golden retriever puppy rescue california

In addition to their fun characters and unwavering allegiance to their human companions, pugs have become so loveable and are one of the most popular dog breeds in the world because of their squashed noses, protruding eyes and wrinkled, flat faces. However, their shot noses and flat faces is a recipe for the serious breathing issues that they tend to suffer from. Many people who have interacted with pugs at their homes or in the park often ask; is it normal for pugs to breathe heavily? Heavy breathing in pugs is relatively common within the breed. They often have difficulty in breathing in certain situations given that their breathing passages are shorter and compact. However, pugs tend to have some serious breathing issues that should never be ignored. There are a lot of questions that dog lovers often ponder about before buying and bringing a pug into their homes. Despite being a lovely dog breed, their breathing problem can be a major concern. All you need to know is how to manage the situation. Do all Pugs Breathe Heavily? Therefore, all pugs will breathe heavily and make various noises including; gulping to catch their breath, have reverse sneezing, snoring and even passing gas. As a pug owner, these types of noise become a normal part of living with your lovely pug. In other words, you should expect pugs of all ages to make loud breathing sounds, albeit to a given extent. Why do Pugs Have Breathing Problems? Our canine friends have a respiratory system made up of the nares the nostrils , the sinuses, the nasal cavity and the pharynx, which is a membrane-lined cavity connecting both the mouth and the nose to the esophagus. As you can imagine, any defect in any of these components will leave your dog struggling to breathe properly. Again, all dogs have the following three main types of skull and muzzle shapes: Mesocephalic — These types of skull and muzzle are almost equal in length and are considered medium-sized heads. This is because they offer enough space for the nasal cavities and all other components of the outer respiratory system. These types of dogs include the Golden Retriever and the Beagle. Dolichocephalic — These are thin and rounded skulls with a relatively long snout. Just like in mesocephalic skulls, this type of skull allows for adequate room for nasal cavities and can sufficiently accommodate other components of the upper respiratory system. Brachycephalic — These types of skulls are short, compact and contracted. The distance between the forehead and the muzzle is virtually non-existent and is quite short. In essence, the upper respiratory system is compressed to fit into this inadequate frame. Evidently, such skulls are abnormal and can lead to various breathing issues. Some of the dog breeds in this category include the Bulldog, the French bulldog, American Pit Bull Terrier and our little friend, the pug. According to studies, dogs with muzzles measuring less than half their head length or dogs with thicker necks have increased chances of suffering from BOAS, and pugs definitely fall under this category. Symptoms of BOAS Some of the signs of this condition can range from minor snoring to severe breathing problems. Again, animals suffering from this condition can struggle during exercises, are prone to overheating and can even collapse due to lack of sufficient air! This is because they tend to have nose problems and windpipe issues given that the entire respiratory system is lumped together. Other additional symptoms of this condition include rapid breathing, snoring, frequent panting and even difficulty in gagging and swallowing. In addition to the BOAS condition, pugs are known to suffer from other respiratory problems including: Pug Reverse Sneezing — Ever noticed that your pug sneezes so much? Many pugs have extremely long palate tissues that block their airways. This then leads to excessive sneezes, wheezes, and gasps. Pugs have stuffy noses, which tend to hold up moisture at all times. You should however not panic when you notice that your pug is on a seemingly endless sneezing spree. In such a situation, you can correct the elongated soft palate through surgery. You can consider talking to your vet on the corrective procedure to this issue so as to prevent it from becoming severe or leading to other respiratory problems. Given their conditions, pugs are highly sensitive and can negatively react to various situations. Struggling to grasp enough Air — Your pug can also struggle to grasp enough oxygen and may struggle to breathe properly. This can cause rapid breathing and respiratory distress. Their shorter and narrower breathing passages make them susceptible to extreme temperatures such as heat. If the situation worsens, and the breathing attack is severer than normal, you should immediately take your pug to the vet and have her checked out. Stenotic Snares — This is a general birth flaw found in dog breeds with squashed noses such as the pugs. This occurs in dogs with excessively soft nasal tissues. When they breathe, the nostrils tend to collapse, leaving them to breathe through their mouths. Collapsing Trachea — Pugs are known to suffer from collapsing or narrowed tracheas. As a result, they can suffer from chronic honking, which may lead to difficulty in breathing especially during exercise. Here are some of the perfect solutions: Use a Dehumidifier — Using a dehumidifier can help remove excess moisture from the air. This can help you avoid poor air quality, which may affect your lovely pug. Minimize Allergies — Pugs are a highly sensitive breed and may be affected by various issues such as smoke. For this reason, you should understand the types of allergens that your pug may be sensitive to and ensure that they are completely removed. You should, therefore, keep them in air-conditioned rooms and in pleasant temperatures. You should also avoid walking your pug in sunlight or in extreme temperatures. The ideal way to deal with this issue is to stop exercising and take enough rest. In essence, do not over exercise your pug as this can activate breathing problems. Carry some water — You can keep your Pugs cooler and hydrated during walks by giving them enough water. Instead, opt for a suitable harness that can offer better weight distribution and reduce the force on both the neck and throat areas. You should choose a suitable time that can help work off the calories without straining your lovely pug. However, the breathing problem is not as bad as it has been made to be. References 1. The term applies to all breeds of dog and cat with short heads. Among the brachycephalic breeds are: pugs, English bulldogs, French bulldogs, Pekinese, Lhasa apsos, Shih tzus, and Boston terriers. Brachycephaly affects the health and welfare of animals in various ways Oechtering, .It affects the upper airways, eyes, ears, gastro-intestinal tract, spine and the ability to give birth normally. Here we focus on just one subset of these problems — BAOS. BAOS is the collective term for the problems caused to the upper airways. The brachycephalic head shape is due to an inherited defect in development of the bones of the skull Stockard .The head is a normal width but its length - especially of the muzzle - is reduced and in some breeds, like the Pug, extremely so Oechtering et al, ; Oechtering, .However, the soft tissues of the head are not correspondingly reduced in size and have to squeeze into a smaller space. This affects the passage of air into the lower airways and lungs Harvey .Pugs also exhibit other characteristic of an extreme brachycephalic conformation with a pronounced underbite and widely placed, shallow eye orbits. Most brachycephalic dogs are affected by upper airway obstruction to some degree Brown and Gregory .The airways are narrowed in several places due to the abnormal face shape and also because of the 'knock-on' consequences on the linings of the airways, of chronic laboured breathing and the abnormal pressures associated with this. Shell .BAOS is the term given to this collection of anatomical abnormalities, the secondary pathological changes they cause, and the resulting clinical signs. The risk of BOAS increases sharply as relative muzzle length shortens and BOAS occurs in dogs whose muzzles comprise less than half their cranial lengths Packer et al .There are a number of congenital present from birth , anatomical abnormalities that form the basis of BAOS Oechtering, : Stenotic Nares abnormally narrow nostrils — This is usually a bilateral condition ie it affects both nostrils. It causes occlusion of the airways, increasing the effort needed to breathe in. The 'knock-on' consequences of this laboured breathing include pulling the soft palate deeper into the larynx causing further blockage to the airway Shell .Distorted nasal passages are also thought to cause some occlusion Hendricks .Elongated soft palate — It is believed that the genetic defect responsible for shortening the bones of the nose does not correspondingly affect the soft tissues of the head, so relatively, the soft palate and tongue at the back of the mouth are disproportionately large Venker-van Haagen .In a normal dog of the same size ie with a normal head shape , the soft palate would be the correct length, but in the brachycephalic dog, it is over-large and over-long and gets pushed backwards, partly obstructing the larynx the opening to the lower airway Hendricks .For these reasons, the soft palate itself becomes swollen and further enlarged over time, further blocking the airways Shell .Pharyngeal turbinates — These are bones of the nose that should be confined to the nose but which can protrude back into the upper part of the throat in some brachycephalic dogs — especially pugs Ginn et al ; Oechtering et al, .Trachea hypoplasia Abnormally narrow windpipe relative to the size of dog —Tracheal hypoplasia is often seen in conjunction with the above abnormalities in other brachycephalic breeds — but it is very uncommon in the pug. It can also be seen in association with other abnormalities not considered to be part of BAOS including megaoesophagus abnormally enlarged oesophagus; Coyne and Fingland .Views vary about the extent to which trachea hypoplasia plays a part in BAOS. It has been suggested that tracheal hypoplasia worsens the prognosis for dogs with BAOS Orsher , Monnet and predisposes to increases the risk of chronic or recurrent lower airway and lung infections Harvey .However, further evidence in the literature to support this was not identified by Pink et al .As noted above, tracheal hypoplasia is very rare in pugs. Laryngeal hypoplasia abnormally small, underdeveloped larynx - In this condition the cartilages that form the larynx are abnormally soft and underdeveloped in shape, and the abductor muscles that function to open the larynx do not operate properly Venker-van Haagen .This is a common cause of laryngeal collapse in brachycephalic breeds according to Venker-van Haagen , though other authors do not discuss this condition as part of BAOS. Affected dogs with extreme brachycephaly conformation usually have some combination of the above defects Brown and Gregory and most have more than one of them Fasanella et al .They result in increased workload in breathing and, over time, to a progression of secondary problems. These include: Collapse of the larynx — There has been debate about whether collapse of the larynx is secondary to the abnormally low pressures in the pharyngolaryngeal throat region, as a result of the obstructions described above Wykes , or whether it is a primary problem which tends to accompany brachycephaly. It is believed that it may be a primary problem associated with brachycephaly in the pug Oechtering, personal communication. Three stages of laryngeal collapse have been described: In stage I there is eversion of the laryngeal saccules small sac-like structures in the side walls of the larynx which turn inside out and balloon into the airway, adding to the obstruction. In stage II there is loss of rigidity and medial displacement of the cuneiform processes of the arytenoid cartilage part of the cartilage that forms the support structure of the larynx and they collapse inwards, and in stage III there is collapse of the corniculate processes of the arytenoid cartilages - this involves further collapse of the laryngeal structures blocking the airway Pink et al .Bronchial collapse. Laryngeal collapse has been found to be significantly associated with bronchial collapse: the collapse of the branching airways in the lungs De Lorenzi et al .As with laryngeal collapse, this may not be secondary to pressure changes caused by BAOS, but be a primary problem. Evertion and hypertrophy of the tonsils — Inflammation of the soft tissues in the throat leads to the tonsils enlarging, adding to the amount of tissue protruding into the pharynx the back of the throat; Fasanella et al .Hypertrophy of the pharyngeal muscles — The muscles in the throat become larger and thicker as they are constantly working harder to keep the pharynx open to enable the passage of air into the lungs. However, this hypertrophy of the muscles further narrows the pharyngeal cavity. Gastrointestinal problems: dysphagia, regurgitation, vomiting and acid reflux — Dysphagia is defined by Poncet et al as difficult or painful swallowing. It can be associated with regurgitation of oesophageal contents and vomiting. Dysphagia in brachycephalic dogs has been reported by many authors e. Ducarouge , Dupre and Freiche , Koch and others .Poncet et al also noted many reports of anatomical defects in the gastrointestinal tracts of brachycephalic dogs. For example, hiatus hernia in which part of the stomach can pass up into the chest through a larger than normal hole in the diaphragm, and pyloric stenosis in which the stomach exit is narrowed, preventing food from leaving the stomach normally. They found a correlation between the severity of BAOS and the severity of gastrointestinal disease and postulated that the respiratory diseases affected the severity of gastrointestinal signs and vice versa. Heart Failure — This occurs as a consequence of inadequate oxygenation of the blood in the lungs, due to the airway obstructions. In response to inadequate oxygenation of the blood, the capillaries in parts of the lung that are poorly ventilated are constricted. Chronic long term vasoconstriction and increased blood pressure in the lungs increases the blood pressure in the right side of the heart and eventually can lead to right-sided heart failure Monnet .Breathing problems during whelping - Breathing difficulties may affect some brachycephalic bitches during whelping giving birth and may be a reason for elective or emergency caesarean section in these dogs Harvey .Thermoregulation — The normal nose plays an important role in body temperature regulation in the dog. Evaporation from the extensive folded surfaces over the complex mesh of turbinate bones, enables cooling. In brachycephalic dogs, this function is severely disrupted resulting in severe difficulties in coping with heat — whether due to the warmth of the environment or resulting from exercise. As Oechtering states: ' This is why brachycephalic animals are particularly heat-sensitive, why many pant to no avail even at room temperature and without physical effort, and may need several hours to recover even after brief exercise. Some of these conditions are progressive so the signs depend on the congenital anatomical defects present, the severity of each and how long the secondary conditions have been progressing. The primary congenital abnormalities cause the signs of BAOS in puppyhood. The mean age at which brachycephalic dogs are presented to vets for treatment of BAOS is 3 to 4 years of age Monnet .Laryngeal collapse is usually seen in older animals Harvey a. In the mildest cases the clinical signs include snoring and respiratory noise stridor on inspiration breathing in , Brown and Gregory , Fasanella et al .In more severe cases signs include exercise intolerance , mouth breathing, gagging, restlessness, rapid breathing tachypnoea , cyanosis blue coloured membranes of the mouth — due to lack of oxygen in the blood , dysphagia, abnormal posture, and intermittent collapse Shell , Fasanella et al .Vomiting and regurgitation are also frequently seen Dupre .Flatulence is common due to aerophagia swallowing air; Harvey .Respiratory crises commonly occur in moderately to severely affected individuals, in which the animals rapidly develop respiratory distress, struggle to breathe, and may collapse and die. Severely affected individuals, with laboured breathing, stand with their elbows held away from their chests in an attempt to ease breathing Brown and Gregory .With the laboured breathing, there is over inflation of the chest and the abdomen is sucked in Dupre .Dogs with more severe BAOS live a precarious existence and minor aggravations can lead to severe respiratory distress and crisis Hendricks .Stress, exercise, excitement, heat, and trips to the vet all act as aggravators Hendricks , Dupre .These dogs are very prone to heat stroke Hendricks .Hendricks examined sleep disorders in 20 English Bulldogs, another brachycephalic breed of dog that suffers from BOAS. All dogs over 2 weeks of age exhibited disordered breathing during sleep including pauses in breathing, and blood oxygen levels which dropped below normal many times per hour. It is likely that this happens in pugs also. BAOS is a progressive disease. Some of the primary problems, such as stenotic nares and over-large soft palate can be helped with surgery. Tracheal hypoplasia is untreatable Brown and Gregory .Surgical treatment is a major intervention but without treatment moderate to severely affected dogs will suffer progressive respiratory distress, incapacity and ultimately death. Some of the secondary problems can also be improved with surgery. Overall prognosis for dogs that have had surgical interventions varies; Reicks et al , in a study of 62 cases from various brachycephalic breeds, reported a favourable outcome for all dogs needing surgery. However, the outlook for dogs with BAOS depends on which primary and secondary conditions are present and how advanced they are. Return to top 2. Intensity of welfare impact BAOS has a major welfare impact since it not only reduces general quality of life but puts affected dogs at risk of death through major respiratory distress. Without major surgical treatment such episodes can reoccur. Disrupted sleep patterns are probably common. Even those with mild to moderate BAOS are unable to exhibit, what for non-brachycephalic breeds of dogs, is considered normal behaviour such as running and resting comfortably. Return to top 3. Duration of welfare impact This is a life-long disorder, starting in puppies, progressively worsening throughout life and ultimately often shortening it Dupre .The average age of first presentation to vets for treatment, for all brachycephalic breeds, is years Monnet .Even with surgical treatment life-expectancy can be compromised. Some authors record death or euthanasia due to BAOS in a relatively high percentage of cases. Return to top 4. Number of animals affected Brown and Gregory suggest most dogs with extreme brachycephalic conformation dogs are affected by upper airway obstruction to some degree. The severity of the problem depends on the number and severity of the anatomical abnormalities. Nasopharyngeal turbinates - are found in some brachycephalics, most commonly pugs Ginn et al .Laryngeal collapse is common in pugs with BAOS. Surgical treatment is more challenging than in larger dogs Harvey d. Trachea hypoplasia is seen in some pugs in conjunction with BAOS Eom et al , but is generally believed to be rare in pugs. Secondary problems are also common. Of Pugs, 53 dogs .The owners of over half of dogs diagnosed with BOAS at a referral centre stated that their dog did not have breathing problems Packer et al .This normalisation phenomenon may blind owners and veterinarians to the extent of the problem in affected animals and lead to under-reporting and under-diagnosis. Return to top 5. Diagnosis BAOS will be suspected in any brachycephalic dog showing the characteristic signs, because it is so common. Stenotic nares can be diagnosed on clinical examination of the conscious animal, but definitive diagnosis of elongated soft palate, tonsillar hypertrophy and laryngeal collapse depends on examination under anaesthetic. Diagnoses of tracheal hypoplasia, right-sided heart failure and confirmation of disproportionately large soft palate are made with radiography x-rays under anaesthesia and gastrointestinal complications may be investigated using endoscopy and biopsies, again under anaesthetic Monnet .Anaesthetics carry substantially increased risks during recovery for BAOS sufferers and most authors only recommend anaesthesia for diagnosis when corrective surgical treatment can also be carried out at the same time, under the same anaesthetic, so that these risks during recovery are reduced. Return to top 6. Genetics Brachycephalic head shape has long been thought to be the result of an inherited defect Stockard .Recently the region of the canine genome associated with brachycephaly has been identified and 2 particular genes have been implicated. The exact gene or genes are currently unknown Bannasch et al .This inherited defect defines all brachycephalic breeds and without this defect these breeds would no longer exist in their current form. Pugs have been shown to have narrow tracheas, thus a genetic component is assumed, though currently the specific genetics of this condition are unknown Eom et al .Return to top 7. How do you know if an animal is a carrier or likely to become affected? The pug breed is currently defined by its brachycephalic head shape — all pugs are affected most have some degree of BAOS Brown and Gregory , so it is extremely difficult to identify a puppy that will be free of this condition. Anyone wishing to obtain a pug should ensure that it and its sire and dam are free of obvious signs of BAOS. Ensuring they have not had correction surgery for any of the primary or secondary conditions is also vital. Currently, identifying individuals that have had previous surgery for these conditions is difficult because scars on the nostrils may not be easy to see and the other surgical scars are hidden inside the throat. Because of this, Harvey had a policy of simultaneous neutering all animals that had corrective surgery. It is not known if others have adopted this approach but it is certainly not universal. Because demand would sustain continued production of affected animals, puppies with signs of BAOS should not be purchased and, if signs appear after purchase, the puppy should be returned to its breeder. Return to top 8. Methods and prospects for elimination of the problem Clear identification and neutering of all dogs which have had surgical interventions seems vital but must not be a constraint to prompt treatment. However, it is the brachycephalic head shape that underlies the primary anatomical abnormalities that cause BAOS. The practices of Caesarean section and artificial insemination that allow some brachycephalic dogs to reproduce have enabled selection for even more extreme versions of this defect Bannasch et al .If dogs with signs of BAOS were not used for breeding, the remaining gene pool might be so small because so many are affected that the breed would be unsustainable so it appears that outcrossing with non-brachycephalic would be necessary. Opinions differ as to whether it is ethically acceptable to breed animals whose welfare is likely to be compromised. As Oechtering states: ' It is high time for a radical rethink in brachycephalic breeding. Brachycephaly is a pure manmade disease. Eds, D. New Zealand Veterinary Journal .Coyne B and Fingland R Hypoplasia of the tracheal in dogs: cases —.Doctoral thesis, Lyon. Accessed .Paris, France, November 10, .Journal of Veterinary Science 9: —.Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association Harvey C a Upper airway obstruction surgery 1: Stenotic nares surgery in brachycephalic dogs. Journal of American Hospital Association Harvey C b Upper airway obstruction surgery 2: Soft palate resection in brachycephalic dogs. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association Harvey C c Upper airway obstruction surgery 3: Everted laryngeal saccule surgery in brachycephalic dogs. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association Harvey C d Upper airway obstruction surgery 4: Partial laryngectomy in brachycephalic dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice .Hendricks J Recognition and treatment of congenital respiratory tract defects in brachycephalics. In Bonagura, J. Philadelphia: W. Canine Practice Monnet E Brachycephalic airway syndrome. In Slatter, D. Eds Textbook of Small Animal Surgery. Accessed 19th July .Canine Genetics and Epidemiology 2: .Oechtering G Brachycephalic syndrome — new information on an old disease. Veterinary Focus 20 2 : .In Bojrab, M. A potential constraint to improving canine welfare. Animal Welfare 21 Supplement 1 : .The genetic and endocrine basis for differences in form and behaviour as elucidated by studies of contrasted pure line dog breeds and their hybrids. In Ettinger, S. And Feldman, E. Eds Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Philadelphia: WB Saunders. Wykes P Brachycephalic airway obstructive syndrome. Pug Breathing Problems Why Pugs Have Breathing Problems A dog's respiratory system consists of the nares the nostrils , the nasal cavity, the sinuses, the pharynx the membrane-lined cavity which connects the nose and mouth to the esophagus which is the canal that leads to the stomach , the larynx also known as the voice box , the trachea also known as the windpipe , the bronchi the branches of the trachea that extend into the lungs , and the lungs. When there is an abnormality of any one of these components, this will affect a dog's ability to breathe properly. Pugs are very prone to respiratory-related abnormalities and this is directly linked to this breed's skull shape. There are 3 main types of skull and muzzle shapes seen with canines: Dolichocephalic image 1 - The skull is thin and rounded and the snout is relatively long. This shape allows for lots of room for the nasal cavities. There is generally adequate room for the nasal cavities and all other components of the upper respiratory system. Brachycephalic image 3 - The skull is compact and the muzzle is comparatively short. Because the upper respiratory system must fit into this compressed shape, it is common for there to be abnormalities and related breathing issues. A Pug may make lots of noises including grunting, snorting, gasping, or wheezing even when at rest. This can vary from minor to severe and may include sleep apnea short moments when breathing stops. In some cases, minor breathing issues are considered 'normal' for this breed and no action needs to be taken other than following the general care tips to help Pugs breathe as well as possible next section. However, in moderate to severe instances, these breathing-related issues point to abnormalities with upper respiratory system components and may warrant veterinary treatment details ahead. Top 10 Ways to Help a Pug Breathe Better Even when a Pug is cleared of breathing-related disorders stenotic nares, elongated soft palate, tracheal abnormalities, etc. There may be all kinds of loud noises, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, heavy panting that interferes with meeting exercise requirements, intolerance for hot or cold weather, and other issues. Fortunately, there are quite a few things you can do to help your Pug breathe better both when active and at rest. Maintain an indoor room temperature between 68 and 75 Fahrenheit 20 and 24 C. Use an air conditioner during hot weather and take care to not turn the heat up too much in the winter. For those that do not have an AC, there are some things that can keep a room cooler to help a Pug breathe better including opening windows on opposite sides of the house to create air flow, placing fans to help air circulate throughout the rooms, and keeping blinds and curtains closed to block out sunlight that would otherwise heat up the house. Overly dry air dries out breathing passages and air with high moisture levels can interfere with breathing as well. In the winter, air is very arid due to cold air not holding moisture. When that dry air is heated in the home, the relative humidity drops significantly, compounding the problem. In many locales, it's the opposite problem in the summer, when air often holds high levels of moisture. For those that live in an area with high humidity levels, a dehumidifer like the Afloia Dehumidifier for Home may be needed. Limit exposure to very cold air. Air that is inhaled through the nasal passages is warmed before it reaches the lungs, but air that is inhaled through the mouth is not and that cold air can exacerbate breathing problems. So, if a Pug is outside in the winter and is breathing through their mouth often seen with Pugs that have stenotic nares, a very common issue with this breed , that dog may pant heavy, gasp for breath, and struggle to keep breathing under control. This is seen most often on days that are under 10 F C but can occur at higher temps in the 20's or 30's. If your Pug has more trouble in the winter, limit outdoor time just to bathroom trips and short walks to maintain exercise requirements. Take exercise precautions during hot, humid weather. It's a fine line between not pushing a Pug too far and making sure that there is enough physical activity to stay healthy. Since summer can be long and Pugs should not stay sedentary, exercise may need to be limited to early mornings and later in the evenings to avoid the hottest parts of the day, breaks should be taken in the shade, and plenty of water should be provided. If there is a heat wave, keep your Pug indoors. Never place a collar on your Pug when on leash. When a leash is connected to a collar, any and all stress or tension from that leash is placed directly against the windpipe which can severely impede breathing ability. Panting, wheezing, exercise intolerance, and many more aspects can dramatically worsen. Pugs and other brachycephalic breeds should always wear a harness instead; this distributes pressure across the back, chest, and shoulders while keeping the neck free. This is a step-in design nothing has to be fit over the head , it's made of breathable air-mesh, and it is adjustable. Limit over-excitement. When Pugs get too excited this can lead to excessive panting and can worsen clinical symptoms of stenotic nares, elongated palate, and other breathing-related disorders. Offer introductions to new people or other dogs in a gradual and casual manner and keep things low-key when offering new toys or announcing a fun activity. Keep your Pug at a healthy weight. Excess weight affects breathing by pushing on the diaphragm and chest wall, adding pressure to the tracheal area, decreasing the amount of room for the lungs, and causing the heart and lungs to work harder to move oxygen around. Since Pugs are prone to becoming overweight, it's vital to keep an eye on this. Keep your Pug on a healthy high-quality diet and maintain a regular exercise schedule. Reduce or eliminate air irritants. Eliminate what you can by making your home a non-smoking zone and avoiding aerosol products. If your Pug has allergies , working to resolve this may include limiting time outside on high-pollen days, wet-dusting and vacuuming the house often, and cleaning off the coat and paws when coming back inside. Encourage good sleeping positions. Sleep apnea, episodes of greatly reduced or paused breathing, can also be at play which can be a dangerous and sometimes fatal condition. To help a Pug breathe easier at night, the body should be in a stretched-out arc with the neck supported and extended. To facilitate this, have your Pug rest and sleep on a large round or rectangle dog bed with raised bolstered sides that serve as a pillow for the head. Since this breed is very prone to hip issues, a memory foam mattress is recommended. If your Pug likes to sleep on a flat mattress, try slipping a narrow pillow under their head. Monitor your Pug. With so many factors that can affect how well a Pug breaths there can be changes throughout the year and over time. So, continually monitor your Pug for increased breathing problems, making adjustments as needed. If there is a dramatic change in breathing issues, sudden episodes of respiratory distress, or chronic breathing problems that do not respond to the changes that you make, bring this to the attention of the veterinarian asap. Health Conditions that Affect a Pug's Ability to Breathe Well As covered earlier, the Pug's brachycephalic profile makes this breed prone to certain abnormalities associated with the upper respiratory system. Let's take a look at these. Signs of this include noisy breathing especially when inhaling , noticeable flaring of the nostrils when inhaling, snoring, and exercise intolerance. Moderate to severe cases are corrected with a relatively simple surgical procedure. Read more about Pug Dog Stenotic Nares. Elongated Soft Palate This involves the soft palate, which is located at the back of the throat, partially blocking the entrance to the trachea, making it difficult to breathe well. Tracheal Issues This includes hypoplastic trachea, an abnormality with the rings of cartilage that surrounds the windpipe and collapsed trachea which is a degeneration or weakening of the rings that leads to collapse. Signs include a distinctive honking-type cough, noisy breathing, gagging on or regurgitating food, gasping for air, and exercise intolerance. Read more about Pug Dog Tracheal Issues. Everted Laryngeal Saccules This involves the laryngeal saccules, which are located above the vocal cords, becoming everted flipping inside out and partially blocking the entrance to the trachea, making it difficult to breathe well. It is considered the first stage of laryngeal collapse, a very serious and often fatal condition, so early diagnosis and treatment is vital. Did you find this to be helpful? This comprehensive care book is a complete guide for every step of your Pug's life. See what's inside. You may also like these helpful articles: Pug Separation Anxiety - Excellent tips and step-by-step advice for helping a Pug that hates to stay home alone. Pug Grooming - A super-helpful round-up of all the grooming tasks you should be doing to keep your Pug clean and smelling nice, and to maintain healthy skin and fur. Pug Care Tips - These are the 15 things that will keep a Pug happy, safe, comfortable, and healthy. See how many are you currently doing and which ones should you start to implement today. