I want a Puppy!
 

My husband and I are ready to welcome a new family member as it has been 4 years since we lost our dearly loved English Setter who had lived with us for 15 years. I'd love to have another setter, but DH wants a British Labrador Retriever - basically a lab that is stockier than typical labs. We'd prefer a yellow lab. Anyone out there raise this breed? Or know of someone who does? Respond here or by PM, please. We offer 20 acres in the woods of Vermont, a warm house and warmer hearts. Oh, and the Vet is only 5 miles away!

There are lots of shelter dogs that need homes. Just a suggestion

I'm on dog #6 and all but one have been rescue dogs

I'm with ya, dolphyngyhrl - but he's being a bit of a snob right now and wants what he wants - I bet in the long run we end up taking in a rescue dog. But I told him I would try!

If you can get him to go look at the dogs in area shelters there'll be one that both of you will fall in love with. When you think about it, the only real reason to go to the expense of a purebred is if you plan to breed or show, anything other than that is just an "I want" which is ok too, but all that money you save could be spent on fabric.:thumbup:

You'll find the shorter-on-leg and stockier built Labradors from AKC breeders that show their dogs as that is the proper type of Labrador. The Labrador Club of America changed the standard of the breed about 10 years ago or so to a Lab that more closely resembles the Lab's in England.

My first suggestion would be to go to the AKC website and use the show directory. Once there, you can look for upcoming shows in VT (and a neighboring state if your willing to travel). Once you have a show in mind, make sure they have Lab's entered, and find out the show times. Travel to that show and meet the dogs and their owners.

Dog show etiquette: Don't touch dogs without first asking, always make sure your hands are clean before touching, if you visit the owners in their grooming areas it's best to just introduce yourself - tell them you'll watch the show and return when their ring time is over - prior to showing exhibitors are busy getting their dogs ready but at least they know that someone will be waiting when they are done, it's OK to bring treats for the dogs but always ask before you feed any of them.

a good suggestion, IMHO. If you want a specific breed, there are rescue groups for every breed.

I just read yesterday that a lot of shelters are so overcrowded that they even have to euthanize pure bred animals....Why don't you go to your local animal shelter and ask to be put on a list so that if a lab of your choice is brought in you can hopefully give it a loving home. I had a neighbor who's daughter had her heart set on a black persian and made a request at her local shelter and in time one was brought in and she was able to give it a home......Good Luck your heart is in the right place.

A lot of shelter dogs are someone else's screw ups. Like not training them to potty outside, etc. Makes training them harder. Ask me how I know. My avatar dog came from a shelter. Get the breed you want and get a puppy and you both will be much happier. After having pure bred dogs, I can sure tell a difference. Spaying and neutering would keep the shelters unneeded. I spay/neuter all my pets as soon as they are old enough.

There's nothing like having a furbaby to love ( and to love you back ) when the kids are all grown up and gone.

New puppy (chorky) in January, I wasn't this busy when I had new babies...gee whiz, shes clingy too which is hard to deal with at times but I do love her to death, even down on knees scrubbing floor LOL

I had always gone to a breeder for my Saints... Then I read an article about the number of dogs being abandoned becasue of the housing crisis. Many owner once a home has been foreclosed have no choice but to give up a loved family pet. Some less are actually abandoning them in the home, leaving them for the first entrant to find and hopefully care for.
After the loss of one of my Saints I was so torn... I wanted to pick my puppy and have the whole experience from puppy on up.... But the thought of one magnificent dog being put down ... all because I wanted a 6 month puppy experience , just seemed so self centered. I ended up with a rescue . Every day I wake up to that beautiful fuzzy face sitting patiently beside my bed ..just waiting for the first morning "go outside" ... and I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
Please do consider a rescue/adoption.

Labs are great -- and yellow ones show up in pictures, thus all the ads done with them -- all puppies are wonderful!!

We have a black English lab and he is super! He was 3 when we got him so didn't have a puppy to start with but he could not be more devoted and serve as a member of the family. He is about 20 pounds bigger than our American lab was
and hairier as well. I don't ask much of him as he is very well behaved...stay off my quilts is one rule but in return when I put my shoes on, it's "take a walk" time so he has his rules too. He is registered but I bought him off Craig's List from someone who couldn't take care of him so he's pretty close to a rescue dog.

Check the shelters first. Right now the bigger dogs like labs are being abandoned due to size and cost of feeding them. All of our rescue mixed breeds have had not one health problem from any of them. Our lab and other pure breed, nothing but health issues.

