Financial cost of getting a Labrador Puppy

johnson293

Just giving this thread a bump, as I've been having a read through.

We are getting our first Labrador puppy on Friday this week, having visited and picked him yesterday.

He's an 8 week old Black Labrador boy, and he's a lovely chunky little fella!

We took our 6 year old son along too, and we saw the parents, and met the owners and we are happy with waht we saw. The pup has had his first vaccinations, and will be wormed and frontlined, so a few things not to worry about initially.

We will be trying to sort a cage/crate, and feeding bowls, etc this week, ready for Friday.

We will be insuring him too, though touch wood we never need it.

If anyone has any other advice for first time labrador owners, its all gratefully received.

Cheers

MJ

Raksha

Labradors tend to be very 'mouthy' (it's in their genes) so early work on bite inhibition will be very useful - http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_BiteInhibition.php

buddys_mum

johnson293 wrote: »

Just giving this thread a bump, as I've been having a read through.

We are getting our first Labrador puppy on Friday this week, having visited and picked him yesterday.

He's an 8 week old Black Labrador boy, and he's a lovely chunky little fella!

We took our 6 year old son along too, and we saw the parents, and met the owners and we are happy with waht we saw. The pup has had his first vaccinations, and will be wormed and frontlined, so a few things not to worry about initially.

We will be trying to sort a cage/crate, and feeding bowls, etc this week, ready for Friday.

We will be insuring him too, though touch wood we never need it.

If anyone has any other advice for first time labrador owners, its all gratefully received.

Cheers

MJ

Good luck with the pup. Ive been brought up with yellow lab !!!!!es and they were all gundogs/family dogs. Now i got a black lab/setter boy! I love him to bits.;)

My sister was given a lab a few weeks ago, he is almost 12months and still a little mouthy. Try not to encouraged to play tug of war with people, this will only encourage bad behaviour (its ok if he does it with another dog though).

catlou

Congrats on your puppy! I haven't got a lab but these are stuff for all puppies.

Work out what size crate you need then get one online from eBay or someone like VetUK as they are SO much cheaper.

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/pet-accessories-cages-crates-and-ramps-c-73_247/options-fold-flat-dog-cage-crate-p-1142

I had to panic buy one from Argos £45 for a medium size one :eek: which I could have easily got for £20 off eBay.:(

Get him some toys like puppy Nylabone or Kong which are really durable so he knows straight away what he is allowed to chew. Also a ball to play with, a bed, some food treats, collar, lead etc. get him a name tag (also cheap on eBay!) and then get him microchipped too.

I'm sure there are lost of things that I have missed out on but that's all I can think of at the moment!

Before you buy Pet Insurance look into it- it's REALLY complicated so make sure that you get a proper "for life" policy.

Have fun!
Ps. Photos PLEASE too!

elfen

Just a thought. If labs are like alsatians...then you will NEED a hip scoring to be done to be able to have it on the insurance.....most insurers will not insure without it (as my mum found out when trying to insure her GSD a few years ago)

manda1205

We've got a 14mnth old black lab (girl), to add to whats been suggested, can really, really recommend you get lots of nylabones, our lab was a huge chewer and ripped most toys to bits within a day or two (shes still quite chewy now but knows what she can and cant have now). Labs love to please, so start with your training after he's settled in, and they also LOVE food so they train so easily with using treats and little bits of cheese/ham/tinned hotdogs, all cut as small as you can get them. They also love any fetch games, so you can teach them that early on too, we started with 2 balls first to get her to drop the 1st one easier (still working on getting down to one ball now tho, lol). Also start socialising him immediately too (our vet recommended doing this before ours had finished her jabs as he thinks socialising outweighs the small risk they may catch something). If you keep them in your arms, they're fine, they can also go with other dogs as long as you know theyve had their jabs and are ok with pups. They learn so much when young, as soon as they get over 16weeks they start getting fearful and it can make socialising a lot harder. I can also recommend Gwen Baileys "A perfect puppy", theres a socialisation chart in the back that can help give you an idea of where to take them and what to see.
Enough of my ramblings though, hope you enjoy your lab, they're so affectionate and fun. Would like to see some pics too when you get some

Youdontseeme

Now i got a black lab/setter boy

Oh a cross of my two most fav dogs, had both when growing up and can imagine a cross being just the right amount of barmy and beautiful! do you have a pic?, I bet he is a stunner!

YDSM

Margaret_Skinner

Poohzee did you get yours okay? Would love to see a pic!

buddys_mum

He is a fantastic boy, havent worked out how to put pic on here yet.

johnson293

Cheers for all the replies, much appreciated.

We're really looking forward to Friday, and fetching the little fella home. He doesn't have a name yet, but hopefully he will have by then.

The owners told us he has been fed on dry puppy complete food, and that its best not to start feeding him on the tinned foods.

I am buying a large cage from someone at work, even though he won't need the full size yet at least he'll hopefully get used to it, and see it as his own space as he grows up.

We also have two Rabbits already, so some careful introductions will be needed there also.

Another reason for getting him at the end of this week, was to coincide with the start of the school summer holidays, so we will be able to give him loads of attention, and (hopefully) help him settle in quickly.

I will post up some pics next week, as we should taking some this weekend once he's 'home'.

Cheers Again,

MJ