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon. May 17, They're all good dogs. But those good looks come with a cost. The compact architecture of their skull results in deformation, which make their nostrils or soft palate too small, obstructing airflow and leaving the pups gasping for breath. Researchers long thought that the main cause was their shortened faces. But genes found in another breed suggest that the shortness of breath might be in their DNA, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS Genetics. Ed Cara at Gizmodo reports that veterinarians began to notice that another small breed of dog, the Norwich terrier, was increasingly coming down with similar respiratory symptoms, a disease called upper airway obstructive syndrome. Unlike flat-faced pugs and bulldogs, however, the Norwich—bred for chasing rodents—has a nice, proportional skull. That got study author Jeffrey Schoenebeck, a veterinary scientist at the University of Edinburgh, wondering if the breathing problems in all the small dogs were genetic. The team assessed Norwich terriers for signs of the airway syndrome and also examined their genomes. Dogs with two copies of the mutation showed signs of fluid retention and swelling around the lungs. They had worse breathing scores than dogs with just one copy of the mutation or the normal gene. As a result, the younger generation of terriers is less like to develop the disease than older dogs. The problem in flat-faced breeds may not be quite as simple to deal with. Wonky skull shape still makes the risk of developing BOAS higher, and the gene mutation adds to that risk. The team needs to do a similar study with bulldogs to figure out how much of their breathing problems come from their genes and how much comes from their cute little smushed-up skulls. Smushed-up faces are what make certain dog breeds, like French and English bulldogs and pugs, so ugly-cute. The compact architecture of their skull results in deformation, that make the nostrils or soft palate too small, obstructing airflow and leaving the pups gasping for breath. Researcher long thought that the main cause was their shortened faces. But genes found in another breed suggest that the shortness of breath might be in their DNA. Ed Cara at Gizmodo reports that veterinarians began to notice that another small breed of dog, the Norwich Terrier, was increasingly coming down with similar respiratory symptoms, a disease called Upper Airway Syndrome. Unlike flat-faced pugs and bulldogs, however, the Norwich, bred for chasing rodents, has a nice, proportional skull. That got Jeffrey Schoenebeck of the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburghand and lead author of the study in the journal PLOS Genetics wondering if the breathing problems in all the small dogs were genetic. The team assessed Norwich Terriers for signs of the airway syndrome and also examined their genomes. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. Recommended Videos. They are just fun and joy in little wrinkly packages. Like any other puppy, they are super playful and energetic. They love a good game of tug-o-war, fetch, or hide-and-seek. Occasionally, you may notice your baby Pug breathing hard. Is this something you should be concerned about? Pugs are susceptible to breathing problems because of their flat faces. When your baby Pug is breathing hard, it is most likely due from exertion, like playing or running. You only need to worry when your baby Pug is breathing hard, unrelated to exertion or play. Like their wild wolf cousins, puppies play not only to have fun but to learn how to interact with their surroundings. Playing allows puppies to learn boundaries with adult dogs, their human owners, and other important skills for becoming adult dogs. Puppies need to be with their mothers and littermates until ten weeks old because their mothers and littermates will be their best teachers, and the most important lessons they can learn are the ones they learn through play. To a new owner, the level of excitement a puppy can reach while playing may seem alarming. After an intense play session, your puppy may be exhausted and breathing hard. This is nothing to worry about! Helping your puppy to burn off some of its youthful energy is a great thing to do. No one wants their shoes chewed up! One special note about Pug puppies is that they tend to tire more easily than other breeds that have longer snouts because of their flat or brachycephalic faces. Pugs that are too hot or have been exercising too hard can have trouble breathing because of their flat faces. If your puppy seems to be struggling to take a breath after energetic play, take them immediately to the vet. There is a difference between fast breathing from play and labored breathing stemming from brachycephaly. Pug puppies should be played within cooler environments and may need more breaks than their longer-nosed brethren. Just be a little more cautious with your little Pug. Not all puppies will be infected with worms, but it is so frequent that almost all puppies are given deworming treatments with their first vet visits. If your Pug puppy has a round, taut belly, along with heavy panting, this is a good indication that they may have worms. Worms are very rarely a dangerous affliction to puppies when treated early. Only a vet can give you the medication your pup will need, so take them as soon as possible if you have any suspicion. Heatstroke Heatstroke in dogs is just as serious as the name suggests. Heavy or fast breathing is just one sign of heatstroke. Others include: Drooling. Pharynx connects the nose to mouth and esophagus Larynx or voice box Bronchi branches of trachea connecting to the lungs Lungs Unfortunately, Pugs are prone to respiratory abnormalities. In other words, there is an abnormality to one, or more, of these respiratory components that arise in many Pugs. The small skull and short muzzle of Brachycephalic dogs like pugs mean the upper respiratory system has to fit into an unsuitably small area. Breathing issues arise as a result of this. Many Pugs can live a full, healthy, and happy life despite these issues. Minor breathing issues are generally considered to be normal for Pugs. Just keep caring for your pug according to best-practices. If you think your Pug is having more difficulty breathing than usual, you might want to visit your local veterinarian. They will be able to give you the best treatment advice. Signs to look out for that indicate moderate to severe respiratory distress in your Pug could include: 1. Increased panting If your Pug shows difficulty breathing, especially when exercising, this could be cause for concern. It is relatively normal for Pugs to display some panting after spells of intense exercise. Especially in very hot, humid, or cold weather. If your Pug is panting heavily, more than usual, or showing difficulty catching his or her breath, let them rest and contact your vet. Loud breathing Excessively noisy breathing is also a sign of breathing issues. If your Pug is constantly grunting, wheezing, snorting, or gasping for air, this is cause for concern. Especially if they are making these excessive noises when at rest. Excessive snoring Pugs snore. Though minor snoring is not a problem, severe snoring could be a sign of sleep apnea. This is far more serious as it means your Pug is experiencing short durations without breathing. This is the major component resulting in their breathing difficulties. Pugs are not in discomfort all of the time and some of these contributing factors can be mitigated with proper care. Since Pugs are likely to experience some respiratory-related problems in their lifetime, owners should secure a good pet insurance plan. This will give you the peace of mind that veterinary help is always available, without any sky-high, or unexpected costs. They are overweight Pugs have a voracious appetite. But they are also genetically prone to obesity. As a Pug owner, you absolutely must not give in to those pleading eyes all the time. It might be tempting, but treating your Pug too often could be doing them more harm than good. If your Pug is carrying too much bodyweight around with them every day, they will feel uncomfortable and lethargic. This is because of the excess pressure on their joints. More importantly, they might experience difficulty breathing even more than normal. Keeping track of your Pugs weight, and maintaining a balanced nutrition and exercise regime is one of the simplest and easiest ways to look after their respiratory health and overall happiness. They are too hot When Pugs get too hot their breathing suffers. You might notice an increased level of panting or snorting. Your Pug might even hand their tongue out of their mouth to try and cool down. Remember, pugs have a shortened nose. This is them attempting to take in more, much-needed air and cool themselves down. The best way to avoid this happening is to take your dog out during the cooler times of the day. A short walk in the morning and another in the evening is the way to go. Allergies Pugs sometimes develop allergic reactions to things. Common examples include pollen, different foods, allergens, and physical contact with certain fabrics. This contributes to respiratory distress in your pup. Common signs of Pug breathing problems caused by an allergic reaction include sneezing episodes, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. Visit your local vet, who will prescribe an appropriate treatment plan. Bacterial buildup Another factor that contributes to breathing difficulties in Pugs is bacteria. This is harder to spot, but there are simple steps you can take to avoid bacterial overgrowth in your Pug. Remember those folds and wrinkles are a breeding ground for invisible bacteria. Try using a cotton swab to wipe around your Pugs nose and apply some petroleum jelly to dry areas. Their respiratory system This one is the biggie. Pugs have small, narrow nostrils and an abnormally long soft palate. As a result, the amount of airflow is restricted and access to the trachea obstructed. It causes noisy inhalation, flared nostrils, snoring, and exercise aversion. Unfortunately, this blocks the entrance to the trachea and inhibits breathing as a result. Because of this deformity, newborn Pugs can sometimes be seen dribbling milk from the nose. Signs in adult Pugs include: heavy panting. A normal rate of breathing for dogs is between 10 and 35 breaths per minute, and the average dog takes about 24 breaths per minute at rest. Heavy Breathing In Puppies In general, puppies have higher respiratory rates and heart rates compared to adult dogs. A normal breathing rate for a puppy is between breaths per minute. This usually happens in the REM rapid eye movement stage of the sleep cycle, and may be accompanied by whimpers or leg movements—all of which are completely normal. In most cases, it is no cause for alarm. Your dog is breathing heavy at rest If your dog is breathing heavy at rest, it can be a red flag for a number of serious health issues. Your dog is panting with a closed or partially open mouth While panting is normal in dogs, if your dog is breathing heavily with a closed mouth or just a partially open mouth, it can be a sign of something more serious and should receive medical attention. Your dog is coughing and breathing heavy If your dog is coughing and breathing heavy, it may be a sign of chronic bronchitis or another serious respiratory issue. Your dog appears to be in distress A dog in distress may be restless, have little to no appetite, and try to hide. Your dog may show other signs of stress such as tucking the tail between the legs and ears that are pinned back rather than being relaxed. Your dog is making other noises while breathing heavy If your dog is having difficulty breathing, they may also make other noises such as snorting, wheezing, or retching. These are common symptoms associated with other respiratory conditions like chronic bronchitis. Treatment For Heavy Breathing In Dogs Treatment for heavy breathing in dogs will vary depending on the underlying cause. Your dog may need oxygen therapy to stabilize their condition and ensure they are getting enough oxygen to their organs. Take the Canine Bronchitis Assessment to see if your dog could have chronic bronchitis.

At this stage, nipping bad behaviors in the bud is more important than imprinting positive ones. Instead, just redirect them to positive behavior and reward them accordingly. By this point, your puppy should have already been given their distemper and parvovirus vaccinations. By this point, they should be fully housetrained or close to it. Your dog will be likely to gnaw and bite on anything they can get their chompers on—including you. Stay calm and redirect their attention to appropriate objects like chew toys. Your Golden should be fully accustomed to their new kibble at this point, and you should feed them three to four times per day. A 3-month-old dog should also get a DHHP booster, which protects them from parvo, distemper, parainfluenza, and adenovirus. You can play with your pup as much as you like, but take care not to put too much stress on their joints. Avoid a bunch of running and jumping, especially on hard surfaces. Your dog can transition from four meals per day down to three at this point, but the meals should probably be larger. This can cause digestive issues until your dog gets accustomed to it, so be prepared to clean up a few messes. Training should continue, although your primary focus will likely be convincing your pup to chew on something besides your shoes. Your dog will need another DHPP booster at this point, as well as a rabies vaccination. Other optional vaccines include Bordetella, Lyme disease, coronavirus, and leptospirosis. This could cause a brief burst of intense biting and chewing, so power through it. Make sure your pup has plenty of chew toys available to them. Stairs in particular should be avoided. Your pup is likely to start asserting itself at this stage and may start to mature sexually if not spayed or neutered. There are no vaccinations required at this point. Everyone knows how much fun it is to raise teenagers, right? This can lead to undesirable behaviors like aggressiveness, increased tendency to roam, and destructiveness. As a result, you may think that your dog is too skinny, but resist the urge to increase their rations. While most breeds have a puppy coat that they eventually grow out of, Goldens do not. Instead, their puppy coat becomes their undercoat, so you may notice your dog becoming increasingly fuzzy. The teenage rebelliousness should be wearing off by this point, and your dog is ready to begin training in earnest. You should still be feeding them twice daily, and they should stay on puppy kibble for at least another 6 months. Goldens reach their full height between 9 and 12 months old. Females tend to get there faster, but males will be taller in the end. You may also need to cut back on the amount that you feed them. It depends on the individual dog, but females generally reach maturity first. Spaying or neutering your dog has its pros and cons. The pros are fairly obvious: less marking, reduced misbehavior, and zero chance of getting an unexpected litter of puppies. Spaying and neutering can also protect against certain cancers. You may want to wait until your dog is at least 12 months old before getting them fixed. This also leaves the window open longer in which they can suffer skeletal damage, though, so be careful about how active you allow them to be. However, stunted growth and growing too quickly can cause serious health problems, so you should check with your vet to make sure your dog is growing on schedule. Stunted growth is usually caused by malnourishment or a medical problem. You should have your pup tested for parasites like hookworm or ringworm, and consider switching them to a higher-quality, calorie-dense food. If left untreated, malnourishment can lead to weak bones, muscles, and immune system. As you might expect, growing too quickly is often caused by feeding your dog too much. American and British Goldens are similar. However, American Goldens tend to be less stocky and muscular, instead having a leaner appearance. They may weigh a bit less as well. They tend to be taller as well, often standing an inch or two higher than their counterparts. Conclusion Golden Retrievers make excellent pets, and we understand how hard it is to resist the temptation to bring a puppy home. If you do, though, you should understand what to expect from your new dog. Steady growth is what you want to see, without too many peaks or valleys. This sets your dog up for a long, healthy lifespan. Every dog develops at their own pace, so as long as you feed your pup an appropriate amount of high-quality puppy kibble and get them vaccinated regularly, you should be fine. See also:. We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. This was the first time we had a chance to chart puppies from birth until 8 weeks old. We tried to take as many pictures as possible so we could have a journal of our Golden Retriever puppy growth week by week. When raising guide and service dog puppies we usually bring home our puppies at around weeks old. On occasion we are allowed to see puppies before 8 weeks of age, but they need to stay with their mother and siblings during those important early weeks to get milk and antibodies from mama and learn how to interact properly with siblings, learning important behaviors like bite inhibition. During our days as a foster we raised two litters of puppies , but both were already weeks old by the time we got them home. We actually own the Puppy Culture DVD and Workbook which includes charts, lists, worksheets and other great information for raising your litter. Keep your eyes and ears open and absorb it all like a sponge! Birth To 1 Week Old Guess what? This was the first litter we ever whelped!? We got a lot of advise, but we were largely on our own. Large Puppy Dish — great for feeding the puppies when they moved to solid food. Whelping Mats — we ordered 2 of these mats and washed them several times a day. Whelping Box — We have a homemade whelping box built by my father-in-law, but if we continue raising litters I plan on purchasing an EZWhelp Whelping Box. Our homemade box lasted three litters. We ended up purchasing the Magnabox which was hellu expensive but if you plan on raising multiple litters we highly recommend it. We recently put together a whelping checklist with all the supplies we gathered together to help out with our second litter of Golden Retriever puppies. Check out our whelping supplies checklist here. However, none were overly huge and none were extra small. No runts and no beasts. It was my understanding that when the cord was chewed down to the base of the belly it was sometimes difficult to get it to stop bleeding. I took the hemostat and pinched the umbilical cord about 2 inches from the base of the pups belly then cut the cord rather than let Raven chew it off. I kept the hemostat on the cord for about 2 minutes to let it clout. The umbilical cord dries up quickly and then within a day or 2 it falls off. Raven was a good mama and took care of her poops. Puppy eyes and ears are closed at this stage and puppies army crawl around the whelping box looking for a teat to suckle. We did everything we could to make sure our pups stayed warm by adding a watt heat lamp to the whelping box and portable heating unit in the puppy room. As I mentioned Raven stayed in the whelping box most of week 1 and of course… the puppy piles! One thing I learned is if I had a puppy on my lap then do not let Raven lick those areas or be prepared for a little accident on your lap. While caring for Raven and her litter Raven was really blowing out her coat that first week, but as time went on it slowed down. I heard from other friends this is common and that Raven blew out her coat much less than other mama dogs. We got Probiotics for Raven before her first litter, but forgot to order them for her second litter. After an upset stomach for the first week or so we realized our mistake, got Probiotics, and no more upset tummy. Week 2 — Pups eyes are opening starting to waddle. Week 3 — First bark! Week 7 — The great puppy escape artists! Week 8 — Our golden puppies head to their new homes. Have you ever had a litter of Golden Retriever puppies? Tell us about your experiences with puppies in the comment section below. Are you about to raise a litter of puppies? Not raising a litter, but getting ready to bring home your first Golden Retriever puppy? Puppies for Dummies will give you the basics on how to raise and train your new puppy. Helps ease anxiety in their new home. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist. Colby Colby Morita has been raising and training guide and service dog puppies for over 13 years. Colby has been writing to the PuppyInTraining. Abby the 5-year-old Golden Retriever with his human baby friend. She likes to bite everything.She enjoys my caresses on her belly and loves to play in the water. Shown here at 9 months. Ginger and her son Snaps is in the corner out on the deck enjoying the sun This is 1-year-old Muley, a rich golden-colored Golden Retriever from Amsterdam, Holland. Indi the 2-year-old cream-colored Golden Retriever Lucky the 9-year-old Golden Retriever taking a nap on the couch Jake the cream-colored Golden Retriever as a puppy at 6 weeks old Frodo the cream Golden as a puppy at 4 months old Frodo the cream colored Golden all grown up at 1 year old Lucy the English cream Golden Retriever at 3 years old out on the beach Lucy the English cream Golden Retriever at 3 years old out on the beach Lucy the English cream Golden Retriever at 3 years old out on the beach Lucy the English cream Golden Retriever at 3 years old out on the beach Holly the Golden Retriever at 7 years old—"Holly was brought to our family by Santa Claus on December 25th, .Our two daughters had written to Santa and asked for a Golden Retriever for Christmas and their dream came true, it was truly magical. Holly has grown to be one of the sisters and truly acts that way. She is very mild-mannered and is a member of our family. She loves to go on car rides and especially vacation. She is very well behaved and loves all people as long as they pet her 24 hours a day. Our family has a place on the lake and we went out in our fishing boat to watch the sun set. Notice how at piece she is in the boat with her front paws together and crossed, she takes this pose often at home on the couch.

List of all international craigslist. Craigslist Texoma is a classified ads website that provides the most popular real estate, jobs, and community listings in Texoma. Please help me spread the word about Texoma Pets Lost and Found-- This is a page that people in our area can go if they have a lost pet- or if they find a lost pet. We have collected the best sources for Durant deals, Durant classifieds, garage sales, pet adoptions and more. Pets "parakeets" in Austin, TX. Find it via the AmericanTowns Vernon classifieds search or use one of the other free services we have collected to make your search easier, such as Craigslist Vernon, eBay for Vernon, Petfinder. We have collected the best sources for Vernon deals, Vernon classifieds, garage sales, pet adoptions and more. Contact ads friendship, love, etc. Rehoming Doberman Twin Puppies. Find it via the AmericanTowns Durant classifieds search or use one of the other free services we have collected to make your search easier, such as Craigslist Durant, eBay for Durant, Petfinder. Find Creaigslist Texoma classified ads. Texoma Pets Lost and Found. My hopes are that this site will. Training and employment ads job offers, courses, book, online seminars, etc. Search Texoma classifieds, buy and sell items. Craigslist Texoma, for jobs, cares. Craigslist of adoption of animals Dog, Hamster, Turtle, cats, etc. Free Texoma classifieds. And remember Find Creaigslist Texoma classified ads Craigslistt is a portal where you can find totally free or find the ads you want, from jobs, cars, homes, etc. Pets "chihuahua" in Austin, TX. East texas craigslist pets. Weatherford 2 cats. Red nose brindle East texas craigslist pets. Red nose brindle pitbull. Texas Heeler puppies. Mount Pleasant. Macungie Standard poodle puppies. Click here to submit your FREE ad. Kunekune Pigs. Rehoming springer spaniel. Huntington Nigerian Goats. Saving Lives and Promoting Animal Welfare. Female Boston terrier. Jacksonville Graystone 4 slides. Female rats with … 1 - 8 of 8. Male Akita puppy. Make brindle pitbull. Two Week Old Pug Puppies. Justin,TX large dog cage with floor pan. Grapeland Free Red Heeler male. If you're looking for a free pet, or one at low cost, check out the 10 cutest dogs and cats I found on the deep east Texas Craigslist page. Delran Laying Hens, Roosters. Kittens ready for re homing! Free adoption. Free kittens. Akc lab. Tyler 1 bedroom apt. Free Female Tabby Kitten. Longview Shih Tzu. Lilac Boston terrier pups el paso pets - craigslist. Longview Akita female long coat. View pictures. Azle cane corsos. AKC American Akita. Purebred registered female MANX cat. Tyler pug puppy. Bay st louis Efficiency apt. Gilmer A Corgi Puppies. Terrell Small Black Poodle. Macungie Fancy guppies. All posts should include the location the city as a minimum last seen to east TX pets "poodle" - craigslist. Rehoming Mini - Goldendoodle!! Looking for a ball python. Foristell Rehoming. Macungie Rehoming Corn Snake. Jacksonville Jersey Bull for sale … craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, services, local community, and events craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, services, local community, and events east TX pets "for sale" - craigslist. Florissant Himalayan kittens. Toy poodle. Husky-mixed puppies. Galveston Choc lab pup. Austin Maine Coon kittens - Austin. Canton, TX … Beautiful boy poodles will be small standard Both are crate training great have had 1st shots dewormed Firm Rehoming Fee worth way more contact me if u are interested no BS. Chandler My name is Theo! Take me home with you! Nacogdoches Club Car Carryall. Good things come in small packages, and St Ann is no exception to this rule! Austin Chihuahua Puppies. Winona Rat Terrier to be Rehomed. Caldwell Golden retriever male. Female frenchie. Longview beautiful boxer mix. Metal Building Sale. If posting animals for rehoming, you MUST ask for a veterinary reference and call the vet to make sure they are good pet owners. Dallas AKC Rottweiler puppies. Text me at my number craigslist Pets in Waco, TX. Kingwood tx female frenchie. Crandall rehome my cockatoo. Free dogs and cats. Kingwood Gorgeous Sweet pitty free. Longview Free corgi mix - Male. Schnauzer puppies. Macungie Maltipoo Puppy Rehom e. One Super Friendly Nutered 8 Mo. Purebred … craigslist Pets in Austin, TX. If I had a house with enough space for all of the dogs in the world and the money to take care of them , I would buy them in a heartbeat! Sadly, this isn't the case. Please read and be nice. Lindale Nigerian Dwarf Doe Female. He is a sweet goofy puppy under a year and update on vaccines. Gilmer Great Pyrenees Mix. Tiny Goats. Full blooded mini dashhound. Female Shihpoos. Rockdale, Texas Silkie chicks. Full blooded bull terrier puppies. Catahoula puppies. Quitman Rehoming Standard Poodle red and white parti. La marque Shih-tzu puppies pet boarding and doggie daycare services in my home care. Puppies, Dogs, and Cats. Boxer puppies Akc registered. Large mixed breed! Tyler Free pitbull. Hallsville Black Lab. Maltese female. Winnsboro Female 15 wks. Lindale Mini Nubian Doe. Winnsboro Female Great pyrenees and German shepherd. Pets near Houston, TX - craigslist. White male pug puppy. Palestine Australian shepherd female 5 months old. Crandall rehome my … deep east TX pets "free" - craigslist. Pet Steps. Lindale Nubian Doe female. Kilgore Pitbull mix. Canton male heeler. Tyler La-z-boy Recliners. Grass-Fed, Grain-Finished Beef. Boyd scam. Standard poodle female rehome. Kilgore Corgi. ASDR mini aussie adults! Dachshund Puppies! Macungie Pet supplies! Cat tree and toys! Food and water and floor mats! Tyler Great Pyreneese Male Pup. Saltillo, TX Gascogne Bassets. Mini Dachshund Puppies! Full lab pup. Fort Worth Free Kittens. Jacksonville Female Great Pyrenees puppies. Henrietta Texas Cocker Spaniel Male. ALL Pets ok. Terrell Full blooded queenland blue heeler. Terrell Blue Heeler. Hudson Small Mini Aussie. Fort Worth, TX Nexgard lbs. Free to a good home please contact for more information. Canton American Corgi. French Mastiff. Chocolate and Black Lab Puppies. Lab mix puppies. Tenaha, Tx Puppies. Tyler Kittens. Winnsboro Mixed Pups. Austin area willing to meet Shih tzu puppies. Simms Bengal x kittens. Monk Parrots. Browse our pet classifieds of puppies for sale, dogs for sale, free dogs and puppies, free cats, and cats for sale! The East Texas Peddler has provided the East Texas area with an effective source of free advertising for over 40 years. Pet Portrait Drawings by Pamela Goodman. East Texas. Lamarque male - Dutch Shepherd pup. Longview East Texas Poodles Pups. Foristell African Grey. Mineola 1 year old female corgi. Boston Terriers. Rehoming Beautiful beagle puppies!