There are even rescue groups for the breeds of dogs you mentioned.

We went through this exact scenario last year. We lost our old and sweet yellow lab Toby and wanted a pup. Getting a shelter or rescue dog is wonderful, but we are in our 60s and knew this would probably be our last dog. My husband wanted an 8 week old that we could train from the start. It was a long process. Yellow labs are really popular. We live in the Northwest. I started online trying to find a breeder through state Labrador Retriever groups. There was nothing here in Montana so I started looking in a larger area and ended up using a Nortwest Retriever group that listed breeders in the Seattle and greater Washington area. I did a lot of research on each potential breeder because I was terrified of getting involved with a puppy mill. To make a long story short it took over a year for us to find a breeder that we liked who was breeding a litter at the time we could take a dog (my husband was still teaching then and we wanted a dog in the late spring or summer so that he could work with her during summer break). We wanted a pup that was raised in a home and was well socialized. The breeder we worked with sent us pictures every week after the litter was born; she was great. We went to get our pup Scout when she was 9 weeks old. She's just over a year now and is a joy. It had been 12 years since we had a puppy and this time we were smart: did crate training, took her to puppy classes and manners classes. Shortly after we got Scout we got a Corgi puppy - but that's a whole other story. Good luck with your search!

I would have your DH go to the hunting store (store that sells hunting equipment) and ask who has the best hunting dogs around. Then I would check with the vet and ask the same question. Sometimes it is not the breed so much as what they want then to do.
Sometimes the best hunting dogs end up having Heintz 57 puppies that hunt. My husband found that out.

You fur babies are just beautiful. I'm a cat person but I love labs and corgis.

There are lots of purebread dogs in the shelters that would love to go home with you. Just a suggestion that you might try there first. My friend is a rescuer..She has 23 dogs at this time. She works very hard to find them homes and the ones that don't find homes she keeps until they die. Her motto is........Saving one dog will not make a difference but it will make a world of difference to that one dog........Good luck with your search..

We just bought a black lab puppy to serve as my husbands companion---hubby has alzheimers'. Our puppy is Maverick and he is 8 weeks old and has already become the center of our household. My hubby absolutely adores him and is the most animated I have seen him in a long time. We found him through an ad in our local paper, also try Craigslist. Good luck------and plan on losing lots of sleep with a puppy----but, oh so worth it!!!!!!!!

Rescue or a shelter might be a good resource for you all .. LOVE my rescue dog, she is the delight of our eyes !! Right now she is in the bedroom snoring right next to her Da (He works nights as a truck driver!),so she crawls up there with him -after DH turns on the heating blanket which she dearly loves to sleep on !LOL (Nah..she's not spoiled or anything!LOL)

This is always my first thought too. And since there are a lot of purebreds in the shelters you never know you may find exactly what you want.

Research, research, research and be prepared to fall in love with that wonderful face that says take me home!! As per the lovely in my avatar, Peaches, when we were looking for a Boxer, LOL. I love the smushy face dogs!!!!

That is really a misconception especially now with the economy. I have had nothing but shelter dogs and none have I had any problems with and their health seems to be so much better than a lot of purebreds that I know. If you go through a breed rescue or a rescue that fosters most times when you get a dog it is housebroken and trained .
Not sure if this link will work but this is a foster working with a dog for a rescue I use to volunteer with. We always trained our dogs.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/246672357608/

go to petfinder.com, type in the breed you want and the area to where you are willing to travel. They offer rescues only. I recently located a chocolate lab purebreed from them. Sadly, he was the "stud" on a puppy mill and had been kept in a crate for likely all of his 6 years. When he arrived to teh rescue org. who saved him, his nails on all four feet were so long they grew over his paws and into the skin. He had ear infections too. Then, we discovered he also has epilepsy. Now, he is a wonderful, healthy, happy boy who loves us as much as we love him. There is no way I would go for a purebred puppy anymore unless I wanted to get into showing dogs. I don't! And, he is the third dog I rescued, all purebred labs. There is no other way to go IMHO. The dogs will show you more love than you ever knew existed, they want you to be as happy with them as they are with you. Give it a shot.

I don't know any breeder with those breeds but do know of a breeder who has some wonderful Borzoi pups available and she's in VT.

I agree. When I was ready to get another dachshund, I looked around and found a local doxie rescue group. Chip is a 3-year old purebred doxie. It's amazing how many purebreds are in shelters these days.

Worth checking out anyway. And a lot of them can help transport a dog if you find one that's not nearby.

