Weddingbee boards

Are you wanting your dog to be indoors or outdoors primarily?  We got our crate from Petsmart for a 40lbs dog for about $40, but that was a couple years ago.  I strongly suggest using a natural dog food, like Nutro.  Our dog has done much better on a natural diet, and my best friends work in the business and say you should only go with natural food.  Petsmart and Petco both carry crates, dog houses and natural food options.  We get a lot of toys, Nylabone (great option for chewers), and things like pick up bags at Walmart.  

Most any vet can do microchipping, and most adoption shelters will automatically microchip with your adoption fee now.  I would ask breeders, since you seem to be going that route, if they offer the same service.  We adopted our dog from a shelter, so I don't know where to tell you to look for reputable breeder names. 

Ok, I have no clue where you live but we have a chocolate lab thats 3 (we got him at 6 wks old) and we actually just got a 6 week old yellow lab last week! First thing, please please please have alot of patience. Puppies in general are alot of work and it takes awhile to pick up on crate training, house breaking etc and some people have the patience and some unfortunately dont. We have not slept much the last few days bc we are crate training and you have to be consistent even when the crying is too much to bear.

If you want a pure bred chocolate lab with the papers you will need to go through a breader. Check your classifieds, check online but you won't find one at a pet store. The average range is $350-450 so it does get costly especially from a reputable breader. Our munchkin was $450. You can get any of the supplies such as crate and such at any pet store. Your vet can microchip. And an FYI, I love chocolate labs, I love all labs, but chocolates are more of the wild labs and tend to be more energetic than yellow or black labs. If you are the type of couple that worries about nice things and can't stand messes or an occasional accident or chew incident than labs are not for you. Labs crave attention and don't do well alone for long periods of time. There are really good websites out there on labs, tips for dealing with lab puppies and puppy training in general. Do you research first to make sure it is a good fit for you before jumping into anything.

@trugem: Labs are curious dogs and no matter what will always find something they want to eat at all ages. You will need to intermix being outdoors and indoors. It is a difficult transition to train and raise a dog indoors then all of a sudden throw them outside only. Labs are good family dogs and do well inside.

@trugem: I would be hesitant to leave a puppy outside 24/7, but if they grow used to being an inside dog, it will be a lot of work on your part to transition them to being an outside dog.  I'm not sure on the answer here.  But I do know that puppies eat a ton of stuff they shouldn't.  Our dog ate random things in the next room over until she was nearly 2.  Maybe it would be better to just make sure there aren't things in the yard or area that the puppy could eat.  So keep flowers/plants gated off, don't leave objects like gardening tools or kids toys in the yard, etc.

Why does the pup need to be purebred with papers? Unless you plan to breed, I don't see the importance of papers, papers don't gaurantee anything. I would check out your local shelters first, and Petfinder also – you can narrow your search by breed, if you are set on a lab over other breeds.

You need to watch/monitor any breed of puppy when they are young – like a toddler, puppies don’t necessarily know what is “food” and what isn’t, and will eat lots of things that are not kibble. I would definitely do some research on good brands of food, they are a bit more expensive but worth it.

You can buy crates at most big box stores, but I see them online all the time on craigslist, freecycle, and sometimes see them at thrift shops for lots cheaper. The cost of a doghouse depends on what you want – they have wooden doghouses, plastic doghouses, even heated doghouses - all different prices.

Puppies also need consistency, and attention. Dogs are social animals, they don’t like to live outside by themselves all the time. They want to be with you, because you are their pack.

I completely agree with CorgiTales.  Keeping a dog outside is akin to keeping a toy in a chest until you want to play with it, then putting it away.  An outdoor dog will never be as close to you as an indoor dog would be, as trusting or as loving.  Not to mention the myriad health risks for outside dogs that people have already mentioned--predators, ticks, fleas, and other pests, extreme temperatures and inclement weather, and neighbors and passersby who are up to no good (there have been countless reports of neighbors, sick of barking or just generally deranged or dog-hating, doing things like poisoning outdoor dogs, violently attacking and mutilating them, stealing them, and so on).  I have many friends that work for the local no-kill animal shelter, and it would make you so sick to hear some of the things that people have done to outdoor dogs.  Please don't do this to your new dog.  Give it the loving home it deserves and you will be rewarded with a well-adjusted, loving constant companion and best friend.

You want to go to a breeder (not adopt a shelter pup) so that you can get the papers for an OUTSIDE DOG!? I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. First of all, there are thousands of labs in shelters. Secondly, leaving a dog primarily outside (by itself as you don't have other dogs) is horrendous. As others have said, dogs are pack animals, they need to be with their people. And you aren't sure if you're going to get this dog which you bought from a breeder and primarily leave outside fixed??? What happens if it reproduces?