What is Elbow Dysplasia? The condition eventually causes pain whenever the forelimb is moved and may eventually cause arthritis. Trauma to the elbow joint can also lead to changes within the elbow that mimic elbow dysplasia, but this disease results from genetic factors that cause abnormalities in joint formation, not trauma. Symptoms of Elbow Dysplasia: Dogs who have elbow dysplasia may show signs of the disease by suffering from mild to moderate pain and lameness in their forelimbs as early as four months old or they may not have any symptoms until later in their life. Even though the disease can manifest at any age, it is commonly diagnosed when dogs are around two years old. Dog owners frequently take the dog to the vet complaining of stiffness in the front legs but both elbow joints are usually affected. How soon a dog will show symptoms is related to how severe the abnormality in the joint is. Dogs eventually develop arthritis inflammation in the joint from years of the parts of the joint rubbing against each other. On physical examination the vet may find pain when the elbow is manipulated. There may also be swelling, crepitus a crunching noise and a decrease in the range of motion the dog has. There are different types of elbow dysplasia and the vet may order a CT scan to identify which type of elbow dysplasia the dog has. In addition, arthroscopy surgery or open joint surgery is considered the best way to determine the extent of the damage in the joint. If arthritis has already set in it is more difficult to know how beneficial this surgery will be. Arthroscopic surgery surgically inserting a scope -is considered the best option for cases that are good candidates for surgical intervention. Open joint surgery — may also be the best option for some cases. Board-certified veterinary surgeons are advisable for the surgical diagnosis and treatment of all forms of elbow dysplasia. Elbow replacement surgery — is currently being researched, but still unavailable. Non-Surgical Options: We can manage pain by treating dogs with pain relieving drugs and glucosamine and fatty acid supplements. However, due to the discomfort and debilitation a dog suffers from this disease, some dogs may have increased lameness and even a decreased lifespan. Prevention: The best way to prevent elbow dysplasia is to prevent it from occurring by not breeding dogs can pass it to future generations. Elbow dysplasia Elbow lameness: In a young dog, a deformed elbow may be the problem The term dysplasia refers to a developmental defect, where abnormal cells appear in a particular type of tissue or organ. And while hip dysplasia tends to get the headlines for canine orthopedic health, elbow dysplasia can be equally debilitating. Elbow dysplasia is the second-most common cause of elbow lameness in dogs. The first is osteoarthritis, which can be associated with elbow dysplasia. Breed prevalence Rottweilers, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs, Golden Retrievers and Chow Chows head the list of breeds with a high prevalence of this orthopedic problem, but any dog can suffer from elbow dysplasia. Large dogs are most likely to develop it, but Pugs are second on the prevalence list produced by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. Elbow dysplasia is a genetic ailment, so breeders are encouraged not to use affected dogs in their breeding programs. While elbow dysplasia cannot be cured, it can be well-managed. With surgery and the appropriate medical management, many dogs have a good long-term prognosis. Some dogs will start refusing to exercise, with a noticeable decrease in their overall activity level. Dogs with this defect often move by turning their paw inward, noticeably holding their elbow out from the body in an attempt to shift weight off the sore part of the joint. If your dog has elbow dysplasia only on one side of their body, you or your veterinarian may notice their lameness earlier. That is the clinical picture if both elbows are affected but one side hurts more than the other. If both elbows are equally affected, then it can be more difficult to pick up on lameness. Most dogs will try to compensate with a shortened stride, and the range of motion in their joints is generally reduced. Another clue is if you see your dog manipulating their leg by extending and flexing the elbow joint — an action that is often associated with pain. Even with a more stoic dog, owners may notice some swelling of affected elbow joints along with abnormal warmth in the area. In dogs, the elbow joint involves three bones: the humerus, ulna and radius. These bones must all work together perfectly to give your dog pain-free movement in their elbow joint. Diagnosis True elbow dysplasia will not be diagnosed before 4 to 6 months of age, when the growth plates in joints are still closing. Most dogs are a couple of months older before a clear-cut diagnosis is made. Most dogs are diagnosed with elbow dysplasia by physical examination and by doing a thorough lameness evaluation at 4 to 12 months of age. In mild cases, however, affected dogs may not show lameness until 7 or 8 years of age, when arthritis kicks in. Diagnosing an elbow problem requires a thorough lameness exam with radiographs. Flexed views of both elbows can show defective areas and identify early arthritic changes. A CT scan and arthroscopic surgery to look into the joint are used to guide diagnosis and therapy. Treatment As with so many health problems, early intervention is best. For mild cases of elbow dysplasia, the goal of surgery is to remove any damaged tissues, which will often help to relieve pain, at least temporarily. Dogs with moderate-to-severe elbow deformities may need extensive surgery to realign the malformed elbow joint. A new option for dogs is surgical elbow replacement, a very difficult, expensive option. There are several elbow replacement systems available, but they all come with very serious complications. We are still diligently working on improving surgical approach and implant designs to reduce complications. Follow-up rehabilitation will be critical. Prevention For any puppy, but especially ones with a greater risk for any orthopedic defect, keeping the puppy trim as they grow is important. Your veterinarian may recommend some joint supplements right from a young age, even for normal pups, and they will encourage moderate exercise. This is when your dog repetitively jumps down off the bed, off the couch, out of your car and other similar movements. Going down long flights of stairs frequently can also add trauma. Many breeders recommend that puppies avoid more than 2 or 3 stairs until 6 months of age or older since the potential for damage is worse for puppies than for adult dogs. Rigorous use of screenings for breeding animals with full public information is currently the best bet for decreasing cases of elbow dysplasia. Normal parents may produce elbow problems, but the incidence is much lower than if one or both parents have bad elbows themselves. He personally recommends taking action as soon as possible to detect pain and lameness early, perform an arthroscopic coronoidectomy, followed by intensive non-surgical supportive care. It has been a humbling experience," he says. I believe it is arrogant to think we can fix it once the problem develops. Some dogs feel very sore with a Grade 1 diagnosis, whereas others rated Grade 3 are minimally lame. Grade 1: Minimal bone change along the anconeal process of their ulna at less than 2 mm Grade 2: Additional bone proliferation along the anconeal process 2—5 mm and subchondral bone changes trochlear notch sclerosis Grade 3: Well-developed degenerative joint disease with bone proliferation along the anconeal process being greater than 5 mm There are three other processes that describe specific types of bony defects in the elbow: fragmented medial coronoid process FCP , osteochondrosis of the humeral condyle and ununited anconeal process. These all fall under the umbrella of elbow dysplasia umbrella, and they all lead to secondary arthritis. Some dogs will be affected on just one side, but many dogs will have problems with both elbows. Fragmented coronoid process is the most common. There is the potential to make them worse, and surgery is expensive. The elbow cannot correct itself. That said, if surgery is impossible for other reasons, then medical-management strategies designed to help with severe arthritis are your next-best choice. Therapies include: Weight management: Simply getting your dog to their normal weight may decrease their pain dramatically. Exercise: Moderate exercise moves the joint and builds cushion. Be sure to use proper warm-up and cool-down periods. For example, if your dog loves to play ball, a minute walk will help loosen their joints so that they can move more freely. Laser treatments, TENs transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation , ice therapy and acupuncture may be worth trying. Pain medications: Your veterinarian may recommend a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug NSAID , such as carprofen, to help keep your dog comfortable. Joint supplements: Ingredients like glucosamine, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin encourage healthy cartilage and increased joint fluid, which help act as cushions. Work with your veterinarian to choose the best supplement for your dog. Injectables: Adequan is another injectable drug that could help with the accompanying osteoarthritis and pain. Injecting platelet-rich plasma PRP into the joint has also been used with some success in canine elbow dysplasia. Synovetin OA is a new, injectable medication that uses electron therapy to target macrophages and synoviocytes in the painful elbow. It must be injected directly into the affected joint. Elbow Dysplasia Overview Canine elbow dysplasia is a common disorder and has been shown to be more prevalent than hip dysplasia in some breeds. The problem is a congenital, hereditary disease affecting young dogs, usually under one year of age. This mal-alignment causes abnormal pressure or joint loading, and chronic rubbing which wears away the cartilage resulting in severe osteoarthritis. Elbow dysplasia can be broken down into numerous underlying pathologies such as fragmented medial coronoid process, osteochondritis dissecans and medial compartment syndrome just to name a few. Definitive diagnosis is made via CT scanning and arthroscopic examination. Some cases can be treated entirely with arthroscopic procedures. Clinical signs of elbow dysplasia The primary clinical sign of canine elbow dysplasia is limping or lameness. Head bobbing at a fast walk or slow trot is typical of front limb lameness. The lameness is usually not recognizable at a run. Some dogs with elbow dysplasia are reluctant to go for long walks or play for long periods of time. Dogs with elbow dysplasia also have limited range of motion ROM in the elbow joints and have pain on elbow extension and flexion. The limited ROM may cause discomfort and difficulty when lying down in sternal position. Diagnosis of elbow dysplasia The diagnosis of canine elbow dysplasia is based on physical examination, radiographs X-rays , computerized tomography CT Scan and ultimately arthroscopy. The surgeons at CCOR can make a fairly accurate diagnosis of elbow dysplasia and discuss the next steps based on physical examination and simple X-rays alone. CT scanning is often needed for the ultimate, final treatment plan. Arthroscopy is used both as a diagnostic tool and to treat elbow dysplasia. Treatment options for elbow dysplasia The treatment options for canine elbow dysplasia depend on the actual definitive diagnosis. Non-surgical treatments include pain management, physical therapy, nutraceuticals such as glucosamine, and various intra-articular injections. All of these options may be indicated in older dogs, or in conjunction with arthroscopic treatments, but none of the above listed treatments address the underlying problem. A common misconception regarding joint injections stem cells, PRP, etc. Intra-articular injections joint injections are commonly performed but with somewhat variable clinical results. Stem cells, platelet rich plasma PRP , hyaluronic acid HA and glucocorticoid steroids are the typical products injected. Recent studies have shown clinical improvement in some dogs with elbow dysplasia treated with PRP. The duration of improvement is currently unknown, but a best guess would be 6 months. Colorado Canine Orthopedics has extensive experience with intra-articular joint injections and we would be happy to discuss the pros and cons of joint injections for individual patients. Surgical treatment options can be broken down into arthroscopic treatments, osteotomies bone cuts to realign the bones, or a combination of both. Virtually all board certified surgeons agree that dogs with elbow dysplasia require a thorough arthroscopic examination both to evaluate pathology and provide treatment. The arthroscope usually mm in diameter is passed through the opening and into the joint. Joint visualization via magnified arthroscopy is incredibly thorough comparted to open joint inspection which is minimal at best. Bone and cartilage fragments and other joint debris can be identified and removed via arthroscopy. Dogs undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery have a fair to excellent prognosis depending on the exact diagnosis, degree of incongruency and existing osteoarthritis OA. Nearly all surgeons agree our best defense against progressive OA is to obtain an accurate diagnosis CT and arthroscopic examination , remove any free fragments and minimize abnormal joint contact. Overall, the majority of dogs with elbow problems lead a fairly normal life although some degree of OA is inevitable. Fragmented medial coronoid process Fragmented coronoid process is a subset of elbow dysplasia that affects large and giant breed dogs, particularly Retrievers, Rottweilers, Mastiffs, Bernese Mountain dogs, and German Shepherd dogs. Malalignment and overloading of the medial innermost aspect of the joint compartment are believed to be key in this pathology. Loading or abnormal weight bearing on the medial compartment leads to concurrent cartilage erosions often full thickness and possible fragmentation of the medial coronoid. Diagnosis of fragmented coronoid process and medial compartment disease can be challenging. Radiographs are helpful but not definitive. In our opinion, arthroscopy is the ideal modality for the diagnosis of fragmented coronoid process because it allows accurate diagnosis and treatment of the fragment, as well as cartilage assessment. Traditional open surgery to diagnose fragmented coronoid is antiquated. First and foremost, the surgical approach to the elbow joint that affords the surgeon a thorough inspection is invasive and has moderate post-operative morbidity. Secondly, the arthroscopic visualization of key structures is far superior to an invasive surgical approach. Treatment of fragmented coronoid process in mild cases involves arthroscopic removal of the fragmented bone and cartilage. Arthroscopy is fast, effective, and minimally invasive. Arthroscopic treatment takes between 15 and 30 minutes per elbow and virtually all dogs can be treated on an outpatient basis. In mild cases the prognosis for return to normal activity is excellent. Most dogs return to normal activity within a few weeks to a few months with little or no lameness. In moderate cases, the coronoid process is both fragmented and abnormal in size and shape, cartilage erosion is present on both the medial humeral condyle and the non-fragmented portion of the remaining medial coronoid. In these situations, the fragment is removed and a partial coronoidectomy is performed arthroscopically. An ulnar osteotomy may also be performed in moderate cases. The prognosis for moderate cases of fragmented coronoid process is less certain. If the aforementioned treatments are performed and the cartilage is in fair condition, many dogs have no or minimal lameness and the progression of arthritis is slow. Medial compartment disease In the majority of dogs with chronic severe elbow dysplasia, all of the cartilage on the medial innermost aspect of the joint is worn away, resulting in what is now termed medial compartment disease. Unfortunately, this degree of osteoarthritis is difficult to successfully treat. Arthroscopy can be used to remove any free fragments and the joint. Several osteotomies such as proximal dynamic ulnar osteotomy and PAUL procedure can also be used to treat medial compartment syndrome with variable results. Platelet rich plasma has shown some promise for short term improvement but will not promote cartilage regrowth. Elbow replacement is available, and has been performed at CCOR, but the procedure is new and long-term results are not yet available. Canine osteochondritis dissecans OCD Osteochondritis Dissecans OCD is a juvenile bone disease that can affect the shoulder, stifle, tarsal and elbow joints of young dogs. Osteochondritis Dissecans is a subset of osteochondrosis. Osteochondrosis is a failure of endochondral ossification; the process by which most bones grow and involves juvenile cartilage being replaced by bone. This failure of cartilage becoming bone results in overly thick joint cartilage adjacent to the joint figure 1. The deepest layer of this thickened cartilage is inadequately nourished resulting in cell death figure 2. Cartilage debris and inflammatory mediators are released into the joint fluid and inflammation ensues. Elbow OCD affects young large and giant breed dogs. Limping is the common clinical sign. Many dogs have pain on elbow flexion and extension, as well as limited range of motion. Radiographs are helpful in diagnosing OCD, but CT scanning and arthroscopy are used for definitive diagnosis. Treatment for elbow OCD involves arthroscopic debridement followed by a cartilage grafting procedure called osteochondral autograph transfer system OATS. Artificial cartilage plugs Synacart by Arthrex can also be used to fill the defect. Some forms of biological treatment such as platelet rich plasma or stem cells have also been advocated but will not result in cartilage regeneration despite claims made by some. Canine ununited anconeal process UAP Ununited anconeal process UAP is an elbow disorder most often affecting young German Shepherds, although it can be seen in almost any breed. The underlying problem is not clearly understood. UAP may be associated with malalignment of the elbow joint or a genetic juvenile bone disorder called osteochondrosis. The most common clinical signs are limping and swelling of the elbow joint. Clinical signs usually appear at about months of age. Radiography, CT scan and arthroscopy are used to make the diagnosis. Treatment options include arthroscopy, ulnar osteotomy, fragment removal or fragment re-attachment. Treatment should be initiated as soon as the diagnosis is made. The prognosis is fair to good. Cost of elbow disorder treatments Veterinary specialty care is a double-edged sword these days no pun intended. All major orthopedic procedures are more sophisticated, successful, and less invasive today than they were in the past. These advances come at a cost for the surgeon and client. Fees for elbow arthroscopy includes anesthesia and monitoring, nerve blocks when needed, and routine go home medication. Radiographs and CT scans are charged for separately and should be discussed at the time of the initial consultation. Osteotomies, when required, are charged for separately and should be discussed on a case by case basis. At Colorado Canine Orthopedics we are committed to providing only state of the art, non-compromised pet healthcare. We realize some pet owners may find this level of care relatively costly. However, despite the inherently expensive nature of our work, we are dedicated to providing the highest level of care at the most affordable price possible. We believe if you compare our fees to other specialty practices you will find this true. Back to Top. References 1. Clinical and pathological effects Elbow dysplasia ED is a general term that encompasses five distinct anatomical problems that tend to result in malformation of the elbow joint and to early-onset osteoarthritis. HCO, and the other four, are described below. Fragmented medial coronoid process FMCP : The medial coronoid process is a piece of bone that should form part of the top of the ulna and part of the elbow joint. In FMCP, during early development, this fails to connect to the ulna. Ununited anconeal process UAP : The anconeal process is a protrusion of the top of the ulna. Developmentally, it starts as a separate bone which should fuse to the ulna. When this fusion fails to happen, the dog suffers from a UAP. Elbow incongruity IC : Dogs with IC have malformed articular surfaces of the three bones that make up the elbow and because of this they do not fit together normally. It can affect the weight-bearing surfaces between the humerus and the radius and ulna and also the way in which the upper part of the ulna fits inside the lower end of the humerus Schwarz .Ununited medial epicondyle UME : This is an uncommon condition in which the medial epicondyle, a bone on the end of the humerus, fails to unite with the humerus during development. Here the focus is on HCO. Other forms of elbow dysplasia can also occur in this breed, especially UAP Keller et al , and HCO is also common in other dogs, particularly those of large body size. More than one form of elbow dysplasia may be seen in the same elbow. Figure 1. The three bones of the elbow joint separated and in normal alignment. In a healthy canine elbow joint the ulna and radius form a flat surface for articulation with the humerus. Image property of Phil Witte, to whom we are grateful for permission to reproduce it here. At their upper ends, the radius and part of the ulna form a flattened surface that bears the load imposed by the condyles of the humerus. The condyles of the humerus are two fist-like projections on the lower end of the humerus that articulate with the radius and ulna bones at the elbow joint. They are formed of bone covered with joint cartilage. The condyle on the inside on the side of the humerus adjacent to the body is the medial condyle, the other is the lateral condyle. Figure 2. The anterior front view of the humerus, highlighting the location of the humeral condyles. Bones grow through growth of cartilage and, as the cartilage layer thickens, the lower, older layers become ossified — that is, they turn into bone. In osteochondrosis, trauma, nutritional disturbance or other factors disturbs this process of ossification so an area of thickening cartilage develops. As cartilage has no blood supply it cannot function well when it is thicker than normal. Thick cartilage degenerates and an area of diseased cartilage forms. This may crack, cavities may form within it, and it may fragment Guthrie et al .When cartilage fragments break free into the joint the condition is called osteochondrosis dessicans,and the function of the joint is compromised. In early stages, when only cartilage is affected, the disease is only detectable with direct observation by surgery usually arthroscopy. Only later, when bone is also diseased, will changes be detectable on radiography Remy et al , Baines .Figure 3. The deeper layers of articular cartilage red covering the surface of the humeral condyles have failed to turn to bone. The result is an abnormally thick layer of cartilage, which can then crack and fragment due to a lack of blood supply, causing discomfort and inhibiting the action of the joint. Dogs with HCO develop osteoarthritis degenerative joint disease of the elbow. In osteoarthritis there are progressive changes to the cartilage of the affected joint, varying amounts of inflammation and ongoing damage to other joint structures - the joint capsule, the synovial fluid of the joint and the surrounding bone. These changes are often present by months of age but can show later. Typical signs include: stiffness after rest, lameness which can be worse after exercise and pain when the leg is straightened or bent. Such signs are indistinguishable from other causes of elbow dysplasia and imaging of the joint eg by radiography is usually needed to make a definitive diagnosis Schwarz , Shell .Affected dogs may be treated with rest and pain-killers, and often treatment needs to be life-long. Removal of the diseased cartilage is often recommended. This can be performed using open joint surgery or with an arthroscope an endoscope designed for joints via key-hole incisions. Figures 4a and 4b. Osteoarthritic changes to the shape and structure of the elbow joint. The shaded areas on figure 4a extended elbow and 4b flexed elbow represent the changes to bone and cartilage as a result of HCO and other forms of elbow dysplasia. Images property of the British Veterinary Association Elbow Dysplasia Scheme, to whom we are grateful for permission to reproduce them here. Return to top 2. Intensity of welfare impact HCO causes pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis. This can vary from mild to severe. Welfare may also be affected as a result of the veterinary investigations from visits to veterinary practices, examinations, anaesthetics and surgery and treatments of the disease for example: the side effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — examples of which include aspirin and ibuprofen - on the gastrointestinal tract. Return to top 3. Duration of welfare impact The mild to severe pain and disability that result from the osteoarthritis seen in this disease can be expected to start during the first few months of life and, without successful treatment, to continue for life. Treatment may help. Return to top 4. From data on estimates of total dog population in the UK and on the percentage of all micro-chip registered dogs that are German Shepherd dogs Lucy Asher, , personal communication , we estimate that the UK population size of this breed may be around , million. It may be, therefore, that there are about 50 - 85, dogs with this form of elbow dysplasia in the UK. Return to top 5. Determining the type of elbow dysplasia, its extent and the degree of secondary osteoarthritis requires further diagnostic investigations. Exploratory surgery is used to find fragments of bone, this is both diagnostic and can be therapeutic. It has been suggested that the best combination of diagnostic tests is CT plus arthroscopy Moores et al .Return to top 6. The heritability of the disease in GSDs has been found to be around 0. This is the proportions of the disease considered to be due to genetic rather than environmental influences. There may also be genetic factors affecting the degree of osteoarthritis that develops in an individual, independent of the genetics of the initial cause of the disease Clements et al .A genetic link between the presence of ED and hip dysplasia has been found but the genes involved have not been determined Cachon et al .Return to top 7. How do you know if an animal is a carrier or likely to become affected? Affected dogs should not be used for breeding. Determining carriers - those which carry and may pass on the gene s but which do not show signs of the disease themselves - is not currently possible. Return to top 8. Methods and prospects for elimination of the problem A voluntary scheme for grading the elbows of dogs susceptible to elbow dysplasia all forms has been in operation in the UK since although it has been suggested that breeder uptake has been relatively low Sampson .It is recommended that animals are not bred before two years of age females and 18 months males. This is so that animals selected for breeding are old enough to have revealed signs of the disease. In this scheme, dogs are scored once when over one year old. Radiographs taken by a local veterinary surgeon are forwarded to veterinary radiologists on the scheme panel for assessment. Each elbow is graded , with zero meaning that no evidence of elbow dysplasia was seen. If the two elbows have different grades, then the higher of the two grades is the one used for the dog. The scheme recommends that dogs used for breeding should have grades of zero or one and that those with higher scores are not bred from. Like other complex, multi-gene diseases in which environmental factors also play a part, good progress in reducing the prevalence of HCO is likely to be aided by greater knowledge of the underlying genetics. Treating the different forms of ED as separate entities is also likely to be helpful Innes .One approach is to breed from dogs that have better a breeding value see below than average for the breed Sampson .This takes account of both the individual being evaluated and its relatives and compares its likely genetic health to the average for the breed Malm et al .This would also take other conditions with known genetic influences into account, and there are many of these in GSDs eg degenerative myelopathy and hip dysplasia. It has been found that ED is more likely to occur in animals with hip dysplasia and both conditions should be screened for and considered in breeding programmes Cachon et al .Out-breeding GSDs with dogs of breeds known to have a much lower prevalence of HCO and of elbow dysplasia ED in general may lead to fewer being born with a lifetime of painful joint problems before them. Return to top 9. References 1. Clinical and pathological effects Elbow dysplasia ED is a general term that encompasses five distinct anatomical problems that tend to result in malformation of the elbow joint, and that lead to early-onset osteoarthritis. Ununited anconeal process UAP is one of these problems, and is the main focus here, but some of the other four conditions outlined below are referred to in the descriptions below about how UAP may develop. These conditions are: Fragmented medial coronoid process FMCP : The medial coronoid process is a piece of bone that should form part of the top of the ulna and of the elbow joint. In FMCP this fails, during development, to connect to the ulna. Osteochondrosis dissecans OCD : In OCD an area of joint cartilage develops abnormally or becomes damaged leading to thickening, cracking and fragmentation of the cartilage. Elbow incongruity IC : Dogs with IC have malformed articular surfaces of the three bones that make up the elbow and because of this they do not fit together normally. It can affect the weight-bearing surfaces between the humerus and the radius and ulna and also the way in which the upper part of the ulna fits inside the lower end of the humerus Schwarz .Ununited medial epicondyle UME : This is an uncommon condition in which the medial epicondyle, a part of the humerus, fails to unite with the humerus during development. At their upper ends, the radius and part of the ulna form a flattened surface that bears the load imposed by the humerus. The anconeal process protruberance is normally part of the end of the ulna. Its main function is not weight bearing, rather it helps to stabilize the elbow joint, particularly when the leg is extended. The anconeal process articulates with the caudal towards the tail of the dog surface of the humerus the back of the elbow joint and when the leg is extended straightened it fits into a hole at the lower end of the humerus called the humeral fossa. Figure 1. The three bones of the elbow joint separated and in normal alignment. In a healthy canine elbow joint the ulna and radius form a flat surface for articulation with the humerus. Image property of Phil Witte, to whom we are grateful for permission to reproduce it here. Figure 2. A diagram of the upper end of the ulna illustrating the locations of the coronoid and anconeal processes. But in breeds with large body size it is normal for the anconeal process to start as a separate small bone at birth, which, during development, should fuse on to the ulna. This usually occurs by 20 weeks of age. In UAP this fails to happen. The cause of this is unclear but one possibility is that it is a consequence of the radius growing disproportionately longer than the ulna such that the elbow joint is malformed and the anconeal process experiences abnormal pressures that cause it to be pushed away from the ulna, thus preventing it from fusing uniting. UAP therefore only becomes apparent in dogs aged over 20 weeks Schwarz .Figure 3. In larger dog breeds, the anconeal process forms separately. It should fuse with the ulna during development. Dogs with UAP develop osteoarthritis degenerative joint disease of the elbow. In osteoarthritis there are progressive changes to the cartilage of the affected joint, varying amounts of inflammation and ongoing damage to other joint structures - the joint capsule, the synovial fluid of the joint and the surrounding bone. These changes are often present by months of age and lead to clinical signs later. Typical signs include: stiffness after rest, lameness which can be worse after exercise and reduced mobility of the joint, with the leg tending to be held twisted outwards abducted and suppinated. Such signs are indistinguishable from those shown in other forms of elbow dysplasia and imaging of the joint is usually needed to make a definitive diagnosis Schwarz .Figure 4a Figure 4b Figures 4a and 4b. Osteoarthritic changes to the shape and structure of the elbow joint. The shaded areas on figure 4a extended elbow and 4b flexed elbow represent the changes to bone and cartilage as a result of UAP and other forms of elbow dysplasia. We are grateful to the BVA for permission to reproduce them here. This male bias may be associated with the greater weight of males Hazelwinkel .Affected dogs may be treated with rest and pain-killers, and often treatment needs to be lifelong. Various surgical procedures have been recommended but there is no clear consensus as to which is best. Return to top 2. Intensity of welfare impact UAP causes pain and disability associated with osteoarthritis. This can vary from mild to severe. Welfare may also be affected as a result of the veterinary investigations and treatments of the disease. Return to top 3. Duration of welfare impact The mild to severe pain and disability that result from the osteoarthritis seen in this disease can be expected to start during the first few months of life and, without successful treatment, to continue for life. Treatment may help but keeping affected dogs free from pain and avoiding disabilities is often challenging. Return to top 4. However, they suggested that this population of dogs may have already been prescreened to exclude dogs likely to be affected by UAP. From data on estimates of total dog population in the UK and on the percentage of all micro-chip registered dogs that are GSDs Lucy Asher , personal communication , we estimate that the UK population size of this breed may be around , Return to top 5. Diagnosis UAP can only be diagnosed in dogs older than about five months as it is normal for those breeds in which UAP occurs to have an ununited anconeal process prior to this Schwarz .Elbow disease and pain may be apparent. In cases of UAP it is more difficult to detect other concurrent forms of elbow disease Meyer-Lindenberg et al .Return to top 6. Genetics UAP is generally a disease of large dogs, as it is only in these that the anconeal process develops separately from the ulna. It is known that the father and mother contribute equally to the likelihood of the development of elbow dysplasia Maki et al .There are genetic influences both on the presence or absence of UAP and on whether, and to what degree, osteoarthritis occurs in an individual with UAP Clements et al .Return to top 7. How do you know if an animal is a carrier or likely to become affected? Affected dogs should not be used for breeding. Determining carriers - those which carry and may pass on the gene s but which do not show signs of the disease themselves - is not currently possible. Return to top 8. Methods and prospects for elimination of the problem A voluntary scheme to grade the elbows of dogs susceptible to elbow dysplasia all forms has been in operation in the UK since although it has been suggested that breeder uptake has been relatively low Sampson .In this scheme, the elbows are scored once when the dog is over one year old. Radiographs taken by a local veterinary surgeon are forwarded to veterinary radiologists on the scheme panel for assessment. Each elbow is graded , with zero meaning that no evidence of elbow dysplasia was seen. If the two elbows have different grades, the higher of the grades is the one used to characterise the dog. The scheme recommends that dogs used for breeding should have grades of zero or one and that those with higher scores should not be used for breeding. No evidence has yet been published as to whether this scheme has been effective in reducing the prevalence of elbow dysplasia in the GSD. A comparable scheme run in New Zealand since seems to have significantly reduced the severity of ED in GSDs being screened for the disease prior to breeding Worth et al and one run in Sweden since , appears to have reduced the prevalence of elbow dysplasia in Swedish Bernese Mountain dogs and Rottweilers Swenson et al , Malm et al .In common with other complex, multi-gene diseases that are influenced also by environmental factors, efforts to reduce the prevalence of UAP are complicated by the lack of information about the underlying genetics. One approach is to breed from dogs that have a better estimated breeding values EBV than average for the breed for this condition Sampson .The EBV is a numerical prediction of the relative genetic value of a particular dog in relation to one or more genetic problems and to degree of inbreeding. EBVs are calculated using all available information on the dog including pedigree, health status and physical characteristics. For this type of health programme to work many breeders and owners need to submit their animals for monitoring and analysis. EBVs are also useful because they enable selection against several hereditary diseases simultaneously and this is relevant in the case of the GSD which is predisposed to a number of hereditary disorders eg hip dysplasia, degenerative myelopathy, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, anal furunculosis. Out-breeding GSDs with breeds known to have much lower prevalences of UAP and elbow dysplasia ED is likely to result in fewer dogs being born with a lifetime of painful joint problems before them. Return to top 9.

