South Dakota Labrador Puppies

Labrador retrievers are good-natured, people-oriented dogs. They love to be included in family life and are great with kids. Follow these simple steps to care for your lab.

1. Understand Labradors don't really reach adulthood until they are three years old, unlike most breeds, which reach it around the age of two.

2. Keep your Labrador's weight down. Overweight dogs will have more health problems, including heart trouble and arthritis.

3. Keep your Labrador indoors or out. They are moderately active and will be happy in a yard or house. Remember, they need 30 to 60 minutes of daily exericise. Take your Labrador for long walks or play fetch in the yard.

4. Brush your Labrador once a week with a slicker brush to keep shedding under control.

5. Bathe your dog only if it stinks. It doesn't require special grooming and can be washed at home.

6. Make sure to trim this dog's nails regularly ' every month ' to prevent foot problems.

7. Remember that Labradors love to please you but can sometimes be somewhat stubborn, which means that you must be consistent and patient while training them. Begin training you Labrador as soon as you get him home. Very early basic training will make the puppy bond to you for life. Do not ever kick, slap or hit your Labrador. Labradors love to please people and can become timid or scared of you, if abused, and will begin to not respond to training. Be very careful with shock collars. Labradors are very gentle hearted dogs and sometimes excessive shocking can ruin them.

8. Be prepared to enjoy a good 10 to 12 years with your Labrador, as this is the average life expectancy of labrador retrievers.

Warning

These dogs love to swim. Keep a towel handy!
Make sure you or someone in your home is willing to spend 30 to 60 minutes a day playing with and exercising the dog.
Note that labs are enthusiastic puppies and are sometimes mistakenly thought to be hyperactive. The main reason people give up their labs is because they are too active. The second reason is that they got bigger than expected.

Labradors are the top breed of dog in the U.S. today, this is due to their friendly nature. That alone makes them an excellent choice as a family member. This dog was originally bred in Newfoundland, Canada, and was used by fisherman to jump into icy waters and pull up nets. These dogs turned up in England in the 1800’s, and this is where the retrieving instincts of the breed were sharpened. Today, in addition to being a popular family dog, the Labrador retriever is used as a service dog for the disabled and as a drug detector for law enforcement organizations. Since you have decided on a Labrador Retriever for your next family pet, there are a few basics that you need to know about Labrador puppy care.

This breed of dog is extremely social and energetic, so a big part of your Labrador puppy care will be to provide your dog with plenty of room for running and lots of playtime with you. A large fenced yard is the best place for this type of pup to play, and you will want to have a few toys on hand that you can use to play fetch with your pup. Another important part of Labrador puppy training is to take him on many walks, but never allow your dog out of his confined space without a leash. Because Labrador retrievers have so much energy, the more exercise you offer to your pup, the easier it will be to train him.

Labrador retrievers are intelligent animals, so training needs to begin as soon as your puppy comes home. An obedience class is a good idea as part of your Labrador puppy care as well, and should be done as early as possible for best results. House breaking your puppy is one of the first types of training that you will do, and will require plenty of consistency and patience on your part for the best results.

Treats are great for training, especially for teaching sit, down, come, and shake. Come is the most important thing to train your Labrador. You must be able to call your dog to you when he might be in danger, like a car coming or an aggressive dog.

When your puppy likes to jump on you or other people step on their back feet, enough that you don’t hurt them but causes discomfort. When they playfully bite you, bite them back by pinching their cheek or lip. Pinching their cheek also works great for making them let go of a dummy or ball when playing fetch.

Do not play tug-of-war with a retrieving dog. Make them give you the dummy by forcing their mouth open or pinching their cheek. Make them sit and hold the dummy in their mouth every time that they bring you a dummy. This is very important when they are young. If you let them drop the dummy at your feet it is very difficult to ever train them to hold a dummy or bird until you take it from them. This is very important for bird retrieving, especially if the bird is still alive.

Labs are friendly creatures by nature. These dogs do very well in families with children and even other pets like cats. This dog will still bark at strangers but it is important to note that they are not known to be aggressive and therefore make poor guard dogs. Because of their social nature, these dogs can become bored and destructive when left to their own devices too often. If you decide on a Labrador you need to make a conscious effort to give them lots of attention. They need to be walked and played with. You may also want to give them a few dog toys. This will ensure that you and your pup will start out a relationship on the right foot. If your neighbor has a dog, take them to meet the other dog and neighbor often as a puppy, or go to a park with other dogs and people. Keep you dog on a leash until training is complete.

Your puppy has been started on ”Diamond Puppy” food. You should switch to a high quality adult formula dog food as soon as you can, before three months of age. Adult formula is lower in protein and calcium and it is believed that this will decrease the incidence of growth spurts and allow your Labrador puppy to grow at a more even pace. Current research shows that an even growth pace is helpful in warding off the incident of hip dysplasia, and other problems associated with rapid growth in Labrador Retrievers (and other large breeds). Feeding a lower protein and calcium dog food will not influence the adult size of your Labrador; it will just make them grow at a healthy even pace.

Feed your Labrador twice a day, morning and early evening. Make sure that the early evening feeding is not too late. Your pup may have to go outside a couple of times, to relieve himself, before bedtime. At first offer your Labrador puppy about 3/4 - 1 cup of food. The pups are on dry food by the time they go home. Let the pup have access to the food for about 20 minutes. What he hasn't eaten after this time is taken away, (manmade competition and the start of scheduled feedings). Continue this through the scheduled feeding times. Do not keep a bowl full of food for the dog to eat whenever he wants, this causes bad eating habits and overweight dogs.

If your dog refuses to eat, soften the food with water. Do not give your dog cow’s milk, it gives them diarrhea.

Onions, chocolate, cocoa, macadamia nuts, raisins, and grapes are fatal to dogs. As few as 7 grapes or raisins can be toxic to dogs. A lot of house plants are also fatal to dogs and children. Keep house plants out of reach.