I'm sorry you feel this way. In today's economy, so many pets are given up because their owners have lost everything and felt the animal was better off in a shelter. My rescue doxie wasn't placed there. It is believed he got loose from his yard and got lost, ending up at the shelter. Then, ultimately placed at a doxie rescue group. The vet was surprised how healthy he is. The group spayed him, microchiped and took excellent care of him. He's a wonderful dog. So, please give rescues a chance. I did and very pleased with my new buddy.

I volunteer to walk dogs at our local SPCA, and they are so grateful for the attention! So many have been given up because families have moved, can't afford to keep it ,or it was lost with no ID. Can you image how that dog's heart is breaking for a family that is no longer there? Please check your local chapter! I'm sure you can find a lab that will win your heart! Like someone said, you can tell them what you're looking for and they can call you when they get a dog you want. But I bet you'll fall in love with another one at the shelter before that happens! Good luck!

You should get the dog that you and your husband want. Remember the dog will be with you for a long time, and you want to be happy with it. Believe me, my husband didn't like our first dog however he is in love with this new dog and things are much better around here, on ALL fronts!

there are several lab rescue groups in the northeast. Google them and you will be surprised at what you find! Puppies as well as older dogs. I am adopting next weekend from Pawsafe and donate to LABS4rescue in Killingsworth. Also L.A.B.rescurconnecticut. Petfinders is another source.
Please thing about it

Yes, there certainly rescue groups specific to a breed. My Annie is a rescued Australian Cattle Dog, a Red Heeler. She is my second ACD, the first one, Swirley was a lost soul from Oklahoma tornadoes years ago. Poor Annie was rescued from a Dallas/Ft. Worth puppy mill where she whelped at least 10 litters in her 6 years. She was found tied to a 55 gallon drum in a grassless field where the dogs were sent after they had their litters. She required 80 stitches because the other dogs would fight with her due to her being tied up. After the mange was treated and she survived a heat stroke the day they rescued her and the other 507 dogs, she was fostered until she came to my house. ACDs are called velcro dogs because they are so loyal, but Annie also has double-sided sticky tape! LOL She is now a princess at our house and hopefully will live many years with us. I know I'm pushing rescued dogs, but they are so grateful and wonderful. Good luck on your search for the perfect dog for your family.

we lost our lab about a yr ago. since we wanted a dog that was older and "housebroken', we got one from an individual. the little chiwa was 3, and and suppose to have been housebroke. HA, HA. SHE was as sweet as pie. just ate up the loving. i luved her to pieces, but after 3 months of hands on 24 hrs a day, i just gave up trying to housebreak her. took her to an adoption shelter for a younger, smarter moma. good luck. any other seniors had any luck with getting rescue dogs, and getting them into the house, and housebroken?

I've had both purebreds and rescues. They all come with their own quirks! The rescue dogs are forever thankful that you took them in. Nothing like the smell of puppy breath though :) and popcorn puppy feet. I just love my furkids!!!!!

While there is something to be said for getting a rescue dog, you have to be very careful dealing with some rescue organizations. We were burned royally with one of our local rescues. It was very hurtful and painful. We ended up going to "the local pound" (it was called with disdain by that rescue) and found the perfect dog for our family. And we don't have to worry that the rescue will decide that we aren't good enough for their dog and come take her away for some perceived infraction of the rules. It did take some patience and lots of love to get her trained to potty outside, and she does have separation anxiety, but we love her to pieces. And now after a year and a half she knows that she will stay with us forever. :o

That's exactly what I was going to suggest. Stockier labs, if that's what you want, ARE available

We adopted our golden retriever from Homeward Bound. He was three years old and is the love of our life. With the downturn of the economy, some families have lost their homes and have had to give up their dogs. My sister volunteers at Homeward Bound on the weekends. She has adopted two. We also adopted a 2 year old kitty from Fieldhaven Feline Rescue. A possibility might be to foster a dog. They often have that option at the shelters. This way you can try out a breed and see how it works for you. With so many dogs and cats in shelters, I hope you will consider this option. We love our Murphy and he came potty trained and is an indoor dog that has never chewed our furniture or other objects. I will say he does love his own stuffed animals, but he knows what is his. Love him and will always adopt.

Such a good suggestion!

We had our last litter about 8 years ago. Right now I have a black who will be 14 in June and a white who is 9 1/2. I will be looking for another light lab when Nali girl dies. Fortunately since I used to breed, I know where to look for a new pup when I am ready. Labs are the greatest dogs!!!!!