German Shepherd Puppies Pensacola, Fl are available from breeders that specialize in these dogs. Also, a good breeder will be more than happy to show you the pedigree of the dog, as well as a health clearance. Also, a good breeder will ask you for more things before he or she will ship you off with a pup. Besides, they are not in a hurry to send a puppy away. Another thing to consider when looking for a German Shepherd puppy is its personality. Because they need a lot of activity, German Shepherds need a lot of exercises. They also need a lot of attention. They can bite if they feel threatened. This breeder specializes in German Shepherds and imports them from Germany. They also offer training services. They are a great choice for those who want a companion and work in the community. German Shepherds are easy to train, and they do best in a structured environment. Another great reason to choose a German Shepherd puppy is because of its high intelligence and loyalty. While originally bred for herding sheep, German Shepherds now make excellent family pets and security dogs. The breeders of German Shepherds in Florida are specially qualified to offer the best service to your family. They have extensive experience with police dogs and specialized training for these animals. They use these techniques to breed their dogs to be the best in the business. And you can rest assured that your puppy will be healthy and happy thanks to the food the breeder feeds them. Each puppy comes with a warranty. Share this:. These babies were born February 28, and will be ready April 25, .Save this search and we'll notify you when they are. We specialize in top quality German Shepherd Puppies for sale as well as Belgian Malinois cross puppies for sale. In the breeding and show dog world, they are described even more specifically. Females are slightly smaller, 22 to 24 inches tall, and weigh 50 to .Find your King Shepherd puppy for sale in Florida. Dogs in Pensacola Florida. Puppies Available Now! VA shelley kingshepherd. We have 10 males and 2 females available. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help. We analyzed the prices of 21 Australian Shepherd puppies that were listed for sale in Florida. Find Puppies in your area and helpful tips and info. Located in Northern California, we offer adult dogs and puppies for sale, dog training, and dog boarding. Sorry, there are no King Shepherd puppies for sale at this time. These dogs were selectively bred to be large in stature and loyal and protective to their families. Border Collie Pit Bull Terrier. German Shepherd Breeders Michigan. We obtained this average price and price range by reviewing the prices of 3 King Shepherd puppies listed for sale by King Shepherd breeders in Florida. Breeder Location City: Englewood, Florida. King Shepherd breed information. Rocky loves to run and I will only let him go to a family with a huge yard or land for him to … more. She just had her 8 week vaccinations and received her health certificate from the vet! She is ready for her forever home! King Shepherd puppy for sale. Please view similar listings King Shepherd Puppy for Sale below. Located in Melbourne Florida. The AKC Marketplace is hands down the best resource available to find quality breeders. American King Shepherds is a Rare Breed that is still under development and consist of a blending of different breeds. King Shepherd Puppies for Sale in Florida. All breeders listed on PuppyFinder. King Shepherd Puppies Cost. Browse thru our ID Verified puppy for sale listings to find your perfect puppy in your area. Long-haired German Shepherds are technically called a long coat German Shepherd, while a short-haired German Shepherd is called a normal coat or stock coat German Shepherd. This page is updated on a weekly basis to showcase new puppies available for sale or upcoming litters that will be ready to take home soon. King Shepherd Puppies For Sale. The King Shepherd is a somewhat mysterious combination of dog breeds, but its most prominent genes are believed to come from the. German Shepherd Puppies. Weighing between 75 and pounds in adulthood, the King Shepherd is instinctually protective of its loved ones, but not. Hes healthy and happy No emails! Call or text me if youre serious seven, Im up late. Working with our AKC Marketplace breeder has been amazing! Our breeder really has a great understanding of the dogs he. Marion lutz. West Florida King Shepherds. They like to work and need to have a job to do, whether big or small. King Shepherd puppies available now. The King Shepherd dog is a large, rugged, powerful and very impressive, possessing great endurance and agility. Big too! Cute making on right eye. King Shepherd puppies for sale! Get matched with a pupper from a responsible King Shepherd breeder near you. Find a King Shepherd for adoption at dog rescues or shelters near Florida. German Shepherd Breeders in Chattanooga Tennessee. Breeders with King Shepherd puppies for sale around Florida. King Shepherd puppies for sale. Dad is king shepherd 90lbs m more. Rather than breed our own German Shepherd puppies for sale in Orlando Florida, we act as matchmakers who help connect families who are searching for dogs with ethical breeders and dog businesses throughout the United States. King Shepherds make excellent family companions and guard dogs. My name is King and I live for undivided attention! King Shepherds for Sale in Tampa. Check with the breeder for up-to-date information on puppy availability. German Shepherds are often described as confident, courageous, and intelligent. To see more adoptable English Shepherds in Royal Palm Beach, Florida, use the search tool below to enter specific criteria! We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help you find the puppy your whole family will love. These majestic dogs turn heads everywhere they go. German Shepherd Puppies for Sale. Number of puppies available at time of publication: 5 puppies available. They are extremely intelligent and easy to train. Our listings are from top breeders from around the country. Spring Hill, FL. King Shepherd Puppies for Sale. The King Shepherd is driven and capable of learning any task. Shiloh Shepherd Find Shiloh Shepherd puppies for sale Despite their large size, the Shiloh has an incredibly gentle and soft demeanor. Because of the scope of our network, we can offer you more options than you'd have locally, making your search easy and. King Shepherd Dog Breeder. We obtained the average price and the price range of King Shepherds by analyzing the prices of 47 King Shepherd puppies listed for sale from various sources. Get notified when they become available. Browse thru our ID Verified puppy for sale listings to find your perfect. He has great markings. Dogs for Sale in Sebastian, FL. The King Shepherd is a somewhat mysterious combination of dog breeds, but its most prominent genes are believed to come from the German Shepherd, the Alaskan Malamute and the Great Pyrenees. Shiloh Shepherd puppies for sale from trusted breeders. Breeding Oversized, Large German Shepherds. Pet Classifieds FL Florida. ZIP or Canadian postal code in the box below and then. Find your perfect puppy here today. Also, use our search bar for more results or click here. They are 12 wks old, up to date on vaccinations and worming. Nickname: Litter of 11 on PuppyFinder. American Bully For Sale in Pensacola .Why buy a puppy for sale if you can adopt and save a life? Pitbull Puppies Available. Pitbull puppies These adorable pitbull puppies are ready to go to a new home. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since .Ukc registered "PR" bully puppies for sale. Don't miss what's happening in your neighborhood. All new puppies and mommy and. All of our XL Pitbull puppies American Bully puppies are raised underfoot in our home with love and care. Nova Scotia Duck-Tolling Retriever. Pit Bull Rescue Kennel to Couch has teamed with shelters, trainers, and local community partners to sponsor Pit Bulls who have been at their shelters for the longest period of time. Join millions of people using Oodle to find puppies for adoption, dog and puppy listings, and other pets adoption. Puppy Pit Bulls for sale. Home of the family, fun and XL American Bullies. Pit Bull Terrier Puppies for Sale. Puppies for Sale in Pensacola, Florida. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help you find the puppy your whole family will love. Manmade Kennels hand delivers pitbull puppies to Florida, its surrounding cities, and worldwide. PetzLover helps you to find your lovable pets to your home. American Pit Bull Terrier. Puppies for Sale. I have two males available and two. Join millions of people using Oodle to find unique used cars for sale, apartments for rent, jobs listings, Pitbull Puppies For Sale in Florida. All puppies and mother and father. These adorable pitbull puppies are ready to go to a new home. With these characteristics, our pitbulls are often chosen to be trained as therapy dogs, service dogs, scent detection dogs, and others. No white Male 2 - Tan and white with a tan patch over eye. Look at pictures of puppies in Pensacola, Florida who need a home. This litter has at least one dog. Join millions of people using Oodle to find unique used cars for sale, apartments for rent, jobs listings, merchandise, and other classifieds in your neighborhood. Through these partnerships, we will collectively promote Pit Bull Rescue. Health, function, intelligence, energy level, and temperament prioritized in breeding pairs. Our Pitbulls are known for their pleasant attitude, demeanor, and beauty. All puppies found here are from AKC-Registered parents. Miniature Bull Terrier Puppies. Join millions of people using Oodle to find puppies for adoption, dog and puppy listings, and other pets. Pitbull Puppies for Sale Near Me. Micro American Bully Puppies for Sale. Monster Bully Kennels does everything in our power to make sure you are happy with your purchase; including offering the world's best guarantee! Size when grown Large lbs kg. Mom is red and dad is blue fawn pit bulls. You can do so below. Pitbull Puppies for Sale in Florida. We are very loving cuddling puppies despite our breed…. Male 1 - Brindle male all black and brown. Puppies For Sale in .Please let us know if you want a male or a female. Pitbull puppies for sale in Pensacola, Florida. I have 3 of 6 pups left for sale. Pitbull puppies for sale near me: perfect for any family looking to add another family friend. Our red nose pit bulls are bred in the traditional style from great Old Family Red Nose pit bull bloodlines. Our American bully puppies are well-fed, analyzed for health, trained by professionals, and socialized to be family dogs. Photos 25 Litter for Sale. Monster Bully Kennels does everything in our power to make sure you are happy with your purchase; including offering the world's best. Third Coast Animal Rescue can assist in her adoption by filling out the link below. They are athletic, yet calm and loyal. Red Nose Pitbull Puppies for Sale. Pitbull puppies for sale. Find the American Pit Bull Terrier puppy of your dreams through one of. Pit Bull Terriers for Sale in Pensacola. Why buy an American Pit Bull Terrier puppy for sale if you can adopt and save a life? Look at pictures of American Pit Bull Terrier puppies who need a home. They are skilled and dedicated breeders. With acres all our XL Pitbulls and their XL Pitbull puppies have plenty of land to roam, play, and just be the playful Pitbulls that we all know them to be. Robert Pitbull Home fiercely safeguards the. Only wholesome, gorgeous, and vet-checked pitbull puppies in your area are sold by us, and they come with a month health warranty. There are 6 puppies looking for homes. Female pitbull. Female pitbull and her puppies. I have two males available and two females. Only 3 left!! We are an American Pitbulls that are 8 weeks old and. Buy, Sell or Adopt Pets in Pensacola. These babies were born February 25, and will be ready April 22, .Up to date shots and deworming. To see more adoptable Newfoundlands in Pensacola, Florida, use the search tool below to enter specific criteria! Wormed 4 x age appropriately and 1 year genetic. Once the companions of Chinese royalty, their distinct faces are complemented by sweet demeanors. Pensacola News Journal Domestic Pets. He is very sweet, playful and social! Since Hot Dog will be a medium sized dog when fully grown, we always recommend an active home with plans for daily exercise and socialization and a fenced in backyard is preferred. For Sale in Pensacola 7. Search for a Boston Terrier puppy or dog. Find German Shepherd puppies for sale. Friendly loves everyone and everything not fixed but has had a litter great family dog Pensacola fl.Find Puppies and Breeders in your area and helpful information. Goldens are very loyal, and need a whole lot of time to run around and play. Adopt a dog in Pensacola, Florida. They began as a mix of Retrievers, Spaniels, and Red Setter. Golden Retriever puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from. Golden Doodle, Florida » Pensacola. Intelligent and confident with a sense of humor, he makes for a wonderful companion who is always eager to please. We do not have a physical building. We have 3 Beautiful Chiweenie Puppies left! Dogs for Sale Near Pensacola, Florida. Great Dane Puppies for Sale. Maybe you have your heart set on a Chihuahua Chihuahua Puppies for Sale. Every puppy buyer should start here! I can transfer via Ticketmaster. Here are a few organizations closest to you: Shelter .We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help you find. Maltese puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted breeders. Maltese For Sale in Pensacola 6. All puppies found here are from AKC-Registered parents. Click below to find a shelter or rescue in your area! Find an Animal Shelter Want to learn more about adopting a Pug puppy or dog? Welcome to Guntners Miniature Dachshunds! We are a small family owned kennel located in the great sunshine state Cantonment Florida about 8 miles north of Pensacola. Pensacola News Journal Classifieds Listings. Golden Retriever puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted. If you are unable to find your Bulldog puppy in our Puppy for Sale or Dog for Sale sections, please consider looking thru thousands of Bulldog Dogs for Adoption. Adopt a puppy or dog in Pensacola, FloridaShelters and rescues in Pensacola, FloridaSearch for a puppy or dogLearn more about dog breedsPuppies and dogs in. Visit our top ten pages to find puppies for adoption Teacup Puppies for Sale. These pups are in Pensacola, Florida too! Below are our newest added Newfoundlands available for adoption in Pensacola, Florida. Use the search tool below to browse adoptable Jindo puppies and adult Jindo in Pensacola, Florida. These Labrador Retrievers are available for adoption close to Pensacola, Florida. To see more adoptable Welsh Terriers in Pensacola, Florida, use the search tool below to enter specific criteria! Below are our newest added Welsh Terriers available for adoption in Pensacola, Florida. If you are unable to find your Mastiff puppy in our Puppy for Sale or Dog for Sale sections, please consider looking thru thousands of Mastiff Dogs for Adoption. Adopt a puppy or dog in Pensacola, FloridaShelters and rescues in Pensacola, FloridaSearch for a puppy or dogLearn more about dog breedsPuppies and dogs in nearby cities Adopt a dog in Pensacola, Florida These adorable dogs are available for adoption in Pensacola, Florida. Also, be sure to check the Mastiff Dog Breeder. Originally raised in Germany to. Solo ticket for sale for Pensacola, FL show. These adorable dogs are available for adoption in Pensacola, Florida. Browse these Pug rescues and shelters below. Spirited, clever, adorable. Search for dogs for adoption at shelters near Pensacola, FL. All of our dogs are recognized and registered by AKC. Dachshund puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted …. Boston Terrier puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted. Browse thru our ID Verified puppy for sale listings to find your perfect puppy in your area. Adopt a puppy or dog in Pensacola, FloridaShelters and rescues in Pensacola, FloridaSearch for a puppy or dogLearn more about dog breedsPuppies and dogs in nearby cities. Chiweenie Puppies ready for new Home 9 weeks old. Chihuahua For Sale in Pensacola 7. Pensacola, FL. Chiweenie For Sale in Pensacola 2. To see more adoptable Welsh Terriers in Pensacola, Florida, use the search tool below to enter specific criteria! Here are a few organizations closest to you: Rescue 5. Browse these Great Dane rescues and shelters below. Dogs and Puppies for Sale There are ads all over the internet of dogs for sale and newborn puppies for sale, however, pet parents often overlook adopting a four-legged family member from an animal shelter or rescue group when exploring how to search for dogs and puppies for sale. Puppies for Sale in Pensacola. Puppies for Sale. Browse these Boston Terrier rescues and shelters below. There are animal shelters and rescues that focus specifically on finding great homes for Boston Terrier puppies in Pensacola, Florida. Visit us now to find your dog. Join millions of people using Oodle to find puppies for adoption, dog and puppy listings, and other pets adoption. The Beagleman. I have both parents who weigh .Transportation to Pensacola, FL available. These babies were born February 28, and will be ready April 25, .Can meet partially parents are dna tested and clear! Pug puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted breeders. Celebrity dogs. There are animal shelters and rescues that focus specifically on finding great homes for Pug puppies in Pensacola, Florida. Precious Goldendoodle puppies available to go home on January 14th. If you are unable to find your puppy in our. Save this search and we'll notify you when they are. Orchestra right, Row N, near the aisle. All my babies are raised inside and free roaming with no kennels or cages. Chiweenie Puppies For Sale. The Maltese can serve as a lapdog but it loves to play with humans of all ages. Find Pug puppies for sale Near Pensacola, FL Smart and playful with a short muzzle and expressive eyes, the Pug's low-key lifestyle makes them perfect city dogs. Good with Children: Good With Children. For Sale in Pensacola 2. If you are unable to find your puppy in our Puppy for Sale or Dog for Sale sections, please consider looking thru thousands of Dogs for Adoption. Find your puppy for sale in Pensacola, FL Puppies. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help you find the puppy your whole family will love. Their brains, size, and loyalty make them ideal police and service dogs, but they also make great friends. Golden Retrievers for Sale in Pensacola. Pugs for Sale in Pensacola. He is up to date on shots and worming and we'll have a certified health certificate before leaving my home. Find and adopt a pet on Petfinder today. Anatolian Shepherd Great Pyrenees. Boston Terrier Puppies for Sale. Learn more puppies available certified breeders. I have males and females available… View Details. Welsh Terrier puppies and dogs in Pensacola, Florida. Also, be sure to check the Bulldog Dog. There are animal shelters and rescues that focus specifically on finding great homes for Great Dane puppies in Pensacola, Florida. Welcome to Guntner's Dachshunds. Belgian Laekenois Puppies for Sale. Click below to find a shelter or rescue in your area! Find an Animal Shelter. Belgian Malinois Puppies for Sale in Florida. Belgian Malinois puppy for sale. Gunner- protection Belgian malinois. Dogs and Puppies, Belgian Malinois. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to. Male Belgian Malinois. About Us; Blog; Available Dogs. Wolfsbane K9 is known for selling fully trained, personal protection Belgian Malinois dogs that do the job in real world circumstances and not just on a sporting field such as IGP. Search for belgian shepherd malinois all dogs near Pensacola, Florida. You have searched for Belgian Malinois Police Dogs. Specifically, the Belgian Malinois. The friendly and protective Belgian Malinois is a high-energy working dog. Our Dogs are high drive with stable temperament and an aim to please — the perfect combination for a working dog or a sport dog. Orange imported titled parents. When you contact Wolfsbane K9 you are being assisted by more than 4 decades of dog training skills. The breed is used as a working dog for tasks including detection of odors such as explosives, accelerants for. The Belgian Malinois has a dual coat that is well-adapted for hot and cold weather from 85 or 90 degrees Fahrenheit without much humidity down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Adopt a Belgian Malinois near you in Pensacola, Florida We don't see any Belgian Malinois available for adoption right now, but new adoptable pets are added every day. The Malinois is a medium-to-large breed of dog, sometimes classified as a variety of the Belgian Shepherd dog rather than as a separate breed. He will be missed by us, the staff, and all who knew him. Life span: 12 — 14 years Origin: Belgium. These families are why we offer the best family protection dogs for. Fully-grown Belgian Malinois usually stand inches tall and weigh between pounds. Belgian Malinois Puppies. The Belgian Malinois is a sturdy well-muscled dog of almost square proportions. Belgian Shepherd Malinois for Sale in Pensacola. Transportation to Pensacola, FL available. The Belgian Malinois is one of the fastest breeds in the world—it has been clocked to run up to 30 mph. Many of our dogs end up in sport homes or Law Enforcement but they also make excellent family companions. In Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong, the Malinois is bred primarily as a working dog for personal protection, detection, police work, search and rescue, and sport work like Schutzhund. The overall impression is of power without bulkiness. The Belgian Malinois is a sturdy dog of square proportion with moderately heavy, but oval, bone. Try a different search below! Search Now Search for a Belgian Laekenois puppy or dog. Florida Belgian Malinois Rescue. Belgian Malinois Puppies For Sale. We are home based in Florida but are overseas until late .Luna is the sister of Miles and has all…. Adopt a rescue dog or bring home a dog through PetCurious. Florida Belgian Malinois Classifieds Hoobly. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we want to help you find the puppy your whole family will love. Celebrities, athletes, government officials and many others buy dogs from us. Kukay's Elvis. Some receive awards for their bravery. There are often many great Sealyham Terriers for adoption at local animal shelters or rescues. Belgian Malinois Police Dogs. Belgian Malinois puppies for sale in Pensacola, FL from trusted. Old English Sheepdog Puppies for Sale. Adopt a Belgian Laekenois near you in Pensacola, Florida We don't see any Belgian Laekenois available for adoption right now, but new adoptable pets are added every day. Mohawks Malinois dogs are raised in a home environment and socialized from an early age. They excel at dog sports, search and rescue, and police work, and have even received military honors. If you are looking for an exceptional Belgian Malinois puppy or personal protection dog for sale please call Avisa k9 at or .Find your Belgian Malinois puppy for sale in Oklahoma. Such a gait gives the impression of tirelessness. Belgian Malinois for Sale. Shaving the fur robs your dog of protection against UV radiation and the cooling mechanism of the medium-length guard hairs circulating air through the downy undercoat. Belgian Malinois. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since and we. Belgian Malinois Protection Dogs For Sale Wolfsbane K9 is known for selling fully trained, personal protection Belgian Malinois dogs that do the job in real world circumstances and not just on a sporting field such as IGP. Wolfsbane K9 has Belgian Malinois puppies for sale with about 4 litters per year being produced. Find Belgian Malinois puppies for sale Near Biloxi, MS Known for their unending loyalty and devotion, the Malinois is a highly trainable, protective, and focused breed that thrives off of the bonds created with their human counterparts. Find your Belgian Malinois puppy for sale. Belgian Malinois, breed of herding and working dog developed in the Malines area of Belgium in the s. Why buy a Belgian Laekenois puppy for sale if you can adopt and save a life? Look at pictures of Belgian Laekenois puppies who need a home. Find your Belgian Malinois puppy for sale in Ohio. Lifespan 14 to 16 years Weight 40 to 80 pounds Height 56 to 66 cm Grooming. The Belgian Malinois really is a multi-purpose breed who can be trained for many tasks including being a family pet. T … See more 22, people like this 70, people follow this Dog Trainer Photos. The cost of a Belgian Malinois puppy varies widely and depends on many factors. Why buy a Sealyham Terrier puppy for sale if you can adopt and save a life? Look at pictures of Sealyham Terrier puppies who need a home. He was truly a fantastic companion who will be remembered for his loving and playful demeanor. Mohawks Malinois is now taking orders for future breedings and or trained dogs with our kennel. Browse thru our ID Verified puppy for sale listings to find your perfect puppy in your area. Mals performed important jobs in World War I, such as carrying messages, pulling ambulance carts, and assisting the Red Cross. Search Now Search for a Belgian Malinois puppy or dog. Adopt a puppy or dog in Pensacola, FloridaShelters and rescues in Pensacola, FloridaSearch for a puppy or dogLearn more about dog breedsPuppies and dogs in nearby cities Adopt a dog in Pensacola, Florida These adorable dogs are available for adoption in Pensacola, Florida. Search for belgian shepherd malinois dogs for sale or adoption near Pensacola, Florida. All our Belgian Malinois breeding occurs here and occasionally in Europe. Join millions of people using Oodle to find puppies for adoption, dog and puppy listings, and other. We will resume training once back state side. The Belgian Malinois is one of several shepherding dog breeds that were developed in Belgium. Search for belgian shepherd malinois rescue dogs for adoption near Pensacola, Florida. Contact us today to see how we can be of assistance to you! Cindi Gascon .We know you came to us because you want a new family member and you want. We have had many clients in Florida who have purchased protection dogs from us after having been the victim of a violent crime. They have incredible energy levels and a strong drive to work. We are deeply sadden by the passing of our loyal Malinois, Kukay's "Elvis" on May 9, .At K10 Workingdogs in Holland we always have a large number of young, high drive Belgian Malinois dogs in stock that can easily be trained as police dogs. Adopt a rescue dog through PetCurious. Puppies for Sale in Pensacola, Florida. Belgian Malinois Puppies for Sale in Idaho. But, we take great pride in knowing that our dogs are protecting regular families. Belgian Malinois generally live for years on average. Find Belgian Malinois puppies for sale. We are so thankful to have had him as part of our family. Got 6 beautiful Belgian malinois 3 boys 3 girls. Where to Adopt or Buy a Belgian Malinois Check local animal shelters and breed-specific rescue groups for a Belgian Malinois in need of a home. One of the best highly valued blood lines. History: The Belgian Malinois is one of four different breeds of Belgian sheepdogs, all of which were used as herding and guard dogs in Belgium during the s. We are accepting deposits now for upcoming litters. Our dogs are second to none dogs, not older than 24 months old, most of them even not older as 18 months. We are no longer breeding at this time. Showing 5 classifieds of Puppies for sale. Male Belgian Malinois Male for sale. Dogs from our kennels are currently in Search and Rescue, Police K9 and winning on the competition field. The Belgian Malinois is a world-renowned military service dog. Belgian Malinois Puppies for Sale. A life-size bronze statue of a Belgian Malinois is featured in the memorial to military dogs in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The name "Malinois" is derived from Malines, the French name for the breed's city of origin. Blue Belgian Malinois. This breed is elegant, with very proud head carriage. Wormed treated they all got excellent ball drive Looking for there new loving home Born on 28th February 2 brown girls 2 black girl 1 black boy Call me Father is black Belgium Malinois working security dog Mother is brown Belgiam Malinois home pet. We also ship anywhere in the United States. Unique litter if 12 Puppies! Some rare Black Malinois as well. Shaving the fur robs your dog of protection. Mohawks Malinois also offers private training for you and your partner. Sealyham Terrier puppies and dogs in Pensacola, Florida. The breed started out as the Belgian Shepherd Dog, but breeders in the city of Malines developed a short haired version that would eventually become the Belgian Malinois. Take a look around the site and if you are interested in a World Class Malinois then contact us and we can get the process started. Puppies for Sale. Not only that, they are a breed that is willing to put their life on the line to defend the ones they love. German Shepherd facts Facts about the correct Conformation. Find German Shepherd puppies for sale Near Pensacola, FL German Shepherds are renowned for their incredible trainability, work ethic, and physical grace. Find German Shepherd puppies for sale. We are experienced German Shepherd breeders in Florida that believe in breeding handsome features as well as caring, gentle personalities. One female black and tan, 1 male black and tan and one male black. Available German Shepherd puppies We currently have 3 puppies born January 27th available for deposits. Regis Regal provide the highest quality German Shepherds to residents of Florida and the surrounding area. Europeans Puppies Now Ready to go to their furever homes. Because all breeding programs are different, you may find dogs for sale outside that price range. Prices for German Shepherd puppies for sale in Jacksonville, FL vary by breeder and individual puppy. Their brains, size, and loyalty make. Will be ready for their… View Details. German Shepherds are renowned for their incredible trainability, work ethic, and physical grace. Puppy prices will vary depending on a variety of factors, including pedigree, Florida German Shepherd breeders qualifications AKC German Shepherd breeders Florida and experience, coat type, and coat color white German Shepherd puppies Florida, solid black German Shepherd puppies for sale Florida. With the participation of the whole family we raise a limited quantity of high quality German Shepherds both show lines and working lines. We breed working line shepherds from the renowned DDR bloodlines or "gene pool". Dogs and Puppies, German Shepherd. This is the price you can expect to pay for the German Shepherd breed without breeding rights. All puppies are vet checked, vaccinated. German Shepherds are one of the most popular dogs in the United States, Florida German Shepherd Puppies. Our German Shepherd parents have good hips and wonderful temperaments. German Shepherds for Sale in Tampa. If you are unable to find your. Pedigree also plays a big part. German Shepherds reciprocate the love they are given and remain our dutiful protectors and unconditional friends throughout their lives. Polarbear is our Name. German Shepherd puppies for sale in Florida. Or perhaps just looking for the total package in a dog? The level of incredible care that the dogs receive made us feel extremely comfortable with our decision to use Florida German Shepherd Puppies. About German Shepherds. German Shepherds are one of the most popular dogs in the United States, and it's easy to see why. Learn more 1, puppies available 1, certified breeders Transportation Location Color. All puppies will come with export pedigrees, and can be transferred to AKC for a fee. German Shepherds reciprocate the love they are given and remain our. Our puppies come with a Florida Health. For those who want imports without the stress or risk, you can meet your puppy first. Their brains, size, and loyalty make them ideal police and service dogs, but they also make great friends. German Shepherds For Sale. We take great care in raising our German Shepherd puppies in a family atmosphere that encourages human bonding, socializing, and a great deal of physical interaction. Male German Shepherd 11 months old! German Shepherd puppies for sale. German Shepherd puppies for sale in Jacksonville, FL from …. Please start with our puppy application Loyal Loving Family members. German Shepherds for Sale in Jacksonville. German Shepherd puppies for sale in Florida from trusted …. German Shepherd Dog Puppies for sale. These dogs are known for their courage, confidence, loyalty, and ability to learn commands for many different types of tasks. His sire, Ballack, is the number one dog in the world. Has had a great deal of foundation training. Florida German Shepherd Rescue. They will come with first shots and Akc paperwork. We had a fantastic experience from start to finish. German Shepherds come in a number of different colors, but the most expensive ones are white German Shepherd puppies for sale in Florida. Discover more about our world class dogs now! Ruskin House Of Shepherds. German Shepherds are world renowned for their steadfast loyalty, trainability and athleticism, and we strive to uphold these distinctive characteristics in each of our dogs. Makukulit na puppies shihtzu puppy puppylove. German Shepherd puppies for sale in Ocala, FL from trusted breeders. Florida Shepherds- quality German Shepherd puppies for over 20 years. Serving Florida with german shepherds since With over 30 years experience in the breeding and training of world-class German Shepherds from some of the top bloodlines out of Germany, here at Regis Regal German Shepherds we've been very proud to have sold our puppies and adult dogs to the residents of Florida. We added a beautiful male German Shepherd to our home and he is the perfect addition. Breeding experience comes into play, as well as location. Because all breeding programs are different, you may find dogs. Loyal, obedient, friendly, smart and hardworking, these dogs seem to have it all when you're searching for a new best friend. Serving Florida with german shepherds since With over 30 years experience in the breeding and training of world-class German Shepherds from some of the top bloodlines out of Germany, here at Regis Regal. As there are so many breeders and businesses connected to Florida Puppies, there will be a pup for you! You must be a responsible loving pet owner to purchase any of our pups with a letter from your vet for recommendation. The majority of people who come to us looking for a German Shepherd are looking for a pet or companion dog that gives them an added sense of "protection" in their life.