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I really think you should re-evaluate whether or not you should be getting a pet, or change your plans in order to accommodate the large commitment whixh comes along with getting a dog.

Labs are amazing!! We have a black lab and she is awesome.  She's three years old and this is the first year she's been in the house at night.  Last year during the blizzard is the ONLY time she came in and that was after we dragged and pulled her and pushed her in the house and then she whined looking out the windows.  We've had a golden retriever and a whiemeramyer(sp) and they all stayed outside 24/7.  They develop a coat that is thick to keep them warm.  We got them in the spring as puppies and by that winter they were ready for it.  She has a dog house that is raised up off the ground, and when we lived in the suburbs we put hay in it for insulation.  It needs to be changed every other week.  She's only inside now because we moved to the city, she has a fenced in yard to run around all day but i have a completely irrational fear (so i'm told) of rats and i'm convinced they will just move into the straw. 

We did get her from a breeder in our area, she has her papers, as do her parents/grandparents aunts uncles brothers and sisters, however she did loose vision in one eye when she was a puppy, so even with papers there's no guarantee.  

The only other thing I'd warn you about with Black Labs is that they have a TON of energy, we play with her before we leave in the morning, the neighbor hops our fence and plays with her every day, long walks when i get home from work and she still ready to go run and jump and she'll be four in the spring.  She should start calming down a little next year .... maybe!!!  Good luck labs are so loveable 

Please consider adopting. As others have said, unless you're going into breeding, papers don't mean much. And in terms of "getting what you're paying for," unless you're breeding, it's a dog, not an investment. A chocolate lab and a chocolate lab crossed with something similar are not going to be that different. Why spend hundreds or (gasp!) thousands on a piece of paper? Purebreds tend to have a lot more health problems, which is even more $$ and major emotional trauma in the long run. Shelters and breed-specific rescue organizations have tons of dogs who need good homes.

Also, I don't know anything about keeping dogs outside - mine have always lived indoors, and then gone hiking with me. I won't weigh in on that debate, because I don't know the facts.

But this I know: if you're going to keep the dog outside, you MUST fix it. When dogs want to mate, they find a way. 

Please, please, everyone: spay and neuter your pets. Never, never buy from petstores. Adopt before you buy. 

To clarify, this is not just advice for you, Trugem, but for any inexperienced dog owners!

@trugem: What are you hoping to "prove" by having papers verifying your dog's bloodline?  Purebred dogs are less hearty than mutts, by far, in general, because along with breeding certain traits into them breeds certain ailments as well.  A mutt, whose background is extremely varied and has much less intertwining in its family tree, will have less problems, ie hip dysplysia, common in full-blood labs.  A shelter dog is just as sweet, smart, loyal and affection--perhaps even more so than a dog bought from a breeder 

Back before I was too young to voice my opinion, we got a full-blooded golden retriever from a breeder.  Oh, we had its papers, its AKC registration, and we had searched for what seemed to be a responsible breeder (I think the term is an oxymoron at this point--breeding ANY dog when million of strays that would make fabulous house pets are put to sleep daily in shelters or die on the streets is just senseless).  And by age 2, he was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia and had to be operated on multiple times, which made a poor quality of life for this dog. He ended up not being able to run or play with any other dogs due to fears about injuring the pins placed into his hips or worsening his condition.  By 7, he developed what we eventually discovered to be a brain tumor, which pushed one of his eyeballs out (we had to have it removed then his eye sewn shut), and caused him seizures in which he would lose control of his bowels and bladder.  He was in diapers and constantly in and out of the vet for about a year before the doctor gave us the grim news that the tumor was taking over his brain and trying to remove it would kill him.  We spent tens of thousands of dollars on this dog because he'd become part of our family, but over the hundreds of years of breeding this specific breed, it'd become much less resilient against certain ailments.  The same is true of every purebred.  You can google this and find plenty of stories just like it.

Please consider adopting from a shelter (there are plenty of labs at shelter, especially black ones), or, if you're really set on a lab, getting one through a rescue (there are plenty of lab rescues, and both rescues and shelters have tons of puppies).  Every dog bought from a breeder is one more dog killed in an over-capacity shelter.

Sorry if you don't like to hear this, but you did ask this on a public forum and these are facts everyone considering getting a dog should realize.  It makes me sick to my heart to think about how many wonderful dogs need homes but are ignored and killed in shelters because there are just too many of them.  A shelter pet can be a very, very wonderful pet.  

@trugem: It doesn't.  I'm asking you why you feel you need a dog with papers at all.  Who cares if the dog isn't purebred?  Are you showing it? Are you breeding it?  If you're so set on getting a dog from a breeder, then frankly, I'd be thankful if it had a little muddled blood--all that makes for is a heartier dog.