field surrounded by four dogs on Sunday and unphased.

We chose to get a puppy now because life is chaotic with small children and is chaotic with puppies. In a couple of years both the kids and the dog will be calmer. We didn't want to restart chaos. Having the kids first is better I think, you're used to early starts, broken nights, poo etc. Our puppy slept better than our kids do in two days.

Her training is going well, little and often, and she starts puppy training classes next week.

I would go through the champ dogs site and see if you can find a breeder who has young kids at home. And read the parent dog profiles to find calm, family pets.

Good luck!

We have 3 Labradors and they have all been brilliant with our son. He is 17 years old now but has grown up with Labradors and has loved having them around throughout his childhood and they all adore him too.
With regards to chewing and mouthing you have to be firm with them and make sure they always have robust toys to chew which keep them busy.
Training is key and lots of positive reinforcement helps. Labs are food orientated and this definitely makes them easier to train and they are quick learners.
I would suggest looking on FB for Labrador groups and ask which breeders they recommend. Use this as a basis for then researching those breeders and checking they are KC registered.

@Lolly2803 try champ dogs. Before getting my lab I looked there and also the kennel club. If you go for working line and select a litter with small parents/lineage you have a good chance of having a smaller pup( if that's what you want) my lab is fully grown and 22kg

Get a large bottle of Tabasco and daub it on anything chewable, although the Vick suggestion is probably equally good. And a dog from a working strain is likely to turn out smaller. Labs are superb family dogs but you need to keep them well occupied until they are grown up. I'd have a bitch rather than a dog, but that said, I loved the dog most of any of them. He should have been called Elvis. Don't have two.... they lead each other astray.

@XingMing We tried this with hot chilli powder. Our pup bloody loved it!!!

Haha great tips!! And good advice too. I would definitely prefer a smaller sized one so that’s good advice for my search thank you

Working dogs are smaller mostly, but they are sharper. They need a lot more than a standard family pet. They are "on" more and personally I do not think working strain dogs should be given as family pets. I say that as someone who has a working cocker rescue were were given as a gift ( I hate to say that) and had a previous working dog.

Get a large bottle of Tabasco and daub it on anything chewable, although the Vick suggestion is probably equally good.

I would have had to smear my entire kitchen, sofa, carpet and walls with the stuff! 🤣 We used the bitter apply spray and he avoided anything sprayed with it but always found something else instead.

As well as the obvious shoes etc, we lost 2 kitchen cupboard doors, 6" of carpet, and several inches of skirting board to our labradors chewing when he was under 18 months, always overnight. One morning we came down and he had disemboweled an entire sofa seat cushion. Then one day he just stopped doing it.

@Lolly2803

Haha great tips!! And good advice too. I would definitely prefer a smaller sized one so that’s good advice for my search thank you

Be very careful with thinking smaller is better - working line labradors are incredibly intelligent and need a lot more input (both in terms of mental and physical stimulation) than standard show labs do.