Although the collar has been more common over the centuries, sledding dogs of the frozen North and drafting dogs like the Rottweiler and Bernese Mountain Dog have been harnessed to pull sleds and carts since the 18th century. However, the medical data available to us now shows the full extent of damage a collar can cause your dog. This may result in a severe trachea injury, hypothyroidism, ear, eye, and nerve damage. Therefore, a harness is far safer for your pup than a collar. What if my dog pulls on a harness? According to the PDSA PAW report , about a quarter of all owners who adopt a dog from a shelter complain that leash pulling as the most common behavioral problem they face. This is certainly a frustrating issue that can drain all the fun out of walking your dog. The simplest method to deal with a pulling dog is to use an excellent no-pull harness. In addition, behavioral modification through positive training techniques can work together with your harness to keep your dog walking calmly and politely at your side. How do I know for sure what size harness to buy for my dog? Just like clothes for humans, companies that make and sell dog harnesses can differ in their parameters for a specific size. For instance, a Chihuahua will probably be an extra-small size while Great Dane will probably be—you guessed it— extra-large. But dogs can vary wildly within the breed. There are some giant Labs out there and some confusingly small German Shepherds. Not to mention mix breeds, designer dogs, and mutts that can come in any shape or size. Another point to keep in mind is that dogs also vary according to gender. This means that while your male Samoyed might fit happily in a large harness, your female Samoyed might well need a medium one. Therefore, selecting a harness based on breed alone can be misleading and result in purchasing the wrong product altogether. It is essential to only use the breed chart only as a general guideline. One should also be aware that certain breeds are bred to extremes, and finding a harness that fits them can be a challenge. A Boerboel or a Neapolitan Mastiff can easily tip the scales at pounds, making them too big for many harness brands. If in doubt, contact the company first to ensure they have a harness that will fit your dog. Which harness size should I buy for my puppy? A further consideration is what harness to buy for puppies. For example, what size harness should you buy for a Golden Retriever puppy? A large breed like the Golden Retriever will undoubtedly grow out of multiple harnesses by the time it is full-grown. A post shared by Dogs Pets Puppies goldenretrieverpuppys It may need a small or a medium-size from between four and five months and will likely graduate to large when it has reached eight months. Keep in mind this is only a general guideline, and puppies can vary in growth curves just as much as human children do. This is usually just behind his elbows. Simply take a tape measure the circumference of its chest from the withers and around the ribcage at the most extended point. This means starting at the end of the tape at the top of the shoulders and circling the tape around the largest portion of the ribcage to where it meets at the shoulders again. How do I weigh my dog? For most dog owners, the easiest way to weigh your dog is to step onto the bathroom scale and weigh yourself. Then get off and climb on again, this time holding your pooch. Of course, if you happen to own a four-pound Teacup Bichon Frise, you can probably make use of your kitchen scales and it would be adorable. On the other hand, some of us own dogs that are far too big to pick up, at least without slipping a disc. In this case, the best thing to do is to go in to see your vet, who will be able to weigh your dog with their specialized veterinary scales. Dog Harness sizes by breeds For an idea of where your dog might fit on the size, weight, and breed scale, you can study the PawSafe dog harness measurement guidelines below for their no-pull harness , which is also designed to work with a doggy seatbelt to keep your pup safe while traveling. The idea of a lost puppy is terrifying, but an ID tag will help them return home. Although this silicone ID tag is more expensive than standard tags, I love that it is silent and attaches right to the collar. Crate and or containment gate Puppies are curious creatures that often need boundaries. You can accomplish this with a crate and containment gates. Crate training can be a lifesaver, and most dogs fall in love with having their own space. I recommend a crate with an adjustable divider so you can give your puppy more room as they grow. Another option is to use a Cumbor containment gate to limit access to certain areas of your home. Food and water bowls There are endless options of food and water bowls. If your dog eats fast, I recommend adding slow feeder attachment. These aids in proper digestion and reduce overeating behaviors. Food and treats Your vet is probably your best source of information for selecting the right food. They create personalized plans for your dog and deliver the food right to your door. I shared my journey of picking the right food in this blog and video. Toys and chews All dogs have slightly different preferences in toys, so I would start with a variety of items to see what interests your puppy most. Ellie still has her first toy, Dino, from 5 years ago! The safest way to deliver bully sticks is to use a Bow Wow Buddy safety device so they cannot swallow or choke on the last end. Check out this blog for all things grooming. Bonus Recommendation! Online Access to Dog Training We recognized the need for convenient and effective dog training solutions, which is why we created The Hapco. Within our app, you'll discover a wealth of resources, including: video tutorials. Here are some essential points that every owner should consider when purchasing the harness for their beloved one. Measure Your Golden Retriever For A Harness It is one of the most important steps that owners should take, no matter whether your golden retriever is in puppyhood or adulthood. Just measure the fullest part of your doggo chest behind their front legs, and make sure whenever you measure your dog chest, they must be standing on a flat surface. Once you determine that, and the size showing somewhere between small and larger sizes, consider the large one, as it will be more suitable for your puppy. Quality Material Material is something you must look into whenever you buy harnesses, collars, leash, bandanas, etc. The harness must be made of breathable and lightweight material. Plus, a lightweight harness helps your puppy feel light and airy whenever she wears the harness. Customizable It is always good to use harnesses that can be easily adjustable according to the needs of your golden retriever. A Customizable harness allows perfect fit along the belly and chest area and back, which is essential for the dog that pulls a lot during the walk. Basically, a well-fitted harness helps to keep the puppy or adult dog in control to prevent any mishappenings in a crowded place. Puppy Behavior Golden retrievers are a High-energy sporting breed, and that sporting instinct sometimes encourages them to chase moving things on walks, and it can be anything like a ball, squirrels, etc. Hence if you know the behavior and temperament of your Golden pup, it will help you get the best harness for them. This means if our golden pup pulls a lot, then you can use anti-pull harnesses. These harnesses are typically known as Front Clip Harness. With these anti-pull harnesses, your pup can quickly learn not to pull on the leash. On the other hand, if the pup has a good temperament, you can use the regular harness. Safety Features Never give safety a day off! And look for harnesses whose straps are made of a thick and durable material like polyester and nylon. However, you can use fabric harnesses for puppies, as they are not strong pullers. Typically harnesses come with two attachment points, either at the front clip near the chest or the back clip. So in case, your goldie is a heavy puller, you can go with the harness that has a front attachment point that helps prevent any pulling action. While if your goldie has a calm temperament, you can choose a harness with a back attachment point. However, many harnesses come with dual-clip attachment points both back and front. I use them too for each of my dogs. Ergonomic Design Pick the harness that slips on or off your puppy in seconds. Usually, the harness comes in two designs, either step-in design or overhead design. The step-in design is the one where your puppies have to put their front legs into it to wear. Both of the harnesses are pretty easy to take on or off on puppies or adult golden retrievers. So choose the one that eases you the most. Harnesses that have highly reflective strips are excellent to use at night time or early in the morning. People who live in the tropical region often prefer to walk with their puppies either at night or early in the morning due to high temperatures. So whether you pick a dual-clip, step-in, overhead, or adjustable harness, just make sure it has highly reflective straps for added safety. Close search Sizing We know that purchasing online can feel scary, especially if you're unsure of your size so we've done our best to help make sure you get the size right on your first purchase. Use this page as a guide only. We recommend first checking your measurements alongside the Size Guide on the product page along with clicking the link above the Size Guide that says 'View Pups Wearing This Style' to get the best idea of size. This page has been created based on our experience with the majority of customers, but there are always pups that don't fit into these typical sizes and should go by the Size Guide measurements on the product page first. For strong, fully grown Aussie's, we recommend moving into our Adventure Strap Harness that was specifically designed for the requirements and safety of bigger dogs. This also has a front lead attachment for helping them to stop pulling on the lead. For any fully grown, extra fluffy Aussie's, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Males generally grow into the L when fully grown, but females often remain in the M when fully grown. On some occasions, larger males will wear an XL. On some occasions, bigger males will wear the L. Fully grown Beagles are usually an M but an L is more appropriate for males or larger females. Fully grown females can sometimes be an M or L, whilst most fully grown males wear an L. For any fully grown Beagles that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. BED: We recommend the Small size bed as the perfect size for one Cavalier, or the Medium size for two to share or one who likes spreading out. BED: We recommend the Small size bed as the perfect size for one Cavoodle, or the Medium size for two to share or one who likes spreading out. BED: We recommend the Small size bed as the perfect size for one or two Chihuahua's with room to curl up or spread out. On some occasions, fully grown females that are on the small size of typical cockers will remain in the M even once fully grown. On some occasions, smaller females will wear the S. Fully grown cockers are usually an M. For any fully grown cockers that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. On some occasions, fully grown females will remain in the M even once fully grown. Fully grown corgi's are usually an M. Fully grown corgi's usually wear an M. For fully grown Dalmatians, we recommend moving into our Adventure Strap Harness that was specifically designed for the requirements and safety of bigger dogs. Fully grown Dalmatians often wear the L. For any fully grown Dalmatians that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Once they are fully grown and have filled out, Frenchie's typically wear an L, though some fully grown, chunky males will wear an XL. Fully grown Frenchies usually wear an M, though some chunkier males will wear an L once fully grown. Because of the overlap in measurements on these collars, Frenchies can wear an L from around 12 months old onwards if you like the extra width. Fully grown Frenchies usually wear an M or L, depending on how chunky their neck is. For any fully grown Frenchies that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. BED: We recommend the Small size bed as the perfect size for one Frenchie, or the M size for two to share or one that likes to stretch out. For fully grown Goldens, we recommend moving into our Adventure Strap Harness that was specifically designed for the requirements and safety of bigger dogs. Fully grown Golden Retrievers often wear the L. For any fully grown Goldens that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Fully grown groodles are usually an M, though some bigger males will wear the L. Because of the overlap in measurements on these collars, Groodles can wear an L from around 12 months old onwards if you like the extra width. For any fully grown Groodles that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. On some occasions, males and some females with wider chests will grow into the M when fully grown. This also has a front lead attachment to help them stop pulling on the lead. On some occasions, fully grown females that are on the smaller end of the scale will remain in the M even once fully grown. Fully grown kelpie's will wear an M or L and it is best to measure and check against the size guide on the product page. For any fully grown Kelpie's that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Once fully grown, most labradoodle's wear an M. For any fully grown Labradoodle's that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. For fully grown Lab's, we recommend moving into our Adventure Strap Harness that was specifically designed for the requirements and safety of bigger dogs. Once fully grown, most lab's wear an L. For any fully grown Labrador's that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Fully grown mini's that weigh less than 6kg are usually in an S. Fully grown mini's that weigh more than 6kg usually wear an M. Some smaller papillons or females will always wear the XS, even when fully grown. Once pugs are fully grown and have filled out with a chunky neck, most pugs wear an L. Fully grown pugs usually wear an M. Because of the overlap in measurements on these collars, Pugs can wear an L from around 12 months old onwards if they have a particularly chunky neck or you like the extra width. Fully grown pugs will wear an M or an L depending on how chunky their neck is. For any fully grown Pugs that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room. Staffy's that are especially wide in the chest will wear an XL once fully grown. For fully grown Staffy's, we recommend moving into our Adventure Strap Harness that was specifically designed for the requirements and safety of bigger dogs. Staffy's that have an especially chunky neck will grow into an L when fully grown. Because of the overlap in measurements on these collars, Staffy's can wear an L from around 12 months old onwards if they have a particularly chunky neck or you like the extra width. For any fully grown Staffy's that grow out of the L, we designed our Bandana Extenders to add to the Large size for extra neck room.

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Have you always wanted a Labrador retriever, but are you worried about the common health problems of the breed? Someone might have recommended that you go for a Pit Bull-Lab mix. Labrador retrievers and American pit bull terriers began to be deliberately interbred in the s as a way of minimizing the health problems that are common to both pure breeds. The result is usually a gorgeous, medium-sized pup with the strength and loyalty of a pit bull and the intelligence and affection of a Labrador. But wait, you might be wondering if these dogs are highly aggressive, since pit bulls do have a reputation for being a pretty aggressive dog. While exactly what you get with a mix-breed pup is always unpredictable, the aggressive reputation of the pit bull is undeserved. They are, in fact, intelligent and affectionate canines. A word of warning, while pit bull-Lab mixes are highly affectionate and highly trainable, they are not generally recommended for first-time dog owners since there is quite a bit of work involved in looking after these special dogs. But whatever you call them, they are a mix between a Labrador retriever and an American pit bull terrier. Labrador retrievers are medium-large gun dogs that were initially bred to retrieve game. But over the years, they have also become incredibly popular family dogs. They are also highly intelligent, trainable, and friendly, so they are also often used as disability assistance dogs, for example working as guide dogs for the blind. American pit bull terriers are solidly built medium-sized dogs. In the early 19th century, they were often used in blood sports such as bull and bear-baiting, and after these sports were outlawed in , they were also often used in dogfighting. This is why the breed has a reputation for being aggressive, but they are not naturally aggressive when properly cared for. They are, in fact, strong, confident, and lively, and make excellent family pets as they love children and are protective of them. Pit Bull-Labrador Mix Characteristics Unlike with pure-bred dogs, which tend to have a fairly predictable appearance and temperament, you can never be sure exactly how the characteristics of parents will combine in a mix-breed dog. But it is possible to generalize about the most likely characteristics of a pit bull-Lab mix based on the characteristics that appear most often, and characteristics that breeders will often try and control to produce the best possible pups. Labrador-Pit Bull Mix Appearance Most pups that are a mix between a Labrador retriever and a pit bull can be characterized as medium in size. They usually range from between 17 to 25 inches tall and can weigh anywhere from 45 to 90 pounds. Male Lab-pit bull mixes tend to be significantly larger than their female counterparts. They will almost certainly have a strong and muscular physique. Labradors are fairly strong to start with, and this is only enhanced by the extreme muscular nature of the American pit bull terrier. Their facial features generally fall between those of a Lab and a pit bull, and they will have a broader forehead than a Labrador retriever, but it will be narrower than that of a pit bull. They usually have a relatively long muzzle and long pointed ears. Your pitador might also come out with the classic Labrador retriever double coat that sheds a lot. Breeders will often try and control for this characteristic, but there are no guarantees. There is no way of knowing what kind of coat they will have when you adopt a puppy. Coat colors vary from classic Labrador colors including black, chocolate, and golden yellow, but you can also expect to see white, spotted, brindle, and cream. Lab-Pit Bull Mix Temperament When you adopt a Labrabull, you can expect a dog that is affectionate, intelligent, and energetic, as these are characteristics of both Labrador retrievers and American pit bull terriers. Lab-pit bull mixes are very affectionate and bond quickly with new families. They are incredibly friendly with children and will be both careful and protective of them. While you can trust a pit bull-Lab mix with children, small children should never be left alone with any dog unsupervised. While they do get on with other animals, this breed does have a need to be dominant. They may engage in behaviors you consider aggressive or undesirable to assert their dominance over other dogs or household animals. They crave to be included in everything the family does and to be the center of attention. These dogs are very intelligent and also eager to please, which makes them highly trainable. They are just as capable of being trained as working dogs as their Labrador retriever parent. They are motivated by praise and reward, and training should always utilize positive reinforcement. When your dog is frustrated and confused by what you want from them, that is when they can become aggressive. But pit bull-Lab dogs are not naturally aggressive; they actually have a calm and fun-loving temperament. But they are also high energy and need a lot of exercise. They are highly alert and will bark a little to let you know if guests arrive at the door or strangers are lurking near the house. Lab-Pit Bull Mix Health These crossbreed dogs generally live for years and within that time are likely to have fewer health problems than either purebred Labrador retrievers or American pit bull terriers. Nevertheless, they can be inclined to develop some of the joint conditions that are common in Labrador retrievers, such as hip dysplasia. They can benefit from glucosamine supplements to help keep their joints supple and healthy. You can find our recommendations for the best glucosamine supplements here. These dogs are also more inclined to developing epilepsy and hyperthyroidism than some other dog breeds. You should monitor your dog for seizures to identify the onset of epilepsy. You can read more about seizures in dogs here. Finally, dogs that are a mix of Labrador retrievers and pit bulls can be inclined to develop skin conditions and allergies. For this reason, it is important to choose a good pH-balanced shampoo for your dog, and try to keep their food and environment free of toxins that can trigger or exacerbate allergies. These might help you to decide whether they are the right breed of dog for you. Exercise Lab-pit bull retrievers are energetic dogs that need lots of space to play. They need a yard to give them space to run and play throughout the day. They need a lot of exercise each day. They need at least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as running or playing catch, each day. On top of this, they will need hours of moderate exercise such as walking and playing. This exercise is best when split into at least two exercise sessions each day. It is advisable to keep your pit bull-Lab mix on the leash when in public parks as they have a high prey drive. Attention These dogs thrive on love and attention, and since they are so intelligent, they also need a lot of mental stimulation. This means that it is not appropriate to leave them alone for long periods of time. If you leave one of these dogs alone for ten hours a day while everyone is at work, you will come home to a lot of destruction and a frustrated dog that may become aggressive in their need for your affection. Grooming Most Lab-pit bull mixes have the short-haired, low-shedding coat of a pit bull, which only needs brushing once a week. But if they turn out to have the high-shedding coat of a retriever, you may find that you need to brush them every day to keep on top of their shedding. You will also want a powerful vacuum cleaner that is designed to pick up dog hair. You also need to pay a lot of attention to dental care, as Lab-pit bull mixes are prone to tartar build-up and gum disease. Diet Since these dogs are highly muscular and full of energy, they thrive on a diet that is high in animal-based proteins and high in healthy fats. You do need to be careful how much food you give them, as they will usually eat even when they feel full, and they are prone to put on weight when they overeat. So, feed them a diet that is low in carbohydrates and put food out at regular times rather than leaving food in their bowl for them to graze throughout the day. Since these dogs are prone to allergies, it is important to invest in high-quality food that does not contain any artificial additives that can be toxic for dogs. It is also a good idea to vary their diet, and ensure they are not eating the same type of meat every day. Dogs are most likely to develop allergies to the foods they eat the most. So, if you feed your dog the same chicken-based dog food every day, it is likely that over time they might develop an allergy to chicken. Varying the protein that makes up their diet can help prevent this. Where To Adopt There are many reputable breeders out there breeding top-quality pit bull-Labrador retriever mixes. Generally speaking, you will find that the Labrador is the mother, as they are a slightly larger breed, and it is safer for the dog when the mother is a bit larger than the father. So, if possible, look to adopt rather than buy. A great place to start looking for adoptable dogs is at Petfinder. We found our Australian Shepherd Labrador Retriever mix through petfinder. FAQs Is a pit bull-Lab mix an aggressive dog? No, pit bull-Lab mix dogs are not aggressive. They can have a reputation for aggression because pit bulls have traditionally been used in blood sports, but the breed is not naturally aggressive. They can be dominant among other animals and may engage in classic alphamale behavior to assert their position in the animal hierarchy. When do Lab-pit bull mixes stop growing? Lab-pit bull mix dogs will usually keep growing until they are about three years old, which is around the same time as they start to lose their puppy energy. You can expect them to grow between 17 and 25 inches tall and to weigh between 45 and 90 pounds. Are pit bull-Lab mixes a good dog breed for families with kids? Yes, Lab-pit bull mixes are excellent kids. They are gentle and playful and will also be highly protective of their young charges. While they will give you a bark to let you know that strangers are around, they are actually very good with strangers as well. Can you have a pit bull-Lab mix with another dog? Pit bull-Lab mixes are highly dominant animals, so they will try and assert their dominance over any other animals you have in the house. For this reason, they need to be well-socialized from a young age to ensure they learn appropriate behavior. So, while you can introduce a Lab-pit bull mix puppy into a home that already has a dog, you might want to be wary about introducing an adult dog into a household that already has another dog. Do pit bull-Lab mix dogs bark a lot? No, these highly intelligent dogs are not the type to bark continuously or for no reason. They might give you a bark to let you know when something has happened or if someone is approaching. When do Labrador-pit bull mix dogs calm down? From about the age of one year, these dogs begin to calm down and have less energy. The Verdict Labrador retriever-American pit bull terrier mixes make excellent pets for anyone with an active lifestyle and lots of space for these dogs to stretch their legs. They combine the intelligent and friendly temperament of both breeds in an adorable dog that is less likely to suffer from some of the serious medical conditions that are common in both pure breeds. They are also highly trainable and have a calm and friendly temperament as long as they are getting the physical stimulation and the attention that they need. You will need to be prepared to make the time commitment to keep these dogs healthy and happy. Do you have any experience raising a Lab-pit bull mix pup? Share your thoughts with the community in the comments section below. Helps ease anxiety in their new home. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. For a list of all the supplies we get for our new service dog puppies check out our New Puppy Checklist on the PuppyInTraining. White Any combination of the above Certain coat colors from either parent breed overlap such as brown, yellow, and black. This means that these colors are more likely to appear in the Lab Pit Mix, though this breed can really show any combination of the colors seen in either parent breed. This video features a young Labrador Pitbull Mix named Rocky enjoying a warm summer afternoon in the pool. Rocky has a beautiful black coat and a friendly, fun-loving personality characteristic of the breed. The temperament of this crossbreed dog will be some combination of the character traits that you see in the American Pitbull Terrier and the Labrador Retriever. Labrador Retrievers or Labs tend to be very energetic, friendly, and playful — they also tend to be a little bit goofy now and again. Labs are smart and mischievous — they have been known to escape from fenced yards with ease. The American Pitbull Terrier sometimes has a bad reputation for being aggressive or mean, but that is not the case at all. According to the UK Kennel Club , these dogs are one of the gentlest breeds on the planet and, while they may be a little protective, they will never hurt you or your family. Pitbulls have big, open hearts and they make excellent companion pets. This unique breed will inherit some combination of these character traits. For the most part, pitbull lab mixes are friendly and affectionate with family, but they can also be a bit of a handful with their high energy level. The pitbull breed can also be a little dominant at times, so look out for this kind of behavior with your dog. If you allow your dog to become dominant, he may not listen to your commands and could develop aggression toward other dogs. Whether or not your Labrador pitbull mix gets along with children will depend on several factors. Early socialization and training is essential for all dogs — especially for a breed like this that has a lot of energy and can sometimes develop dominant tendencies. Socializing your puppy from a young age will help him get along with kids better. In determining whether your mixed breed dog will get along with other pets, you have to think about the two parent breeds. Labrador retrievers, for example, get along with just about anyone — human or animal. These dogs can be a little overzealous with small dogs but they would never intentionally hurt anyone. The American Pitbull Terrier is a different story. While these dogs are not inherently dangerous, the terrier in them means that they have a strong prey drive — this as an instinct to chase small animals. Raising your pitbull mix from a young age will help him get along with other pets but you should always supervise any interactions between your dog and other pets. Both parent breeds for this crossbreed are known for their intelligence, so the Lab Pit Mix is a smart dog as well. The smarter the dog, the easier it is to train him, as long as you go about the training in the right way. Dogs get bored with repetition sometimes so you need to keep your training sessions short and sweet. There are conflicting opinions out there regarding the health of mixed breed dogs compared to purebreds. Some experts believe in hybrid vigor — the idea that mixed breed dogs are inherently healthier than purebred dogs because they have a lower risk for inherited health problems. However, if you breed two dogs that have a genetic predisposition for the same disease, the chances that the puppies will inherit that condition is much higher. When it comes to the pitbull labrador mix and its health, you have to consider the health of the two parent breeds. Labrador Retrievers live for 10 to 13 years and they are prone to certain diseases like: hip dysplasia, Protective yet friendly, the Pitbull Lab mix has a range of reputations to live up to. These breeds were used in bloodsports until the practice was banned. Sadly, the stigma attached to being used as fighting dogs has stuck with Pitbull-type breeds through the years. Labrador Retrievers were originally bred as hunting dogs. They are also commonly used as therapy dogs, in search and rescue missions and as seeing eye dogs for the blind. When you make a Pitbull and Lab mix, any of the qualities of the parent breeds can be passed on, in any combination. Growing controversy over American Pitbulls in recent years has led to a lot of misinformation about the breed. Pitbulls are banned in several countries because of their reputation as a fighting dog. However, if properly bred, socialized and trained, these are wonderful dogs with a warm, loving and affectionate temperament. What Do They Look Like? When buying a cross-breed there are no guarantees. Puppies can resemble either parent, or a combination of both. There can even be big differences within the same litter. But, Labrador and Pitbull breeds do have some similarities that are likely to appear in your Pitador puppy. Pitbull Lab Mix Size Both have medium-sized, athletic frames. Pitbulls are quite muscular, with wide chests and broad, flat heads. But, Labs are taller, with a slimmer shape and a longer nose. So, Labrabulls will range from 50 to 90 pounds. Labrabull Coats and Colors They have a short and silky coat and come in a variety of colors. Coat colors include brindle, brown, black and white and tan. You may also find a black Lab and Pitbull mix or a chocolate Lab Pitbull mix. Another popular variety is the yellow Lab Pitbull mix. For example, your glossy black Lab Pitbull mix puppy will likely get some gray around his muzzle and eyes as he gets older. Grooming and Shedding Thanks to its parents short-haired genes, the Labrador Pitbull mix is fairly low-maintenance when it comes to grooming. Just bathe when necessary and brush as needed. But, during shedding season you might find you are grooming a lot. Labradors are very high shedding dogs, and as such your puppy could be too. Make sure to get him used to being groomed regularly. This will make your job easier when he starts to molt! So you can expect your Pitbull Lab mix to be the same. Many Pitbull advocates praise their intelligence, willingness to learn and love for their families. Labrador Retrievers are known as excellent family pets. They are friendly and outgoing and play well with other dogs. So, a Pitbull and Lab mix is likely to be a people-pleaser when it comes to his family. This super-smart mutt will do anything for praise and attention. But, they will need company for much of the day, due to their strong bonds. They are therefore not an ideal pet for anyone who works away from home. Or who cannot bring their dog along with them during the day. Intelligent dogs can become bored and destructive if left to their own devices too often. This can also result in barking. Are They Aggressive? A genuine concern about Pitbulls is their bite reflex. Compared with bites from other dogs, the damage that they can do is much more severe. In a study of over bites over a period of 15 years at one trauma center, 30 injuries were by Pitbulls. The level of injury caused by them was far greater. If you are bitten by a Pitbull you are more likely to have a worse injury, and more likely to die from it. According to its results, the American Pitbull passed the test with a .So, this makes it more even-tempered than Cocker Spaniels and Beagles! However, the CDC itself admits that these numbers are culled from media headlines that could potentially misidentify the breed. A more recent study by Dr. James Serpell at the University of Pennsylvania ran different breeds through a series of tests and found that the top three most aggressive were Dachshunds, Chihuahuas, and Jack Russell Terriers. Cautions For Pitbull Owners Pitbulls might not be the most likely dog to bite you. But if they do, it is much more likely to lead to severe injury or death. But you need to throw yourself into socialization and definitely meet the Pitbull parent to assess their temperament. Being a responsible owner means giving your dog the tools to curb his anxiety. This involves training, socialization, and lots of praise and support. Given its extremely intelligent parentage, this hybrid responds very well to instructions and can master the basics in no time. Both Pitbull and Lab breeds work best with positive reinforcement. They love to please their owners and are extremely willing. Using punishment to train your puppy is not advised. This can destroy the trust between dog and owner. In addition, it can lead to problems in the future with aggression. Punishing a dog causes them to hide the warning signals that they are unhappy. Use