labrador puppy training and feeding

[Oldgun]

We have a 14 week old black Lab puppy which we now have sitting,coming to call and retrieving (when he feels like it)At the moment we are feeding him

Lovejoys puppy food but we feel that this may be a little rich for him.Considering changing to Harringtons just wondered if anyone had used it and if so what was there opinion.

At what age would you start to train seriously to the gun,i am told that there is a gun dog training school in Stalham North Norfolk which is not far from me,does anyone

now anything about it?.He is now outgrowing his cage 60/43/51H so if anyone has one slightly longer and wider they wish to sell i would be interested.

lastly this may not be the correct platform,but i have an Aqualisa gravity shower pump with bits that was working perfectly well when removed during bathroom renovation

(wife's decision) please collect Cromer area.

ATB Oldgun

 

[sam triple]

Try skinners puppy food or any other puppy designed food try tester bags if possible to see which he’s best suited to , 

training is a can of worms everyone has their own idea , but just carry on with the basics until he come back to call or whistle do t rush him , get him used to normal everyday noises such as traffic etc before introducing loads bangs 

[steve_b_wales]

My Cockapoo was weaned off milk and fed John Burns puppy Chicken & rice, and we continued with this. She's now on the same but the adult one (seems to be almost the same) and she's thriving on it. No upset stomach etc.

[Dave at kelton]

Two separate points.

Yes Harrington’s is great and mine are put on this irrespective of what the breeder used but mix it in slowly with current food.

Training to the gun is an emotive point. Mine do not hear gunshot proper until around 12 months old and the ears are fully developed. This is later than most but I take a cautious approach to this as I have a pack of dogs and plenty of time. I never start with blanks or dummy launcher as they produce a crack that some dogs do not like. Always a shotgun at distance and reduce if no adverse reaction. Usually starting in the car park of a clay ground just feeding treats on the tailgate and work in from there.

Nor do i use starter pistol  and dummy launcher early on. I don’t want the association of shot with retrieve as I want rock steady dogs.

Just take your time it’s not a race.

Good luck

Edited August 17, 2022 by Dave at kelton
Typo

[moondoggy]

Sell the Aqualisa on eBay, I got over £100 for mine.

Edited August 17, 2022 by moondoggy

[welsh1]

4 hours ago, Oldgun said:

We have a 14 week old black Lab puppy which we now have sitting,coming to call and retrieving (when he feels like it)At the moment we are feeding him

Lovejoys puppy food but we feel that this may be a little rich for him.Considering changing to Harringtons just wondered if anyone had used it and if so what was there opinion.

At what age would you start to train seriously to the gun,i am told that there is a gun dog training school in Stalham North Norfolk which is not far from me,does anyone

now anything about it?.He is now outgrowing his cage 60/43/51H so if anyone has one slightly longer and wider they wish to sell i would be interested.

lastly this may not be the correct platform,but i have an Aqualisa gravity shower pump with bits that was working perfectly well when removed during bathroom renovation

(wife's decision) please collect Cromer area.

ATB Oldgun

 

Please place the green part in the wanted section, and the red in the for sale section and include a price.

[worrall26]

On 17/08/2022 at 17:54, Dave at kelton said:

Two separate points.

Yes Harrington’s is great and mine are put on this irrespective of what the breeder used but mix it in slowly with current food.

Training to the gun is an emotive point. Mine do not hear gunshot proper until around 12 months old and the ears are fully developed. This is later than most but I take a cautious approach to this as I have a pack of dogs and plenty of time. I never start with blanks or dummy launcher as they produce a crack that some dogs do not like. Always a shotgun at distance and reduce if no adverse reaction. Usually starting in the car park of a clay ground just feeding treats on the tailgate and work in from there.

Nor do i use starter pistol  and dummy launcher early on. I don’t want the association of shot with retrieve as I want rock steady dogs.

Just take your time it’s not a race.

Good luck

Excellent advice. 

[Oldgun]

On 17/08/2022 at 17:54, Dave at kelton said:

Two separate points.

Yes Harrington’s is great and mine are put on this irrespective of what the breeder used but mix it in slowly with current food.

Training to the gun is an emotive point. Mine do not hear gunshot proper until around 12 months old and the ears are fully developed. This is later than most but I take a cautious approach to this as I have a pack of dogs and plenty of time. I never start with blanks or dummy launcher as they produce a crack that some dogs do not like. Always a shotgun at distance and reduce if no adverse reaction. Usually starting in the car park of a clay ground just feeding treats on the tailgate and work in from there.

Nor do i use starter pistol  and dummy launcher early on. I don’t want the association of shot with retrieve as I want rock steady dogs.

Just take your time it’s not a race.

Good luck

Thanks Dave,

Just one thing bothers me he sometimes goes berserk tucks his back end in and runs round the garden like his life depends on it,absolutely manic.

If i can see this coming on i hold him and gently calm him down,is this a common trait in puppies getting over excited or does it need looking in to?

We live on the coast so we take him to the beach for a bit of training and exercise but he is very unsure of even a gently lapping sea and backs off,

is there an easy way to introduce him to water? don't want to rush him because i think that he is going to be a cracking dog.