reward-based methods and train together every day to build an even stronger bond between you. Your Labrabull will definitely need regular exercise. As it will be on the larger side and quite active. Importance Of Socialization While Pitbulls have a bad reputation that is not entirely fair, there is some truth to it. The risks of biting is higher than with some breeds, the severity of bites is far worse. Plus, Pitties can be territorial and display some guarding characteristics. So, when you buy a puppy with a Pit parent, you need to commit to socialization as a number one priority. A confident dog is a safer, happier dog. And dogs become confident through early exposure to the situations which have potential to worry them as adults. It is very important to socialize a Pitbull Lab mix puppy as early and often as possible. But there are some serious genetic health conditions that your puppy could inherit. So health screening of both parents is essential. The breeder should provide you with evidence of good hip and elbow scores for both the Labrador and Pitbull parent. They should also show you an eye test for each of them, carried out less than a year ago. The Labrador parent should have no family history of exercise-induced collapse or cruciate ligament problems. The Pitbull parent should have no history of skin problems. Labradors live on average .Pitbull lifespan is around the same. This is about the average lifespan for medium-sized to large breeds. You need to feed your Bullador a well-balanced diet to ensure he gets all the nutrients he needs. Especially because these dogs require so much exercise! Although Pitbull dogs are often great with the kids in their families, the nature of their bite and severity of the injuries they cause is something you need to seriously consider before you bring one into a home with children. Never leave a Pit mix alone and unsupervised with kids, and make sure that they treat him with respect. Well-bred, well-socialized Labrador and Pitbull mixes are a breed that give as much as they get. But giving a rescue Pitbull Lab mix can be very rewarding. For both pup and owner. Check with your local shelters to see if they have any mixed breeds. Some may inherit more Lab genes, others will favor Pitbulls. The only way to know what you are getting is to meet your puppy first, and talk to the breeder. But, there may be additional costs for health check-ups and official documentation. From day one make sure you have visitors to the house at least four times a week. Make sure there is a range of adults and children, and that each new person gives the puppy praise and treats upon arrival. Take your pup to every type of location you think you might visit together. And make sure lots of people say hello to her. Again, if possible, they can give her treats to reward her and help build a positive association. Supervised interaction with other dogs will teach your dog how to play properly, and respect his furry friends. Organised play dates or behaviorial classes can help your puppy learn to be a calm and happy part of a pack. You will never know if your puppy is going to look more like a Lab or a Pit in the future. Pit Lab Mixes are black, brown, tan, white, and yellow. Some Pit Lab Mixes are solid in color, while others have distinctive white marks just like a Pitbull. Originally, all Labradors were black. When a litter is influenced by the predominant features of the Black Lab, it is very likely for you to have a litter of jet black Lab Pitbull pups. A majority of Lab Pitbulls are actually black in color with distinctive white marks on the face, on the chest, at the tips of the paws and tail. Its spectrum of rich brown hues can be passed onto its offsprings. Brown Lab Pitbulls usually have markings, too. Labradors with orange hues to their coats are also classified by the American Kennel Club as a yellow Labrador. Pitbull Lab Mix Looks Generally speaking, Pitbull Lab Mixes have the following features: a broad head a pair of almond-shaped eyes small droopy ears a long tail a smooth, dense coat But as with any crossbreed, there is no way you can accurately guess how your puppy is going to turn out. You will just have to wait until he is fully grown. A Pitbull Lab can grow to a height between 30 cm. As always, this breed sits in the grey area between the Pitbull and the Labrador even in size. Their weight also depends on how much Labrador or Pitbull genes they have in them. Pitbull Labs in general, weigh around 45 lbs. However, a Pitbull Lab with dominant Pitbull genes can weigh up to 95 lbs. Pitbull Lab Mix Character Traits We all know that the Labrador Retriever has a playful, friendly spirit while the Pitbull has a bold, courageous demeanor. So, what could be the personality of a Pitbull Lab mix? Read on to find out! Pitbull Lab Mixes are family oriented and will protect their humans at all costs. These courageous canines will stand up to any threat! Pitbull Lab Mixes are highly protective of their pack, which is often displayed as an aggressive behavior. When given proper training, the Pitbull Lab mix can easily distinguish between threat and unusual stimuli, so he can exercise restraint. The Pitbull Lab mix is usually quiet, which makes them the ideal pet for apartment living or for close-knit subdivisions. Likewise, Pitbull Lab Mixes are great watch dogs as they always keep their eyes peeled. They can sense danger from afar, be it a wanted criminal or a teenager who is up to no good. A big softie Another remarkable trait that Labrabulls have is their ability to connect with their owners. They can sense if you are sad, troubled, or in pain. These dogs will snuggle next to you and give you wet licks — the canine equivalent of hugs and kisses. So, the next time you are about to cry, you can count on your tail-wagger to comfort you during hard times. This is certainly a trait that they have inherited from Labradors. After all, Labradors are notably known as therapy dogs. A goofball Pitbull Lab Mixes are ever-ready to face any danger that represents itself. But these fearless dogs also melt easily into a jiggly pile of face-licking love around their beloved humans. Pitbull Lab Mixes love to run fast, tug hard, jump high, play games and solve doggie problems like the smart and creative creature that he is. Clingy Although the Pitbull Lab mix is a big softie, this breed does have a tendency to develop a neurotic behavior if left alone for long periods. Encourage him to be a little more independent by allowing him to explore the world a little further away from you. Docile Pitbull Lab Mixes are notable for their obedient demeanor towards their owners. Applies to all dog food recalls in the U. Be sure to establish yourself as the Alpha of the pack, especially when your Pitbull Lab Mix is still a pup. Lab Pit Mix Temperament A majority of dog owners are not yet convinced with the Lab Pit Mix temperament, which mainly harks back to the reputation of its parent breed, the Pitbull. So, why are these dogs depicted in a bad light? But truth be told, the tiny Chihuahua is actually more threatening than the hulking Pitbull. James Serpell, a renowned professor from the University of Pennsylvania, conducted a series of tests to determine which canines are the most aggressive. Furthermore, the American Temperament Test Society performed a study in to evaluate the temperament of the controversial breed. According to the results, the American Pitbull Terrier has a temperament passing rate of .In other words, many canines that share Pitbull-like characteristics are quickly categorized as a Pitbull Terrier. Likewise, the CDC stated that there is no scientific proof that shows Pitbulls are more involved in fatal attacks compared to other breeds. But of course, any dog that was cultivated for aggression can terrorize a whole neighborhood. This applies to all dogs, not just for Pitbulls. Therefore, an angry Pitbull is not the closest thing you will encounter next to a Great White Shark. While its parent breed has proven itself a true fighter, a Pitbull can only be aggressive if the dog was bred for the wrong reasons. Undesirable traits are rooted in improper training and lack of socialization, regardless of which breed you have. This means a Labrador, which is easygoing and gentle by nature, can get into a bevy of troubles if he has no concept of right and wrong. Unfortunately, the Pitbull Terrier remains a cult favorite among irresponsible owners. Therefore, it is imperative that you take the time to ensure your canine buddy gets properly trained and socialized. Despite their undeserved reputation, a Pitbull or a Pitbull Lab mix can respond well when training is done the right way, especially when you shower your pets with tender loving care! Are Lab Pitbull Mixes Sociable? Dogs are social creatures and are happiest when in contact with others, so yes, that includes the Pitbull Lab mix. But just like any other dog, your Lab Pit Mix must learn social skills at a tender age to keep fighting at a minimum. Socializing allows your tiny pup to get used to various settings and be comfortable towards meeting new people and animals. Keep in mind that Lab Pit Mix sometimes love to play a little rough. However, this should not be mistaken as a high prey drive. As a fur-parent, you also have to be well-balanced as the dog you seek. If you have a grumpy canine with a killer glint in the eye and a growl to match, step back and consider whether you are teaching your dog the right lessons. If not, get professional help! Establish yourself as the Alpha First of all, you have to firmly establish yourself as the leader of the pack. It means you have to set boundaries, stick with your own rules, and avoid doing things out on a whim! Otherwise, your growing pooch would think you are weak and inconsistent. A successful relationship depends upon you being in control. If your little Pitador does what he wants in small, harmless ways, it is likely for him to do what he wants in big, annoying ways. Nevertheless, be sure to be fair and calm when correcting your furry sidekick. Pitadors are among the most obedient dogs but they can also be very sensitive. Employ positive reinforcement Pitadors care about praise… and yummy treats! So, be sure to hand out some tasty dog biscuits to your pup for his little accomplishments. You can also alternate it with praises and belly rubs. Positive reinforcement is absolutely crucial, especially during the first weeks of potty training. When your Pitador goes potty outside instead of your hardwood floor, make a fuss and reward him. Considering how the Pitbull Lab mix is extremely intelligent, your pup is quick to understand which of his actions are good and desirable to you. Thus, he will repeat the behavior as often as possible. Correct your dog the right way Punishment is often associated with physical harm, such as hitting your dog with a stick. This method is not only harsh but also counterproductive. So, how do you correct your canine lout without making him anxious or wary of you? Since it is no good trying to reason with your dog, the most efficient and humane way to teach him is through constructive punishment. You can confiscate his favorite toys or simply ignore your dog for a certain period of time. Physical punishment only hampers the relationship between you and your beloved pet. Explore new grounds Take your furry sidekick as many places as you can go. You can stuff him in a pet carrier while he is still a puppy and have him walk beside you when he is finally bulky. Having your little Pitador tag along with you provides him with a spectrum of experiences with various people, animals, and objects. This is the best way to shape his behavior towards boisterous children, unusual structures, and fast-moving vehicles among many others. The more exposure he has as a puppy, the calmer he becomes as an adult. Provide mental and physical stimulation Both parent breeds of the Pitbull Lab mix requires tons of mental and physical exercise, so it is quite unsurprising for their offspring to have the same demands. Regular exercise is paramount if you want to keep your furry sidekick fighting fit. Otherwise, your Pitador is bound to carry extra weight that can have a huge impact on his overall wellbeing. Dogs are rarely lazy but if the exercise is boring, dogs are as likely as humans to refuse to do it. However, simply letting your dog chase squirrels out in the backyard is not going to cut it. So, what are your options? Walk your dog Walking your canine buddy is the most commonly performed exercise. Ideally, active dogs such as the Pitbull Lab mix should be taken out for a long walk twice daily. To make this a viable solution for busy fur-parents, choose to walk around the neighborhood a couple of times or go to a park that has a decent distance from your home. Try to change the route of your walks from time to time, so your Pitador has a new battery of smells to get excited over. You can always count on the treadmill if it rains cats and dogs! It gives your dog the workout he requires in a playful manner, while you just sit and relax. It would be wise to come equipped with a nifty device, such as a toughened tennis ball with a long-handled launcher that sends the ball flying into the far distance. Dog Frisbees also fly long distances to be retrieved by your pet. Go out for a swim A lot of dogs are afraid of the water but once they get the hang of it, they will paddle like a wild duck! Swimming is also one of the most enjoyable activities you can do with your dog. There is a plethora of toys from pet stores, such as a Kong floating toy to encourage your furry pal to swim. Your fun-loving Pitador will surely jump right in and retrieve the object for you. Find out what reward motivates your canine buddy and include some of that reward for him in your exercise regime to encourage him to be more active. Even racing up the stairs with your dog can be a fun and effective exercise, as well. The simplest forms of exercise can deliver amazing results. In fact, running up and down the stairs is the quickest way for obese dogs to lose weight! They will chow down anything delicious, whether it is the best dry dog food for small dogs or the best large breed dry dog food! So, it is up to you to provide your canine buddy the balanced diet he needs to stay hale and hearty. Go for the best dry dog food and keep them away from the nutrient-deprived worst dry dog food. His choices are:. Loyal and easy to train, the Pitbull Lab mix will make an excellent addition to any family and provide great companionship. History Of The Pitbull Lab Mix Both the Pitbull and the Labrador Retriever are historically working dogs , so it comes as no surprise that the Pitbull Lab mix likes to keep themselves busy and entertained. They were originally bred to combine the most desirable characteristics from both parent breeds into one dog — the temperament of the Labrador and the loyalty of the Pitbull. Breed Origin The breed origin of the Pitbull Lab mix is actually unknown and we cannot be sure when these dogs first appeared. However, we can look at the history of both parent breeds so you get an idea of where these pups originated from. The Pitbull parent in the Pitbull Lab mix can actually be any of four types of Pitbull. The Pitbull was created in early 19th-century England for the popular spectator sports of bull and bear baiting. They were thought of as aggressive fighting dogs but it was also known that they were very gentle with humans and made excellent family dogs. Later, these Pitbulls accompanied immigrants to America and they began new careers as all-around farm dogs. Their jobs included hunting wild game, guarding the property from animal intruders and providing companionship. The Labrador, as we mentioned above, is the most popular breed of dog in America. Labradors were originally bred as gun dogs in the s and used to accompany hunters and retrieve animals that had been shot. They were also used in Newfoundland to retrieve fish that came in off the trawl, which is why they love the water. Their loyal and loving nature mean that they quickly became a very popular family dog and are still used today as working dogs, such as guide dogs. Characteristics Of The Pitbull Lab Mix Because the Pitbull Lab Mix is not a purebred breed and it is not recognized by any kennel clubs, this means that there is no definite breed standard for these pups. This means we cannot be sure how each litter of puppies is going to turn out. However, we can guess based on previous litters. These dogs are normally born in litter sizes of 5 to 10 puppies, with the average being 7. It is not normally an issue which parent is the sire or the dam when breeding. Appearance As we have said above, you can never be sure what your Pitbull Lab crossbreed will look like. They may look more like their Pitbull parent or more like their Labrador Retriever parent. The Pitbull Lab Mix is classed as a medium to large breed dog, and they can weigh anywhere up to 80 lbs, with females generally being smaller than males. These dogs will likely have floppy ears and will be muscular yet lean in statue. Coat A Labrador Pitbull Mix will generally have a short, smooth coat and they will not require too much grooming. We will go into more detail about grooming later on. Color The parent breeds of the Pitbull Lab Mix dog can vary greatly in color, which means your designer dog will likely vary greatly too. A Labrador can be yellow, brown or black and a Pitbull can be a huge range of colors — especially because there are four different breeds of this dog! If you want a good indication as to what your Pitbull Lab may look like color wise, you should take a look at the parent breeds. Temperament The Pitbull Lab Mix is a friendly and sociable dog that loves to be around people. This is particularly true for the Pitbull in them, who can become feisty when bored or not stimulated. Therefore, they will do well when they are around a lot of people and are being given lots of attention! This could not be further from the truth. When raised properly and socialized well, these dogs are sweet-natured and loving — traits which are passed down to the Pit Lab Mix. They are not known to bark and will alert you when there is anything wrong, making them a great guard dog or watch dog. The intelligence level of this mixed breed dog means they are easily trainable and will be top of the class at puppy school. They will also happily learn tricks and engage with their owners! Lifespan The Lab Pit Mix has a relatively long life expectancy and can live, on average, anywhere between 10 and 14 years. These are normally the same health issues that their parent breeds are predisposed to. However, there are two health problems that are seen more frequently, both of which are seen in Labradors. Some dogs show pain and lameness on one or both rear legs, but you may not notice any signs of discomfort in a dog with hip dysplasia. Progressive Retinal Atrophy PRA — this is an eye disorder that eventually causes blindness from the loss of photoreceptors at the back of the eye. Regular vet checkups and keeping an eye on your dog will ensure you can catch any of these issues before they become untreatable. Remember — buy from a reputable breeder and the chances your dog will suffer any health conditions will be greatly reduced. Trusted breeders will do health checks on both parent breeds and will not crossbreed if there is a chance of passing on any issues to offspring. Daily Life While the different traits and characteristics that your Pitbull Lab Mix may inherit from their parent breeds can be somewhat of a mystery, fortunately taking care of these dogs is pretty straight forward. Below we discuss their food and diet, their exercise needs and their grooming needs. As an adult, this should be anywhere between 1, to 2, calories a day, which equates to four cups of kibble a day. You should always check the back of the food packet to see the exact amount you should be feeding them of a particular food based on their weight. When they reach maturity, this should be reduced to 2. As an adult, you should try to feed them three times a day. Always remember to feed your Pitbull Lab Mix nutritious, high-quality dog food. We have included a food that we recommend below. This food is formulated with protein-rich chicken as the first ingredient, ensuring your doggie gets all the nutrients they need to keep their muscles healthy and strong. Designed specially for large dog breeds, this food contains glucosamine and chondroitin to help support joint health and overall mobility of bigger dogs. There are also antioxidants, vitamins and minerals to support immune system health, life stage requirements and a healthy oxidative balance. Exercise A Pitbull Labrador crossbreed is a medium to large breed of dog and therefore has high exercise needs. A dog of this size should be exercising for around minutes a day, so you must make sure you have the time to dedicate to this breed before buying. When the Pitbull cross is a puppy, you should remember the 5 minute rule. Therefore, if your pup is four months old, you should only be exercising them for around 20 minutes. These pups will love to join you on a hike or a run or, like their Labrador parent, they also love to swim. Because of their intelligence, they can also learn different dog sports such as flyball or agility, so this is something to think about. Check locally to see whether your area has any restrictions. You may need to keep your dog on the leash or have them wear a muzzle. Loving and friendly, these pups thrive when they are around people and like to be right in the middle of everything, getting all the attention! They do not do well when left alone and can exhibit destructive behaviors and signs of separation anxiety. Therefore, you must make sure you are not going to be out for hours at a time if you are thinking about bringing one of these dogs into your home. These dogs need to be kept entertained and stimulated mentally, which is why they can be such a good playmate for children. They also get on well with other family pets, so there is no need to worry about their reaction to other dogs and cats. The Pitbull Lab Mix is a very intelligent dog, which means training them is very easy. Training and Socializing We have mentioned above that the Pitbull Labrador crossbreed is a very intelligent dog. This means that training them is easy and is one of the reasons they are recommended as a good first dog. These pups respond best to positive reinforcement training. This includes verbal praise and reward-based training such as treats. Socializing your Pitbull Lab cross is also not difficult. They get on well with children and other animals, so there should be no issue within the family home. You should start socializing them from a young age and introduce them to new sights, sounds, places, smells, people and animals when you are out and about. Grooming Fortunately, your Lab Pitbull Mix will not require a lot grooming. You will need to brush them roughly two to three times a week to ensure that shedding stays at a minimum. Unfortunately, as they have a Labrador parent, they will shed a lot! You will need to invest in a good vacuum cleaner if you want to keep your home fur-free. Bathing your Pitbull Lab is also important, but this can be done as infrequently as times a year. You should also check their ears regularly to spot any signs of infection, and ensure their nails are clipped as needed. We touched on this above but the answer is no. There is a common misconception that all Pitbulls are dangerous, but when trained properly and brought up in a loving and caring environment, Pitbulls are affectionate, loyal dogs and love to be around people. Are Pitbulls illegal? In some areas of the United States, Australia and the UK, Pitbulls and other related dog breeds are under breed-specific laws. These laws prevent residents in those areas from owning these dogs, except from under special circumstances. Pitbulls in these areas are seen as a danger because of their reputation and dog fighting background, even though there is a huge amount of evidence to show that when trained properly Pitbulls make great pets. How much does a Pitbull Lab Mix cost? If this is out of your price range, you can always check your local shelter to see if there is a pup there that needs a loving home! Summary The Pitbull Labrador Mix breed was created to cherrypick the best traits from each parent breed — the temperament of the Labrador and the loyalty of the Pitbull. These loving, friendly dogs make excellent family pups who just love to be around people, both adults and children, and other animals too. While the Pitbull has a reputation for being aggressive, this could not be further from the truth and, when put in the right home, the Pitbull Labrador Mix is a companion for life. What do you think, is one of these dogs right for you? Other Pitbull Related Guides. .Pitbull Lab mix puppies, breeders or adoption? The Pitbull Lab Mix can be a great pet for the right home. In this article we will look at how well suited the Labrabull is to your family, and give you tips for finding the perfect puppy. We will also give you the information you need to properly feed, care for and groom your dog. And explore their behavior traits and training, exercise and socialization requirements. This guide is packed with information and will help you decide whether an adult Lab Pitbull mix will suit your home and lifestyle. Pitbull Lab Mix Origins? Labradors and Pitbulls have been being bred together informally for years, for pet homes and as ranch dogs. But in recent years with the rise of the designer first generation dog mixes, then are gaining more of a following. Labs are one of the most popular breeds in the US. Their ancestors originated in Canada and they were bred there in the 18th century to aid fisherman who needed a trusted and reliable helper dog. On the flip side, this hard-working, rough and tough canine also has a sweet personality. Today Labs are best described as loyal, intelligent, friendly and eager-to-please. Labs can co-exist with various age groups as well as with a cross-section of other animals. They take to training easily and make Labs a popular choice as police dogs, service dogs, and therapy dogs. The Pitbull originated from crossing Bulldogs with Terriers back in the s. Breeds used for fighting, bullbaiting a ratting. Despite their lurid beginnings, the Pitbull is actually an affectionate breed with a fierce loyalty to their owners. Once brought over from the UK to America, Pitbulls were commonly used as farm dogs to protect livestock and herd sheep. They were known for their docile temperament with people and children and were not just working dogs but family pets. Pitbulls are strong, athletic, and courageous dogs, but underneath it all, they are often big softies looking for the same love and attention as any pet. They have expressive eyes, pointed ears and a long fairly straight tail. In other words, given his parentage, your pup can be counted on to be one of the most handsome dogs zipping around the dog park! How Big is the Pitbull Lab mix? The Labrador Pitbull mix is a medium to large, powerful, dog that can reach up to two feet in height and weigh anywhere from 50 to 90 pounds when fully grown. The fur is smooth and shiny, and not difficult to maintain. You can expect the common coat colors to be a solid tan, black, white, yellow, or brown. However, the Pitbull Lab Mix can also come with various colors like the Pitbull; so a brindle is entirely possible! Pitbulls tend to shed on the low to average end of the spectrum. However, a Lab Pitbull Mix could well take after their Labrador parent in the molting department and be more of a heavy shedding dog. Either way they are not a hypoallergenic dog and are not recommended for allergy sufferers. They can also need quite a lot of grooming in the shedding season, despite their short coat. Pitbull Lab Mix Grooming A Pitlab has a silky, short, and dense coat that benefits from brushing to keep it shiny. The Labrador undercoat is not common in this particular mix breed. Due to being a high shedding dog Labs need a good grooming tool for the heavier shedding parts of the year. A weekly brush the rest of the time should be fine. Use a doggie toothbrush and toothpaste to keep his pearly whites clean. And at the same time check for any signs of infection. The Pitbull Lab Mix grooming needs range from low to moderate. The latter was bred in the 19th century to be used in physically punishing ways, such as dogfighting. In America, this tenacious and strong dog was bred with larger canines and was used as a farm dog, who was also called upon to aid in hunting large game. Today, the American Pitbull Terrier retains an alert and protective nature. He is known for his courage, determination, and loyalty, but also comes with a reputation for being a naturally aggressive breed. This is not entirely unfounded. And according to one source on dog bites, in there were 22 Pitbull dog bite fatalities in the US. For the same year, Labradors and their mixes were responsible for 3 deaths. The Pitbull is a banned breed in some countries including the United Kingdom. In regard to this particular mix breed, one source reports that between and , 46 Pitbull Lab Mix attacks had been recorded. Are Pitbull Mixes Aggressive? However, a lot of people believe that this loyal dog has been maligned. Counter-arguments regarding the dangerousness of this breed highlight the fact that until the mids, the Pitbull was not a feared dog. And was actually considered a friendly family pet. This argument identifies the change in attitude as a social construct and media bias rather than any actual increase of aggression in this breed. The unreliability of victim and witness memory and accuracy of identifying dog breeds correctly has also become an area of interest in the Pitbull debate. Some believe that attacking breed is often misidentified when victims report dog bites. It is important to note that it is only the American Pitbull Terrier under scrutiny. Temperaments of other Pitbull breeds, like the American Staffordshire Terrier, have never been called into question. However, we would add a note of caution here. There are plenty of sources now that argue that Pitbulls are less likely to bite than previously thought. Bite Type and Frequency The Pitbull Lab mix is not much more likely to bite than many other popular breeds. However when weighing this up it is important to bear in mind the possible consequences of a bite, should one happen. While no dog bite is pleasant, the American Pitbull has been bred with the physical structure needed to bite hard. With big canine teeth and strong jaws. It holds on. The damage done by their bite has the potential therefore to be far greater than that of a typical dog bite. This is especially relevant in families with small children. This trait could be passed to your Pitbull Lab mix. They will likely be an energetic and loyal dog that loves attention from their owner. If there is more Pitbull temperament in them, your dog will be more reserved and docile. Thorough socialisation will be essential for this pup. If they inherit more Labrador personality they will probably be very social and exuberant. With socialization and good breeding practices, you can have a reasonable expectation that they will get along well with children and possibly other dogs. And will make a good family pet. When it comes to other pets, the Labrador side of your Pitbull Lab Mix has a better chance of getting along with them than the Pitbull does. You should take caution with strangers and other dogs until you know how your animal typically reacts in such situations. Although a pup with a very friendly Pitbull parent, that is well socialized, could be a very friendly and cuddly companion indeed. It is advised to start training young, as early as 8 to 12 weeks old. The longer you wait the more strong-minded your dog will become. With consistent and positive reinforcement training methods, they can be a terrific and well-mannered companion. It should be noted that punishment based training is not recommended as a modern training method and it has the potential to mask problems and cause or exacerbate aggression. Therefore access to things like a yard for self-exercise, fetch with the owner, and space and time to run around is important. Owners should be aware of health issues discussed below such as Hip and Elbow Dysplasia and Exercise Induced Collapse EIC and adjust exercise routines for their dog in consult with a vet. Larger dogs generally have greater issues with hip and elbow dysplasia, and both parent breeds are prone to hip dysplasia. In addition, gastric bloat and hypothyroidism may be potential issues for your pup. You should inquire with your breeder about heart, eye, skin, and ear issues. Purchasing your puppy from a reputable breeder decreases the chances of owning a dog with unexpected, surprising health problems. You should test both parents for health conditions that commonly affect their breed. Like any breed, they have some minor health issues to be aware of, like skin problems and allergies. The Pitbull Lab cross has a similar life expectancy to that of the parent breeds. Labradors are one of the most popular family dogs. They have a friendly and affectionate nature. On the other hand, Pitbulls have had mixed reviews in this department. You probably associate Pitbulls with dog fighting and aggression. Historically, though, they are known for being loyal family dogs that are good with children. This mixed-breed would make a good family pet if bred and socialized properly like any other dog. When visiting a litter, be sure to observe the temperament of the Pitbull parent and socialize your pup early to help increase the chances of a friendly, gentle companion. Unlike Labs, Pitbulls do not get on well with other animals so your pup will do best as the only furry child. Another option would be to get a purebred Lab or another kind of mix. Rescuing a PitLab All too often designer dogs end up relinquished by owners who were ultimately unable to care for their needs. Not all mixed breeds have their own specific rescue. However, breed rescues for the purebred parents often take in related mixes as well. Pitbull Lab Mix Puppies With the increasing popularity of mixed-breed puppies, it is important to find a responsible breeder that follows the recommended guidelines for all health testing. Make sure they provide a clean and loving environment for their dogs. Working with a good breeder is the best way to increase your chances of a healthy and happy Pitlab Mix Puppy. Pet stores and puppy mills have a reputation for producing unhealthy puppies, sometimes with more challenging temperaments. Unethical breeding practices and poor treatment of the parent breeds, especially with the Pitbull parent, will not produce the desirable traits you are hoping for in your new Pitbull Lab Mix Puppy. Labrador Pitbull Mix Breeders It goes without saying, but you should only deal with an ethical, reputable breeder that can ensure your Labrabull was crossbred from parents free of medical issues. A good breeder is happy to provide evidence of clean health checks and to answer all of your questions about the Bullador. Plus, your breeder should be asking you questions to make sure you are equipped to handle this large, energetic breed. If you buy from a breeder, ask about the temperaments of your Pitlab parents. You can also ask to see the bloodlines of both of the parents for any clues. And If possible, ask to see the parent so that you can observe their temperament for yourself. Any sign of aggression in the parents is a red flag. Unfortunately, unethical breeding practices go hand in hand with the increase in demand for designer dog breeds. Do your research and ensure you are choosing a responsible breeder that can provide you with a healthy and happy pup.

What kind of diet do we give our pooches for a healthy weight? What you should never overfeed a dog? You should never ever overfeed your dogs too much carbs as they get stored as fat in the body if they are not used. Unfortunately, carbohydrates are much cheaper an ingredient as compared to the other nutrients like protein. Hence, they are often used by major large dog food manufacturers to make up the weight of dog food whilst keeping the prices of the dog food low. This is the main reason why pets all over the United States are getting obese. And, ironically, this became the driving forces behind the rise of these healthy pet food startups , as their founders seek to provide their own proper and much healthier alternatives. The high fiber content will make your dogs feel content faster and thus eat less. And since fiber does not get stored in the body like carbs do, it can be promising measure to keep your pooch's weight under control. Mathematically, eating less will reduce weight gain. However, it can easily lead to malnourishment if your dog is not given the proper nutrition. We are talking about nutrients beyond the common proteins and carbohydrates. They include omega fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, amino acids and many more! The key here is not to eat less. The key here is to maintain a balanced diet. And what constitutes a balanced diet? That requires a deep understanding and a wide study in the field of pet nutrition to truly determine it; so much that it warrants a university degree. To get the most balanced, holistic and healthiest dog foods , it is often better to leave it to the experts. Have you been scheduling your dog's meal time wrongly? And does it really matter? Scheduling your dog's meal time will tune their stomach to become hungry only at their meal times. Combining this with the right amount of dog food given to them, it will keep your dogs from becoming hungry out of meal hours. In turn, this will maintain their metabolism rate and utilize all the food they consume fully and appropriately. As a bonus, regular meal time will also discourage them from scavenging around the house like little vacuum cleaners as they grow accustomed to the amount of food they are given and to be used for the intervals between meal times. These food brands are not your typical corporate pet food manufacturers. These are pet food startups fueled by the passion from their pet enthusiasts founders who only want the best for all dogs under the sky. Each of them have came up with their own unique formula that will surely satisfy your dogs' taste buds without compromising their health. Click here or the button below to learn more about these bespoke food brands. Underweight and undernourishment is as real an issue as obesity among dogs. Underweight dogs appear thin and frail. And before you know it, they will start to lose all the hair on their coat and look like anything but a dog. These cases created a market of specialized dog food that help your dog to gain weight healthily. Here are 7 of the best dog foods for weight gain that can help your underweight dog get back its glory. Read more by clicking the button below. Like many small dog breeds, Pugs reach their full size faster than medium to large-sized dogs. Pugs reach their adult size around nine months of age but may continue to put on a small amount of muscle until they are a year old. Image Source: Pexels How big should a 6-month-old Pug be? A six-month-old Pug will weigh between 7 and 12 pounds on average and will be close to their full adult height, which is typically around 10 to 13 inches tall. Pugs are highly prone to putting on excess weight and their food intake needs to be monitored closely. Pro Tip: Check out this ultimate pet parent guide with 39 dog care tips on health, puppy-proofing practices, training, winter and summer safety, and more! How much bigger will my Pug get? Pugs reach their full size around nine months of age but may continue filling out until they are a year old. If your Pug is younger than nine months old, they are definitely still growing! If their paws look oversized next to their legs and body, they are likely still growing. This is a classic puppy feature that indicates that more growth is needed. A puppy will rarely grow to be larger than their bigger parent, so this will also give you an idea of their maximum size. What is the size of a full-grown Pug? According to the American Kennel Club Official Pug Standards , you can expect a full-grown Pug to weigh between 14 and 18 pounds and stand 10 to 13 inches tall. A full-grown Pug will appear compact and solid, rather than lean and leggy. If your Pug continues to put on weight past 18 pounds, reach out to your veterinarian to assess whether your Pug is putting on excessive weight. If your Pug weighs more than 18 pounds, consult with your veterinary professional to ensure that they are at their healthiest weight. Pugs are especially prone to heatstroke due to their compromised breathing. Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial to lessening the side effects of brachycephalic syndrome. In severe cases, surgery may be necessary to correct narrow nostrils or elongated soft palettes. Many veterinary treatments and procedures cost thousands of dollars. When surveyed, Only .This is a crucial factor in why pet insurance is so valuable to pet parents. Pet insurance reimburses you a percentage of your out of pocket expenditure for veterinary bills. Not only can pet insurance provide you peace of mind should surgery or treatments be needed, but available wellness plans can significantly reduce the cost of routine veterinary exams or maintenance, like dog teeth cleaning or x-rays. Your veterinarian is your greatest resource in keeping your pup happy and healthy. Continue making healthy lifestyle choices, like daily exercise and a nutritious diet, for your Pug to keep them active and living their best life! Unfortunately, Pugs are prone to a larger number of health issues due to their brachycephalic syndrome and other genetic predispositions. Do you want to find the best pet insurance? Let's analyze your pet's breed, age, and location to find the right coverage and the best savings. Analyze My Pet About Pawlicy Advisor The pet insurance marketplace endorsed by veterinarians, at Pawlicy Advisor we make buying the best pet insurance easier. Initially, they grow rapidly. At this point in their development, puppies are unable to see, hear, or chew on anything. Since they are still developing rapidly, they will spend all of their time nursing from their mother and sleeping. There will be more playing and discovering. Since they will have begun to learn to regulate their bladder, they will soon be able to get up from bed whenever they need to urinate or defecate. Housebreaking may begin as early as 8 weeks, and by 9 weeks, they are ready to start learning basic instructions. This is because your puppy is shedding teeth. To avoid your puppy from developing destructive habits, you should always provide safe, chewable toys within easy reach. Between the ages of 4 and 6, you should keep up with your training. A well-trained puppy will respond to your voice and other basic instructions. The puppy will learn most of its behaviors from you. When they are 6 months old, pugs typically weigh approximately 10 pounds. By 10 months, a Pug should weigh about 17 pounds, giving or taking a few ounces since some dogs are larger or smaller than average. You may expect your dog to be done teething now. Adult The eventual weight of your adult pug will be heavily influenced by his or her gender, the level of activity he is exposed to, and the quality of food he is fed. The average adult pug weighs between 16 and 20 pounds. How Big Do Pugs Get? Pugs achieve their full adult size during the ninth month, however they may continue to gain weight until the first year. In contrast to the rest of their body or limbs, an abnormally large head and paws indicates that the dog is still developing. You can now take your dog to a lab and get a DNA test to learn its family tree. Pug Growth Chart Adult male pugs usually reach a height of 10 to 12 inches at the withers and a weight of 16 to 20 pounds. Female pugs are often smaller than their male counterparts, with an approximate height of 10 inches and bodyweight of 14 to 16 lbs. One further thing to keep in mind is that pugs, like many other little dog breeds, tend to be on the smaller side. When your Pug is standing tall, measure from the maximum height between its shoulders withers. Measure from the floor up to the withers. Pugs often range in size from 10—14 inches in height. The surgical process known as spaying is performed on female dogs, during which their eggs and womb are removed. Neutering, on the other hand, is performed on male dogs, during which their testicles are removed. Your Pug should be spayed or neutered around he age of 4 — 7 months, depending on which option you choose. There are a number of advantages to spaying your Pug, including the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, a lower chance of developing cancers of the uterus, ovaries, and breasts, and improved overall health. On the other side, sterilization eliminates the possibility of offspring being produced and lowers the danger of prostate illness and testicular cancer. Additionally, it lessens the occurrence of aggressive behaviors and problems associated with marking territory. French Bulldog vs Pug Size Male French bulldogs normally weigh around 16 — 28 pounds and reach 11 to 12 inches in height at the shoulder, making them bigger than pugs. Female Frenchies often weigh 16 to 24 lbs and stand between ten and eleven inches tall. Pugs are indeed a smaller breed, with males standing 10 to 12 inches height at the withers and weighing 16 to 20 pounds. Female pugs are somewhat smaller, standing 10 inches tall and weighing 14 — 16 pounds on average. It is crucial to note, however, that size varies greatly inside every breed and may be impacted by a range of variables including food, activity, and heredity. Pugs, like people, may benefit from regular exercise yet still gain weight. Your dog will naturally be on the tinier side if he was the runt of litter. Not all pugs will be affected by these diseases. There is a noticeable size difference between male and female pugs, with the latter often being the smaller of the two sexes. Nutrition The food you provide your dog has a major impact on how much it weighs. Dogs have dietary preferences, and not all dog diets are created equal. In addition, your dog should be fed more often, but with careful attention to both the quality and amount of food it receives. All dog food should start with meat as the primary component. How well and how healthy your pug grows depends on the food he eats. Pugs may not be the most active of dogs, but they still need enough playtime and exercise to be in excellent shape. The more active they are, the less probable it is that they will gain weight. To maintain normal growth and development, pug puppies require the optimum quantity of food. Pug pups should eat high-quality small-breed puppy chow. Small breeds require greater protein and calorie diets to sustain their quick development. Growing pug puppies should have a waist and ribs that can be touched but not seen. Feeding your skinny dog more may help. However, overweight puppies may require less food. Divide the appropriate daily food into smaller portions and give your puppy several times a day. This prevents bloating and obesity in petite breeds like pugs. To keep your pug healthy, weigh them regularly every month. Underweight or overweight pugs may have health issues. Body condition is a simple method to tell whether your pug is overweight or underweight. Healthy pugs have a waist and ribs that can be touched but not seen. Use a bodily condition score sheet to assess your pug. These charts show a healthy pug and might help you determine whether yours is overweight or underweight. You may also ask your vet if your pug is a healthy weight. They may assess your condition and advise on weight management. You may use the pug growth chart as a reference to help you determine whether or not your pug is on the appropriate development curve, but you should keep in mind that the chart is just a recommendation. Talk to the doctor about any concerns you have about your pug. You can assist your pug in achieving a healthy weight if it is either overweight or underweight. If your pug seems to be underweight, you should either give them extra food or switch to a diet that has more calories. Reduce the amount of food your pug is eating and try to persuade them to do more physical exercise. Always seek the advice of your trusted veterinarian in order to choose the best course of therapy for your pug. Every six months is the recommended interval between weighing your Pug, according to the conventional guideline. This applies to both puppies and mature dogs. If your Pug suffers from any medical concerns, you need to weigh them more frequently because some diseases might cause fluctuations in weight. In order to weigh your Pug while you are at home, you will need a bathroom scale. First, while you are holding your Pug, walk on the scale, and make a note of the number. The second step is to do a self-weigh without carrying your Pug. In the end, you may determine the difference by subtracting the first weight from the second weight. This is how much weight your Pug has. Pug Genetics And Common Health Problems Pugs are not immune to the possibility of developing hereditary diseases; this is true of all dog breeds. A few examples are as follows: Dry eye, corneal ulcers, and proptosis in which the eyeball is positioned too far forward in the socket are all potential complications for their eyes. Medications exist to alleviate the discomfort caused by ulcers and dry eye. Your dog has to visit the doctor ASAP since proptosis may lead to blindness. Only pugs are susceptible to encephalitis, a fatal brain illness. Circling, seizures, and even blindness are all symptoms. Legg-Perthes disease is a joint disorder characterized by a decrease in femoral blood flow and subsequent disintegration of the femur. This may sometimes be helped by surgery. This disease, known as hemi-vertebrae, is more common in pugs with short noses. Final Words Because pugs are a small breed of dog, it is probable that they would have a longer lifespan than you would find with a bigger breed of dog. This is something that you might see with larger breeds. The average lifespan of a pug is 13 years, but it may vary anywhere from 13 to 15 years depending on how healthy the dog is and whether or not he has any health concerns that might shorten his life. Overall, pugs have the potential to live a happy and long life provided that their weight is managed appropriately. When they are between Between one and seven yeas old, they are regarded as being at the height of their potential; beyond that, they are categorized as senior dogs. Peter My name is Peter and I am a dog lover. I have two German Shepherd dogs, one of which is called Biscuit because his coat is very light with brown patches. My wife and I moved from the UK to Ohio where we now live with our two daughters. We love squash on weekends and following the English Premier League closely! Previous Article. They most frequently come in black and fawn, but there are other Pug colors , as well. Pugs, who were originally designed to be lap dogs, enjoy being around people. These puppies are playful, affectionate dogs who will get along with even inexperienced pet parents, despite having a stubborn side, especially when it comes to housetraining. Pugs were first domesticated in China during the Han era B. According to some historians, they are descended from the Tibetan Mastiffs. The Chinese Emperors treasured them, and they lived in lavish homes, occasionally even with troops on duty to protect them. Pugs were brought to the United States just after the Civil War, and the American Kennel Club officially recognized them as a breed in .Pugs were initially quite well-liked, but by the turn of the century, sentiment had changed. But even in those small bodies, a lot of stuff can be happening. Pugs go through a lot of physical and mental changes during the first year of their life. Their development is pretty rapid and they can sometimes reach full adult size at just nine months of age. But what exactly happens in those months? And how do Pug puppies behave in certain periods? Puppies will be toothless, blind, and deaf at this age, but they will have a sense of taste and touch. Thanks to a lifestyle consisting of exclusively nursing and napping, they will develop and grow swiftly. Your pug puppies should perk up and start to interact more by the time they are three weeks old. They should be able to get out of bed and go potty on their own, since they will start to have some control over their bladder. By the time they are eight weeks old, they can start some proper house training , and by nine weeks, they can start learning basic commands. When it comes to their size, they should already weigh around six pounds by this point. This indicates that your puppy will be losing teeth as well. A 6-month-old pug will closely resemble a full-grown adult in its physique, but the development process is not yet quite over. It should already weigh close to 18 pounds, but keep in mind that some dogs are slightly bigger or smaller than others. By now, your puppy should have finished teething. To help maintain your puppy as healthy as possible, you must keep him active and stimulated. From Nine Months To One Year Most Pugs are fully physically formed and close to their full adult weight by the time they are nine months old. However, some of them can still continue to add a little bit of weight past this mark. Offer plenty of opportunity for exercise, because Pugs like being active, and due to their unique physical build, they need to stay as slim as possible. The eventual weight of an adult pug will be strongly influenced by his gender, the quantity of exercise it gets, and the kind of food it consumes. Nevertheless, the weight of an adult pug can range from 14 to over 18 pounds. Being little dogs, even a few pounds make a difference. There is a basic average range associated with the breed, but not every Pug will end up being the same height and weight. Furthermore, the weight chart that we provided is mostly referential for standard-size Pugs and not taking into account the special case of teacup Pugs. This is due to the fact that it is hard to anticipate the growth of the puppies to within an inch or pound because there are so many diverse elements that in the end determine their development. In other instances, it may even enable you to identify early signs of anomalies or health problems. We can roughly divide those factors into two distinct categories: internal and external. Internal Factors Internal factors that impact the growth of a Pug are those that are embedded within the dog as soon as, or even before, it is born. This is what nature has given the pup, and there is nothing you can do to change or influence it. However, knowing these details and the effect they have on puppy development can help you prepare and anticipate certain things. The two biggest internal elements that shape the growth of a Pug are its genetic makeup and its gender. Genetics The height and tendency to gain weight of your pug can be influenced by genetics. Pugs could exercise frequently, just like people, yet still, gain weight. Your dog will naturally be smaller if he is the runt of the litter. Male pugs stand between ten and thirteen inches tall and weigh between 14 and 18 pounds, while females are slightly smaller, with their average height being twelve inches, and the average weight between 13 and 16 pounds. As you might have guessed, the two biggest external factors in determining the growth of a Pug are nutrition and exercise. There are a lot of different dog foods out there, and some of them contain fillers or additives that are actually unhealthy for Pugs to consume. Your dog has to be fed multiple times per day, but be mindful of the type and the amount of food. Pugs may not be the most active dogs, but they still need enough walks, play and exercise to stay healthy. They are probably lighter as they move more. Their general health will improve, which is crucial for growing puppies. In order to be healthy, your puppy also has to receive vaccinations and be fed consistently. Pug Health Problems Numerous health problems can affect pugs, and a lot of them are the result of their brachycephalic conformations. They share those issues with some other breeds who have a similar head and body shape, for example, the Bulldogs. Fortunately, your veterinarian can help you manage many of their potential health issues. Some of them can even be detected early on by using DNA tests. But since this is an article about Pug growth, we want to focus on health issues that are related to weight, in particular. Overweight Pugs Pugs have a tendency to put on excess weight. They are opportunistic eaters who munch on everything that comes their way and this increases their propensity for obesity. Pugs could also get overweight if their diet is not controlled, if the food is of low quality, or if they are not active enough. If your Pug is healthy, you can help it lose weight by taking the following actions: — Cut back on the serving sizes. The most frequent causes of being underweight in Pugs are various parasites, diabetes and other medical conditions , teeth problems, as well as a poor diet. There are a few at-home remedies you might try after your veterinarian has ruled out an underlying illness. You should start by switching to high-quality dog food. Pugs can be picky eaters, but high-quality dog food from a premium brand should work. After that, you have to make sure to give them smaller meals, but more frequently. Before feeding your pug again, give it some time to digest the last meal. To speed up the process, you might add some nutritious weight-gain snacks to these meals. Finally, make sure to give your pug a thorough workout. Although it may seem contradictory, exercise will aid in the development of muscles and boost hunger. Just be careful not to overwork it because that would be counterproductive. Its weight is perhaps the most important one, but there are others, as well. For example, you might want to know its neck and chest circumference in order to buy the best possible harness. In the following section, we will explain how to perform some of the most common measurements on your Pug. After that, you should weigh it once every six months. You should weigh your Pug more frequently if they have any medical issues because some illnesses can result in weight shifts. To weigh your Pug at home, you will need a bathroom scale. If your dog is calm and disciplined enough, you can just put it on the scale and note the reading. Simply step on the scale yourself, while carrying your Pug, then note the reading. Next, weigh yourself without the Pug by your side. Just keep in mind to measure a dog from the paws to the withers, not to the head. The procedure is as follows: 1. Position your Pug directly against a wall or doorframe. Locate the withers of your Pug. Calculate how far the pencil mark is from the floor. Pugs typically have necks that range in size from 12 to 16 inches on average. Two scales — either 1 to 5 or 1 to 9 — can be used to get the BCS. This implies that while your Pug has a thin layer of fat covering its entire body, its ribs can easily be felt with the fingertips and its waistline and stomach tuck are both visible to the eye. You need to be able to predict their height and weight correctly so that you are able to account for this. Not to mention all the other factors that need your focus, including your diet, degree of exercise, training, etc. Knowing how big and heavy your Pug should be at a certain age will help you plan its diet, living space, as well as your budget. Pug Growth FAQ This Pug growth chart will undoubtedly be a helpful resource for you if you already own a Pug or are simply considering getting one. Furthermore, some of the other details we have supplied will give you a fair indication of what to anticipate from a Pug puppy at different stages of development. So, we made the decision to group them all together in a straightforward, understandable, and user-friendly FAQ area. When Do Pugs Stop Growing? Pugs grow to their full size more quickly than medium or large-sized dogs, like many small dog breeds. Around nine months of age, pugs reach their adult size, though they may continue to gain a tiny bit of muscle until they are a year old. How Big Do Pugs Get? Pugs, although having a sturdy exteriors, belong to the toy category of dogs. They weigh between 14 and 18 pounds, and their height varies from 10 to 13 inches. They are stocky, square dogs with thick limbs. Owing to their mastiff ancestry, pugs are the most robust of the toy breed. There are several myths about how neutering or spaying a dog before it reaches adolescence may cause them to grow less quickly. The truth is that early spaying and neutering of Pugs has both many advantages and many risks. According to some research, castrating and spaying dogs can extend their lives and perhaps prevent later-life issues. Male castration lowers the risk of testicular and prostate cancer. Veterinarians normally advise having your Pug spayed or neutered between the ages of four and nine months, though advice varies. Although there is no percent surefire solution, it is frequently advised that you have your male Pug neutered after he has reached adolescence. This is believed to offer long-term health advantages in addition to preventing behavioral traits like aggressiveness and marking. There is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for when to spay female Pugs. Some experts advise spaying before the first heat cycle as early as five months , but others contend that doing so may raise the risk of mammary tumors. Some Pugs exceed that, in fact, there have been Pugs that lived to be 20 years old. However, the vast majority will be around the lower end of that expectancy. Pugs are toy dogs who are tiny even when they are fully adult, so you can probably imagine how minuscule they are when they first arrive in the world. Typically, a newborn Pug will weigh between 0. Final Thoughts The Pug growth chart is a really helpful tool to have if you own one of these little dogs. You can decide what accessories, food, and care are needed for the dog by knowing its size. Your chances of successfully resolving health issues will increase if you find them early on. Punk and Star Photo courtesy of The Kuney's If you have had your Pug for a while, it may be hard to believe that your 12 year old dog is the equivalent age of 59 human years; however this is a guideline that refers to the breakdown of the body's ability to fend off disease, level of exercise a dog is able to handle and so forth. An owner can have a Pug in this teens that still loves to run around the park! Let's look at the milestones that a Pug will enter from birth until the senior years. Birth to 8 Weeks - Many owners do not see this stage, however newborn Pug puppies double and triple their weight very quickly. Newborns will sleep up to 22 hours per day. Those at the 8 week mark will sleep up to .Growth is going to be rapid. It will last several months. Females will have their first heat if not spayed. Males will have viable sperm. Though technically a female can become pregnant at this young age, breeding is recommended at the age of 1 year old or older. Males should be at least 9 months old. Some Pug puppies will stop growing by the age of 9 months. For others, just a few pounds will be gained from now until the 12 month mark. By the time, full height is usually reached. The adult Pug will fill out in width, most noticeable in the chest area. The dog is muscular and will not grow any larger. Extra weight gain at this point may be deemed unhealthy. Pugs that gain a significant amount of weight after the age of 18 months should be checked out by the veterinarian. The Pug dog is muscular and in his or her prime. Most vets will classify a dog as a senior by age 7 or 8. Even if this is not officially done, 9 years would be the limit that one could hold off on dubbing the Pug a senior. Pug Weight and Growth Chart This chart will give you a guideline for what to expect in how fast your Pug grows and how quickly he will gain weight. An 8 week old Pug puppy will weight between 2 and 4 pounds. Though the AKC breed standard gives us a final full size of pounds 5. It's a funny thing because the changes happen gradually and owners usually do not notice.And then, one day it reaches a certain point and the owner will say, "When did my dog get old!? Your dog may show a bit of difficulty when rising from a down position. He or she may walk slower up a staircase. A quality canine mattress is recommended for any age, however during the senior years an orthopedic canine bed is more important than ever. Expect an older Pug dog to take more naps and retreat more often due to a lower tolerance for noise levels. When your dog reaches the age of 8 or 9, it will be time to give a bit more attention to certain grooming techniques. Skin looses its elasticity and cleaning wrinkles will be more important than ever. An older Pug will be more susceptible to infections. Take extra time to clean the folds and keep them dry. Your Pug's veterinarian should be performing more thorough tests, especially for sugar levels. Eye exams are very important, as well. Just as with humans, an older Pug may be more susceptible to developing diabetes, arthritis , have problems with joints and their bones may be more brittle. The pounds that they have been carrying around and the body structure that they have short legs especially have been taking its toll. At this age, excess weight be a problem. It is recommended to make a gradual change in the diet, to ensure that meals have a higher count of nutrients specifically for aging pets. If you previously gave no-so-healthy snacks, make an effort to change over to a solid, healthy meal and snack plan. It will be time to make a change in regard to a vitamin and mineral supplement, switching to a senior formula. Additional supplements can be helpful depending on a Pug's specific needs. Most often, this breed does best with supplements to aid in joint health. Omega 3 can help to keep the skin and coat healthy and combat drying issues. The intensity of exercise should be scaled back a bit for seniors ; though daily duration of activity should remain as normal if the older Pug can handle it. It is still important go for walks so that a dog's heart stays healthy; movement is very necessary. However, once your Pug dog is a senior, you do not want to overdo activities as an older heart will not be able to handle what a younger heart was able to. It is during this time that you want to make the household as quite and peaceful as possible. Unless you absolutely must, do not move your furniture or make any changes that could cause stress or confusion. Creatures of habit, dogs know where things are and it can be disturbing if the environment is changed. The ability to hold elimination may weaken as bladder and bowel muscle loose some strength. At this time, you may want to start using doggie diapers. As odd as they may look, this will help your Pug and your home stay sanitary. If your senior does have accidents, never scold or punish. This is a normal process of aging. A loving owner, will of course, want to spend every moment that is left by showing compassion and care. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.