Thanks again

Oldgun

[Spr1985]

What you described sounds like the “zoomies”  normally occurs when the dog in question is burning off excess energy due to not enough exercise or to much food/ the right amount but wrong type of food causing high energy levels (that is not an accusation) just things I’ve picked up over time owning dogs. 
 

example that I’ve heard previously is feeding a pet lab working dog food when it doesn’t work. The working dog obviously requires more energy and working dog food has that higher calorie count, feeding it to essentially a lap dog gives them to much energy and they need to burn it off somehow. 
 

quite happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable if I’m wrong 👍🏻

[JohnfromUK]

18 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

if I’m wrong

I suspect you are not wrong ........... but having said that. all my Labs (2 previous) have done "zoomies" to some extent.  May well be that they have had a bit too much energy from food or lack of burning it off, though I have not consciously made that connection.  I have always assumed it is natural and healthy - a form of play.  The view these days is that exercise for dogs under 1 year old should be limited as the growing frame can be damaged by excess exercise.  There are some guidelines here  https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/

My own pup (now 7 months) gets 2 or 3 walks a day (in total about 2 hours a day, but at a human walking pace) and when playing with other dogs, the session is restricted if she either begins to get 'over excited' or is clearly overdoing things.  My vet suggested that human pace walking, especially on a grass surface is pretty safe, whereas too much tearing about, 'athletics' especially on hard surfaces are perhaps less safe.   Vague I know, but it all seems a bit of an unknown.

As to water, mine hasn't yet 'gone in', but has paddled and I will just let her do her own thing at present.  In due course she will see other dogs going in and swimming - and I suspect she will just naturally join in.  That's the plan anyway!  Our river (my local water) has been low and is probably rather polluted at present, so I'm not encouraging further progress yet.

[Oldgun]

Thanks gents very informative will look into the feeding and exercise regime.we are in the process of changing his food from Lovejoys

which we suspected was to rich for him to Harringtons which is also less expensive but not the reason for the change.Just returned from a walk down the lane

quite slow as he was getting new scents and kept stopping,so about  45mins and 1mile total at a big 4 months old and showing no sign of tiredness hope that is about right.

Thanks once again,what what we do without Pigeon Watch?

ATB

[Dave at kelton]

8 hours ago, Oldgun said:

Thanks Dave,

Just one thing bothers me he sometimes goes berserk tucks his back end in and runs round the garden like his life depends on it,absolutely manic.

If i can see this coming on i hold him and gently calm him down,is this a common trait in puppies getting over excited or does it need looking in to?

We live on the coast so we take him to the beach for a bit of training and exercise but he is very unsure of even a gently lapping sea and backs off,

is there an easy way to introduce him to water? don't want to rush him because i think that he is going to be a cracking dog.

Thanks again

Oldgun

As said by others it’s Zoomies. Don’t do anything just let it get it out of its system and wait until it comes back to you. They nearly all do it.

Introduction to water is interesting and varies by dog, see my post about it in June. Some pups just go for it, others I have had to get my waders on, get in and coax, reassure etc. if you can a good way is to get a really bold water loving older dog they get on with and put them in and they will invariably follow.

Retrieving from water for the first time I get another dog to do a few retrieves so the pup gets really excited then give it a turn where the water shallows slowly and just up to their chests. If that goes well I gradually move to deeper water until they are swimming. My current pup in my last video just can’t get enough of it.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[Oldgun]

On 25/08/2022 at 19:29, Dave at kelton said:

As said by others it’s Zoomies. Don’t do anything just let it get it out of its system and wait until it comes back to you. They nearly all do it.

Introduction to water is interesting and varies by dog, see my post about it in June. Some pups just go for it, others I have had to get my waders on, get in and coax, reassure etc. if you can a good way is to get a really bold water loving older dog they get on with and put them in and they will invariably follow.

Retrieving from water for the first time I get another dog to do a few retrieves so the pup gets really excited then give it a turn where the water shallows slowly and just up to their chests. If that goes well I gradually move to deeper water until they are swimming. My current pup in my last video just can’t get enough of it.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Thanks Dave,we will get there he is coming on very well.

ATB Oldgun

[Penelope]

On 25/08/2022 at 10:52, Oldgun said:

Thanks Dave,

Just one thing bothers me he sometimes goes berserk tucks his back end in and runs round the garden like his life depends on it,absolutely manic.

If i can see this coming on i hold him and gently calm him down,is this a common trait in puppies getting over excited or does it need looking in to?

We live on the coast so we take him to the beach for a bit of training and exercise but he is very unsure of even a gently lapping sea and backs off,

is there an easy way to introduce him to water? don't want to rush him because i think that he is going to be a cracking dog.

Thanks again

Oldgun

My bitch still does that at 7 1/2.

 

Take your time and do not rush him.

Good Advice from Dave.

[Oldgun]

On 01/09/2022 at 16:12, Penelope said:

My bitch still does that at 7 1/2.

 

Take your time and do not rush him.

Good Advice from Dave.

Thanks Penelope

Reassuring to hear from someone with the same experience.

ATB Oldgun