How to accept discipline and more besides So taking a puppy any earlier is wrong and detrimental to their development. We follow many of the guidelines set forth by a program called Puppy Culture. Know that once you have your puppy, everything you do, everything they see, every good experience, bad experience, taste, smell, sight, reward and punishment trains them in some way. All of these experiences are granted to them by you and they will be looking to you for guidance through these experiences. Puppies are exactly like children. They take their cues from you to learn where they can go, where they should not, what they should be scared of, what they should not, what they can play with, what they can not…and on and on. You may as well take advantage of this innocence, when they have no idea of what life is with no preconceived ideas, no habits formed or needing to be broken, to start training them to fit into the life that they will lead with the skills that they will need. I believe you should start to train your Labrador puppy as soon as you get them home, from 8 weeks of age. But I stress this important point, to make it fun! You have to think of a puppy as a very young child. A puppy is just as impulsive, has just as little self-control and just as short an attention span. You need to think the same with a puppy. They are just like a child. A puppy will eat what they like, when they like. Go where they can, when they can. And they will not be able to listen to and act on your every word. They will have a very short attention span and no self-control. It would be totally unfair. While watching TV train your puppy during the commercial breaks. Commercial breaks are usually about minutes long perfect time for training your pup! This means going very slowly and not expecting too much. Having many small wins is very encouraging. Just do very gentle training exercises for short periods of time. Most people with a Labrador as a family pet will think of training as obedience commands and performing tricks. But you can train them basic things such as: Sit Stay for mere seconds…with no distractions! Keep it easy! Roll over. Commencing Marker Training your chocolate labrador pup Start Marker Training at 8 weeks of age When you take your 8 week old labrador pup to their new home, you should commence their obedience training immediately. Just repetitively say yes and give your pup a treat immediately. Then familiarise your labrador pup with a leash. Clip the leash to their collar and allow the pup to roam a little. This way they will adjust to its weight and the sensation around their neck. If you try to walk your pup straight away, they will simply resist. Don't pull and command, but rather cultivate a positive experience with a leash. Secondly, I recommend that you feed your new labrador pup with a leash attached until they learn to sit. This will establish you as the master and immediately teach the pup restraint. Do not give the food bowl to your dog without firstly bringing him under your control. Even with my mature dogs, I will not let them feed except on command. Feeding should never be random. Hold the leash close to the labrador pup's neck and push their rear end down to the seated position. When they are sitting, enthusiastically praise your pup and, only then, reward their obedience with food. Remember, food should always represent a reward for good behaviour. They hear tones and frequencies. When we train them, we are conditioning them to associate a particular sound with a response so that it means something to them. Labrador puppies like all dogs learn contextually and by consistent repetition. In this way, a labrador pup learns to associate sounds with responses and rewards. This is why you should reward your pup immediately when they have performed a command correctly, even if they did not intend to do so. In the early stages, I prefer to teach a dog to 'sit,' then move on to 'staying' before teaching them to 'come'. This is especially so while they are still a puppy. Remember that a 12 month old dog is still a pup. They are regularly hyperactive and overstimulated. The goal is to get your labrador puppy into a calm and submissive state as often as you can. Ensure you are demonstrating a calm and composed, yet assertive demeanor. When you are in charge, your labrador pup will willingly sit and look to you for direction. Exercise patience and be repetitive but don't overdo it. Remember that the time you put in now will help you bond with your young dog, even if they do not appear to be advancing quickly. It will be a very worthwhile investment in a long term relationship for years to come. Of these three basic commands, the 'stay' command will take more time to teach. When this is mastered and entrenched in your dog's obedience, it can save your dog from danger. You are teaching them associations, not English words. Sit Teaching your new labrador pup to sit should begin immediately when you take it home. Begin by feeding them on a leash. Hold the leash close to the pup's neck. Give the pup the 'sit' command, but don't reward them with food until they are sitting. In this way you have begun to condition the pup to the 'sit' command. This requires patience at meal time. Remember that a labrador pup requires 4 feeds a day for the first phase of their life. This gives you ample opportunity for repetition and reward. When the dog sits, reward them with a treat and a lot of enthusiastic praise. Each time they repeat the behaviour, reward them with a treat again. You can train your labrador pup for short intervals at any time. Carry a few small pieces of food. Call your pup, then reward them with lots of affirmation and a piece of food when they comply. Teach them to sit by offering a small treat. Say 'sit', then let them smell the food as you move your hand over their head. A labrador pup will automatically lift the nose in the air to follow the food. As the head moves up and back, the pup will tend to sit. Give lots of praise and gradually increase repetition as they associate the word 'sit' with the food. Stay Your Labrador pup will need to understand the 'sit' command before you advance to 'stay'. Before you give the 'stay' command, make sure that the dog is seated. To keep the dog in the sitting position, you will use your hand with the fingers pointing up and the palm in front of their face. To begin with, position yourself about half a metre away from your pup's face. Direct the 'stay' command calmly, with your hand up. Slowly take half a step back and remain there for 3 seconds to begin with. Then step back towards to the dog. Wait for another 3 sec and then reward your dog with a treat. Repeat this 5 times. Reward them at the end of each 'stay' routine by praising them enthusiastically and giving them a treat. Don't praise or reward the dog until they have remained seated in front of you for a minimum of 3 seconds when you return. Your puppy should not move a millimetre until you give the reward. If your dog breaks early, you have gone too far. Simply return to your dog, reset them in the seated position and begin the routine again. Come It is important to make sure your Labrador understands the 'stay' command before you begin the recall or 'come' command. Make sure you pup is seated before you give the 'come' command. As your walk away from your pup, maintain eye contact. Don't back away too far too soon. If the pup breaks early, give the 'come' command to establish association. When you call your dog to 'come', do not let them jump up on you. If the dog wants to stand on its back legs and reach up, place the palm of your hand on their head and hold it away from you. I suggest that you don't say 'no! The down command should be used as a more constructive training command. If your pup jumps up, make your disapproval known by using a 'dog' sound; 'Ahhh! If you find yourself becoming frustrated, then put the pup away and start again tomorrow. Don't take it personally and don't blame the dog. Corrections are necessary, but not out of frustration or anger. If it's not working, then look at your consistency and your communication. If the training is a positive experience then you will strengthen the bonding and learning process. Develop consistent communication and trust with your dog in the process of the training. Labrador pups love to please and they will be very proud of themselves when they accomplish the command and gain your approval. Pawling Chocolate and Black Labradors. You should take your puppy outdoors and let him exercise his socialization potential at a young age. Visiting friends and family is one way to go about it. You can also spot a dog park and carry him there. Remember that your pet is still learning to follow directions and walk with you. You cannot expect him to cover long distances. The best way to avoid this is to take them far enough from the house and ensure they have a positive outside experience. It is worth noting that you should do this as often as you can, preferably daily. Start Potty Training It would be best to start potty training your Lab puppy the first day you bring him home. Start by showing your pup where you want him to potty, such as a sectioned-off area of your yard or garden. A good idea is to cordon off a small area and add some bark chippings. Next, you need a potty training schedule such as first thing in the morning, after mealtimes and play, and hourly for young pups. Many owners use dog crates to help with house training. I have a step-by-step guide on Labrador puppy crate training where you can learn tons more. Discourage Biting If you follow my blog, you know I am against punishment-oriented training. If you train your dog young enough to avoid harsh bites, you will not need punishment-driven discipline strategies. In any case, using physical force or yelling at your pup will only instill fear and distrust and can cause aggression in your dog. You can also check out my article, How to Discipline a Labrador , for greater insight into this topic. Instead, you can wait until your Labrador bites during a positive activity and then discontinue it. It will anchor the consequence better. Follow up using positive reinforcement by rewarding the correct behavior with a treat. Your Labrador will quickly learn that displaying good behavior reaps nice things. Puppies need to learn their bite inhibition soft-mouth by continuing the excellent work their mother and siblings taught them. Learn Bite Inhibition Training! Instill Patience You must use your best judgment when training your dog to be patient. Generally speaking, your Labrador will be mature enough to learn self-control by the tenth week. You can use a clicker or a whistle to teach your puppy to assume the natural heel position. Chances are, at first, your Labrador will try to change his pace to be behind you because of the force of habit. Walking in areas familiar to your dog will eliminate this problem. While you previously trained him to assume a heel position, you can also teach him these techniques. You may notice that your puppy can tell your words apart by the thirteenth week. So by the time he is four months old, you can use the position cues and positive reinforcement to get your dog to follow. These included whistling, clapping, or saying a specific word to indicate that your Labrador is doing a good job, typically followed by a well-deserved treat. Now is the time to see whether the anchors work! Where you previously whistled when your Lab ran towards you, now you must whistle, so he begins his run. This is the start of his Labrador recall training. Teaching good recall is an ongoing process. My dog was around 12 months old before seeing a noticeable improvement in her recall. Please avoid forcing the dog, as that only introduces confusion. Build Comfort With Crowds — Work on Socialization You have trained your Labrador to acknowledge close friends and family in the past few weeks. While this enables the puppy to be more social when you have visitors, a grown dog must learn to walk outdoors without acting out. This transition must be gradual, and try to keep experiences positive. Whether it is a cuddle, a pat, attention, or something tasty, you must teach your pup target training , for example, to touch a target with a specific part of his body. Remember that your Lab may end up biting or clawing to communicate if you do not teach him more acceptable communication methods. Here, I recommend teaching your Labrador to touch your hand with his nose. Ultimately, this is an excellent replacement for bites! Hand targeting is fun to teach, helps your pup build trust, and gets him using his brain! You have laid a strong foundation of discipline and positive reinforcement, making it easier to train your dog to follow more complex commands. In these weeks, you will introduce him to assuming different positions, obeying your commands as he moves away from you, and reacting to more nuanced anchors. Remember, 4-month-old Labrador puppies have a short attention span, so avoid long training sessions. Teach the Sit and Stay Teaching your Lab to sit and stay is a useful command for him to learn. Train Your Dog to Fetch If you have taken your Labrador to public parks and he has seen other dogs play fetch, it will be easier to teach him to retrieve whatever you throw. Your Labrador may not bring the toy back to you for a second round, but he will soon get the idea of retrieving it. You can gradually turn it into a game of fetch over the next few weeks and reward your doggo with high-value training treats. Continue Potty Training In the fourth month of Labrador training, you will continue potty training with a degree of independence. Continue with a good schedule and sync your walks with his natural cycle to align with the times he needs to go. You can use it to control your Labrador and later to test his ability to execute a command off-leash. A harness is also a good idea and is used for outdoor training and walks. Many owners will opt for a rear-attaching harness. Related: Harness vs. Collar for Lab Puppy: Which is Best? How to Train a 5-Month-Old Lab Puppy A five-month-old Labrador puppy is ready to be tested for his general obedience and the ability to deal with distractions, whether other dogs, people, or other animals such as squirrels or birds. Earlier, I mentioned that you could not expect an eight-week-old puppy to delay gratification. Your puppy can deal with distractions at five months old if you introduce them slowly. You must be prepared for your dog to run ahead of you now! However, suppose you have developed a solid relationship with your pup and worked on his training. In that case, he will stay within a reasonable distance, remaining by your side and showing loyalty. Once your Lab puppy has reached his 6-month milestone, it also marks the point where you introduce him to advanced obedience training. The good news is that all the training you have previously given will make it easier for your dog to follow your lead. Conclude Potty Training Your dog has had months to learn how to communicate his need to go potty. He has also likely refined the patience to hold it instead of relieving himself on the floor. Therefore, you can communicate your disappointment with your body language if your dog makes a mess. Avoid physical punishment and even verbal chastising as it impacts your dog negatively. All dogs can still have the odd accident up to 12 months old. Moreover, you must be prepared for your dog to relieve himself indoors if he is excited or frightened, known as either excitement or submissive urination. Increase Exercise Now that your Lab puppy is six months old, you can increase his exercise to thirty minutes twice daily. Energy levels, especially for larger breed dogs, escalate during this time. While the average exercise for a pup before this is generally five minutes of exercise per month of age, twice a day, a six-month-old Labrador can be out for one hour if you split his walks into thirty minutes a day. To train your 6-month-old Lab puppy, start with two commands with the most practical use. From six months onwards, until your Labrador is a well-trained adult, you can teach the following commands or tricks in any order. How to Train a 7-Month-Old Labrador As your Lab progresses to seven months old, a lot of the previous training needs to be kept consistent as you gradually teach him to comprehend more commands. Maybe there is a trespasser, and you want your dog to scare them away. You will need to continue training your dog to hold things or release them on command, but you can also proceed to add distance and even more background distractions. Ironically, you need to teach him to bark on command before learning to be silent on cue. Over this month, he will learn to associate the respective commands with barking and silence. This is quite tricky, but your Lab will eventually get there if you practice and stay consistent. The eighth month is ideal for training your Lab to go to different places upon hearing the command word. Either way, do not overload him with place commands, and stick to no more than two per month. Or you can use the ninth month to teach a cool party trick! After a week, you can remove the treat and teach your Lab to follow your finger. Of course, you will still need to reward him after he follows the command. By the third week, you can cue your doggo to spin and see if he does so without your finger guiding him in a circular motion. It might take an extra week or two, but I recommend this as an addition in the ninth month because it allows you to continue training your pet to learn previous commands better. You can teach him to go to different places, hold or release objects, and fetch toys. You can now progress this further and teach him to roll over on command. Your 1-year-old Labrador only learns to comprehend more at the same pace as he has since the 6-month mark. You should also audit previously taught commands and see any weak associations you can reinforce. How to Train an Month-Old Labrador You will not have to alter your training regimen dramatically if you have trained your Labrador properly from eight weeks onward. If anything, this is the period where you customize his training to your convenience. Now is when your dog must learn to be compatible with your life. From the month mark onwards, you must train your dog to be harmonious with modern adult life within reason. It is sad to see dog owners having to give away their pets because of behavior issues. Such things are avoidable if you train your dog correctly and sufficiently exercise him. It would be best if you simply established authority by having a positive yet commanding presence. Once your dog acknowledges your authority and sees you as a guide, you can merely treat him as a six-month-old, albeit on an accelerated schedule, and train him accordingly. Your job becomes even easier once you have a workable training schedule and stick to your routine. This month-by-month Labrador puppy training schedule will help you successfully train your doggo and turn him into the beloved companion you always desired. Good luck with your training! Related Posts You May Like:. What is the best age to start training a Lab puppy to work? This guide will answer all of your questions regarding when to start training a Lab puppy. It will combine my personal experience with that of other experts in the field, along with information from behavioral research, to guide you with your decision of when to start training a Labrador puppy of your own. Congratulations on your fluffy new bundle of joy. Labs gained their well-deserved place among favorite breeds for so many reasons. Enthusiastic companions, fast learners, loyal and brave, Labrador Retrievers are fantastic pets. How Puppies Learn In the natural canine world, mother dogs teach their pups everything they need to know about their world, survival and living together happily in various stages of development. Most professional trainers try to mimic the natural canine learning process in their puppy training phases. In fact, we only recommend positive training techniques. Rewards can include food, special treats, praise and petting, playing with a favorite toy, etc. Basic Training Concepts Every Puppy Should Learn The first two components of your puppy training should be thorough socialization and potty training. Here are a few tips with each of those early behaviors. Socialization actually refers to exposure to a wide range of situations and individuals. This goes for being around lots of different people, including children. While your pup is still impressionable and inquisitive, introduce her to friends, neighbors and strangers. Introduce her to children with careful instructions to stay quiet, move slowly and pet gently. They could end up grabbing her tightly, and scaring or hurting her. Being handled by other people will be very key in socializing your puppy. Your dog should be properly socialized to gentle and careful handling, teeth brushing, touching ears and paws and tail. This will make trips to the vet and groomer easier. Make sure to also check out our guide to taking puppies outside for more help with socialization. Crate Training for Dogs Crate training is the process of teaching your dog to love spending time secure in their cosy den. Some puppies basically crate train themselves, loving their crate from day one. Others need a more gradual introduction to this safe space. The trick is to not turn crating into a punishment , but instead make it a wonderful place to have a short undisturbed rest. Most puppies will go through a play biting phase, so if you need help training your lab not to nip, you can follow this guide. It will be important for your dog to sit quietly in the field or duck stand. Self-control should be incorporated throughout daily routines and all training phases. Finally, learning how to walk politely on a leash in public is important. In addition to the behaviors listed above, there are a few extra considerations for training a gundog. As early as 8 weeks old, professional gundog trainers begin introducing lab puppies to various scenarios. The core behavioral requirements for a gundog that can be started in puppies this young are: Thorough socialization and desensitization to various environments and sounds. Be sure to start with quieter sounds and build to louder sounds, especially when introducing the sound of gunfire, to avoid creating a frantic dog. Calmness and steadiness amidst distraction. The earliest introduction to this is teaching your pup to sit for his meals, which can be captured as early as six weeks. There are, however, two important considerations to your Lab puppy training. Before their leg bones are fully developed, Labs can develop joint issues if they run too hard and long. Second, resist the urge to play fetch and retrieve every day with your Lab puppy. They overdo it with tossing a ball or dummy to try to encourage the pup to retrieve. The retrieving instinct typically kicks in quite strong around puberty between five to 10 months. Instead, we suggest focusing on sit, stay and waiting quietly with self control. Those are the more difficult behaviors for a lab to learn once adolescent hormones kick in. Start with socialization and household manners as early as 8 weeks old. Then move to sit, stay, steadiness training, and walking on a leash between 12 and 18 weeks. Training is an ongoing life skill, rather than something you do once and consider done. For a hunting Lab, adding various distractions and practicing perfect recall in different environments will be the two biggest training techniques to work on throughout life. Enjoy your training! If you are following my training of Bubba, you know that training a 3—4-month-old puppy is a big challenge. By the time your puppy reaches the 5-month age, they have generally started to mature some, not a lot and are usually a bit more receptive to training. Here is the training you can work on with your 5-month-old Lab puppy. Regarding this series of posts This is post nine of a step-by-step training and socialization program for Labrador puppies. If you read our first post , you know that this series follows our training of Bubba, a female chocolate lab puppy. Bubba is already sold as one of our Custom Trained Retrievers, so it is our responsibility to raise and train her until she has progressed to the level of training the owner has requested. In this case, Bubba will be with us for almost a year and a half. Bubba Bubba has turned the corner from puppy to adolescent. She now understands the training schedule and looks forward to being trained twice a day. I know this because when Bubba comes out of the dog trailer, she is watching me and bouncing in anticipation of being trained. She has learned that if she does her obedience work, she gets to retrieve. So, she is willing to do the work to get the reward. This simple shift has made working with Bubba so much more enjoyable. Now is when I get to really see her start to improve, and I find that so rewarding. Training and socialization for five-month-old Labrador puppy Here are the things we have been working on and will continue to work on with Bubba in month five. Increased self-control and restraint This goes hand-in-hand with obedience. I must continue to increase my expectations of Bubba and put her in more and more situations where she must make the decision to obey. At this age, I can see the conflict going on in her mind. I call her with a HERE command, but she wants to run after the cat. She looks at me, so I know she heard me and then she looks at the cat. At this point, she will more often than not choose to obey the HERE command and come to me. This is huge. It shows some maturity and an increase in knowledge and understanding of right and wrong behavior. Dog trainers live for times like these. It means the dog is growing and learning and making good choices. This drill is very simple. Why is this important? Well, most people have problems with their dog coming to them consistently. The reason is most often because each time the dog comes the dog gets put away in the house, or in a crate. Or they get something taken away from them like a toy or a stick. It allows your dog to learn that coming to you is a good thing and not a bad thing. Obedience training your 5-month-old puppy We continue to work on obedience daily with Bubba and will for at least the next months. After that, we will still do obedience training at least twice a week. You are never done obedience training. Your dog may get very good at obedience work, but if you do not work on it for a few weeks or longer, it will start to deteriorate. For now, we simply use a chain collar and heeling stick, but not too far down the line we will start collar conditioning her for corrections by the electronic collar. In fact, technically, we are already collar conditioning Bubba since each time we take her out to train we put an e-collar on her. It is a small puppy sized collar and it is not turned on, but she wears it each time she gets trained. So, when I pull out the e-collar, Bubba gets very excited because she knows she is going to get trained. This is the response we are looking for. Some dogs get very excited when the owner grabs the leash, because they know that they are going for a walk. This is the same reaction we are looking for from putting on an electronic collar. The dog should not act differently when the e-collar is on. If your dog cowers or fights you when you want to put the e-collar on, then you have introduced the collar incorrectly and your dog now thinks that the e-collar is a bad thing. This means that your dog is collar wise and will act completely different when the e-collar is on. This is a huge problem because it is very likely your dog will be obedient when the collar is on and disobedient when the collar is off. That is not what we want to achieve. We want your dog to be obedient with or without the e-collar on. Micro-obedience sessions At this young age, we often do what I call micro-obedience sessions. These are obedience training sessions, but they are only around minutes long. These are very effective for puppies because they have a very short attention span. You just must pick one obedience command to focus on for each micro-session, preferably only one drill. It is better to do micro-sessions a day than to try and pack too much into each session. She is not perfect, she is still a puppy and therefore makes a lot of mistakes, but she understands the HEEL command and I can walk in squares or a figure 8 and she is following my legs for the turns. I will continue to work on longer and longer walks with Bubba at heel throughout the month. Learn more about How to obedience train a Labrador puppy. Bubba is a chocolate Lab, and as I have said in the past, chocolates tend to mature slower than black or yellow Labs. Because of this, Bubba really struggled with a remote SIT for a long time. She could not seem to stop her little butt from moving! However, we have made progress and she is now sitting still, and I can walk away from her to a distance of around six feet while she remains seated. Again, she makes mistakes. She is a puppy, and we must give her some grace, but we still correct the mistakes and continue to work on improvement. The distance can be anywhere from 3 feet to 6 feet. Later, this will be very important since this is the position to which I expect all my dogs to deliver the birds. She will end facing the same direction I am facing, sitting next to me. This is a vital drill that we do with every dog that goes through one of our programs. It teaches the dog to deliver the bird to a HEEL position. By starting this with Bubba at this young age, she will learn quickly what the HEEL position is and soon I will be able to say HEEL and put my left hand out from my side slightly and she will come into that position. I did use treats for a short time, which again, I am not a fan of for many reasons. HERE is a vital command and so we will work on it daily. And for those of you who are wondering, yes, manually does mean chasing her puppy butt down, putting on a lead and pulling her towards me with the HERE command all the way back to where I was when I issued the command. It is so important that you never, and I mean NEVER, give a dog a command that you are not willing to enforce in one way or another. For your dog to learn that commands are meant to be obeyed, they must understand that any refusal of the command will be backed up with a correction. The correction may only be a sharp NO, or it may be more serious like a lead correction. Retrieving with your 5-month-old Lab puppy In my last post, I talked about how important it is for you to NOT retrieve with a teething-puppy. Bubba has most of her adult teeth in already, we are just waiting on a few, but she is showing us she is more than ready to retrieve again. So, we have begun hand thrown marks again and she is going out like gangbusters and delivering the bumpers right to my hand. If I notice any problems with her carrying the bumpers or if she starts dropping them a lot, I will stop again until the teeth are more solid. If Bubba seems to be in pain at all during retrieving, we will stop immediately. We never want her to associate retrieving with pain. Bubba already understands the retrieving game when it comes to assistant thrown marks too. She sits with me or Steve at the line and faces the gunners throwers in the field. She sits tall and proud; she knows what the gunners are out there for, and she is ready to do the work. It is so fun to watch these puppies figure out the game and what their job is. It is time to start a new retrieving drill with Bubba. The drill is designed to get a dog to mark throws that are further and further away. It gets them to run out a longer distance to a mark and not even notice the change in distance. It is done by starting with a 20—yard mark, generally on shorter grass where the bumper can be seen on the ground. Have the thrower throw the bumper and send the dog using their name. After the dog picks up the bumper and is running back to you, take a few large steps backward. Take delivery of the bumper and line your dog up for another mark. The mark will be in the same place, but that location is now several yards deeper since you have backed up. Have the thrower throw another bumper and again send your dog. After the dog picks up the bumper and is running back to you, again back up several yards. Repeat until your dog is retrieving at longer distances. This drill works well for dogs that have a very strong retrieving desire. For dogs with less desire, you will need to move much slower, only doing marks total in a session. Remember, you never want to burn out your dog with retrieves. Always leave them wanting more! Final thoughts on training for your 5-month-old Labrador puppy If you have been following these posts, you are getting very close to moving your dog into hunting training. We take dogs for our hunting programs right after their adult teeth are in, so generally at months of age. If you are struggling or need additional help with your new puppy, you can email me ottertailkennels gmail. I would be happy to discuss your goals for your retriever and tell you about the programs I offer. Until next time, happy retrieving. Training your 5-month-old Labrador puppy. And yet, many new owners get so caught up in the cuteness of these bundles of fur that they disregard any training until the dog is much older. Sometimes new owners are just overwhelmed with taking care of their new puppy. Others lack the information needed to make good decisions regarding training for their new family member. Unfortunately, though, some bad behaviors or missed socialization and exposure opportunities are difficult to address with an older dog. So, if your goal is for you new retriever to eventually grow into an excellent duck dog, here is a guide to raising your Lab puppy to be a duck or gun dog. Picking up the puppy The journey with your new retriever pup starts the day you pick him or her up from the breeder. Hopefully you have done your homework and selected a litter of puppies with parents who have proven trainability. If you have a pick from the litter, you will want to take some time to observe the puppies. Even so, most trainers will tell you that picking a puppy is a complete crapshoot, meaning there really is no way to know how good the dog will be while looking at them as a puppy. Genetics and a proven pedigree are the best way to stack the odds in your favor from the start. Beyond that, if you have a good breeder, they are the next best source for information regarding the pups. A good breeder will give you a recommendation based on what you plan to use the pup for and your family situation. Check out this post on searching for a great retriever puppy and what to look for in breeders. If possible, bring someone with you to pick up the puppy. While you can put a puppy in a crate to transport them home, leaving the litter is a traumatic time for most puppies. Being held on the way home is a good way to start bonding with the puppy. Learn what to buy for your new Lab puppy. The products I recommend I believe are a good value or good investment for anyone working to train or maintain training on their retriever. When possible, I include links to the product. Some of these links may be Amazon or other affiliate links in which I am paid a small commission at no cost to you. All opinions and recommendations are my own. The first week raising your Labrador Retriever puppy There is very little training needed the first week you have your puppy home. Use this time to hold, pet and play with your new puppy. Bonding with the puppy is important and this is a good time to do that. You will likely be exhausted this week from getting up multiple times each night to let your puppy outside. Learn more in What should I do the first week with my new Lab puppy? Socialization is key for retriever gun dog puppies While socialization is important for all dogs, it is essential for retriever puppies destined to hunt. Socialization is the act of putting your retriever puppy in new situations and allowing the puppy to figure it out. Your puppy may handle new situations well, or she might show timid or frightened behaviors. This is not the time to coddle your future gun dog. Dogs are very aware of their owners and if you act or acknowledge your puppies fear, they will likely think you are scared too. This is the opposite of what we are trying to achieve with socialization. We want puppies to learn to adjust quickly to new situations. We want them to learn how to figure out new conditions and handle them without fear or hesitation. Puppies need to be socialized to people also. Let your puppy interact with people of all ages, including children. In addition, it can be helpful if they are also socialized to other dogs and cats. And yet we see too many retrievers with little to no retrieving desire. Sometimes this is just the result of bad breeding, but it can also be the result of poor introduction to retrieving or using the wrong items for retrieving. Many people like to play fetch with their puppy using a ball or Frisbee. But if your puppy is destined to be a hunting partner, this is going to make some retrieving problems down the line. We may use a ball to encourage a very young week old puppy to retrieve, IF, and only IF, the puppy is struggling with retrieving desire. Otherwise, we strongly discourage ongoing use of these items. Gun dogs and duck dogs are working dogs and they need to retrieve birds that fall to the ground. The rolling action of the ball or frisbee will create an excitement and energy that will make retrieving birds seem boring. We have found that dogs that have only retrieved balls or Frisbee often struggle when they need to retrieve a bumper or bird. We have an entire post on this subject, see How can I teach my retriever puppy to fetch? Expose your Labrador puppy to common hunting elements A retriever that is going to be expected to hunt, should be introduced to hunting equipment and elements at an early age. Hills and mounds, flat areas and shallow divots are terrain that a hunting retriever should learn to traverse with ease. In addition to land, different water is also an important factor. Lakes are good, but you should also try to expose your puppy to dirty water. Water with lily pads, cat tails and algae are all things a duck dog will need to handle to work. Hunting equipment Labrador retriever puppies need to learn all about the equipment you use when hunting. Doing this when they are young and continuing the exposure as they grow, will make this second nature to them. Boats and blinds If you hunt out of a boat or blind, introduce your puppy to it. For boats, start on land. Get your puppy comfortable getting in and out of the boat. Throw retrieves from the boat. Similarly, introduce your dog to the blind as a good thing. If you are using a dog blind or hut, make sure your spend lots of time getting your pup comfortable going into and out of it. Make it a fun place to go to get retrieves. Duck or goose decoys If you will use decoys when hunting, take time to expose your puppy to them. Many times over the next few months, put some out on your lawn and let your puppy learn what they are. Eventually, move them to water and again allow your pup to explore them. Throw retrieves through them and teach the dog that he can ignore the decoys. Guns This is one of the most important things that you need to exposure your new puppy to. And it really needs to be done right. The last thing you want to do is create a gun-shy dog. That is very difficult to fix and the dog may never be able to hunt if the damage is too deep. Learn more about how to do this correctly in Introduction to gunfire. Basic obedience for your gun dog puppy Your puppy is ready to learn obedience early on, and you will find that if you start when they are only a couple months old, they will learn quicker and be more obedient as they age. This will make a huge difference as they get older. Teaching HERE to young pups will require a long lead. Squat down a few feet from your puppy and say HERE as you gently pull them to you. Praise is essential with young pups, but the praise should be given when the puppy does something right. For instance, you say SIT and push his bottom down. You can use treats to teach your puppy obedience and reward him or her for obeying commands. But treats should only be used for very young puppies under 4 months. Many Labs will soon learn to only obey when given a treat, that is not the lesson you want your dog to learn. It can be difficult to discipline a cute little puppy, but it is essential. Here at Otter Tail Kennels, we get more than our share of calls from people whose puppies are out of control and causing problems in the home. The pups are causing friction in the family relationships. Small issues often become much larger issues if they remain uncorrected. If you see your puppy doing something wrong, you need to take action to let him know that the behavior is not acceptable. Final thoughts on raising a lab puppy to be a duck or gun dog The time to start training your Labrador puppy to be a duck or gun dog is now. Right away. Even if you plan to send your retriever puppy to a professional trainer in the future, you still want to take the time to socialize, expose, teach and discipline your dog now. Each week your puppy is growing and learning, and those first five months are the perfect time to get him or her off on the right foot. The socialization, exposure, and obedience are all steppingstones they need to advance in their role as a hunting partner. Do not skimp or disregard this time. You can give your ultimate duck dog some essential skills — the ability to adjust to every and all situations with ease. Nothing could be more important. You can email me ottertailkennels gmail. I would be happy to discuss your goals for your retriever and tell you about the programs I offer. Until next time happy retrieving. Raising a lab puppy to be a duck or gun dog.