Springer spaniel puppy of lab/retriever puppy?? (bite, breeder, legal)

[foxywench]

no, iams is not a good food...

there are a bajillion GOOD brands!
so instead of telling you brand names, look for a food where the very first ingredient is MEAT (or meat meal) avoid By-Products (in the petfood industry that means beaks feet and feathers plus floor sweeping)
also avoid CORN...its the #1 allergen in dogs and is a cheap filler...more fillers = more poop

i personaly try to avoid Soy as well, studies have linked soy to alot of health issues (especially in females)

if your on a budget 4-health form tractor supply, or kirkland from costco are great choices for the budget concious...
some other good brans are blue buffalo, timberwolf, welness, merrik Befor Grain...just read the bag, your looking for meat, rice, oats or potatoe should be the grains of choice if you dont go grain free...corn, soy and "brewers rice" are junk.


i do wonder why you'd go for a lab x golden (im assuming thats what you mean by lab/retreiver mix because labs are retreivers and goldens are retrievers...)
if your RESCUING thats one thing...
but if your going with a breeder take the time to learn what a good breeder is and isnt, a good breeder does NOT mix breeds...id go with a well bred lab or a well bred golden, or RESCUE either or a mix of either...but dont go buying a mix...

that being said the ONLY dig ive ever been bitten by was a lab lol.

i learnt to walk with the help of a springer, my rother and sister both learnt to walk on the back (and ears, and stubby tail) of english cocker spaniels...

if your hubby likes the spaniels, you might look into an ENGLISH cocker, there not as overbred in the usa as the american cocker spaniel and tend to have less temperment issues that comes with "populatiry"

[movedtothecoast]

Originally Posted by grannynancy

I had a springer from solid stock (sire was both a dual AM CAN field champion and BOB Westiminster-years ago)

Never again.

The dog was sweet but had temperament issues the like I have never had with any of the sevearal German Shepherds I have owned.

I have heard other say many of the small spaniels like this can be snappy and temperamental--not sure if she carried the gene for rage and perhaps that was part of it but her eyes would glaze over if she was stressed and she would lash out at anything.

I had no problems with the dog offlead though. The coat does require a lot of work and it is hard to find a competent groomer; most tend to do a clip like a cocker and that is NOT right.

-eye issues
-rage syndrome
-dysplasia

well , surely you took it to the vet to make
sure it wasn't springer rage? that is not a good mental state for
a dog to be living in.


to the op,

the most important thing is to make
sure you get a puppy that will pair well with a family
with small children. commit to train your
puppy no matter what breed you get.

the last many years our family has always
gone with rescue dogs/puppies something you might
think about too.

Iams is not a very good food , google
dog food brands and how to compare [ can't remember the
link offhand] that should tell you more.

I feed Taste of The Wild , sometimes Innova .

[Bulldogdad]

Mama

There are a couple of good threads on here about dog food. Everything about most of the brands has already been covered including links to rating sites.

Good luck with your choice. Understand though that just because the dog you grew up with fit well with a family does not mean all dogs from a breed have a family temperament. With a Lab if you get the bull or dominant female you will need to make sure you and your Husband display strong Alpha character traits to train it to fit in.

[grannynancy]

Originally Posted by movedtothecoast

well , surely you took it to the vet to make sure it wasn't springer rage? that is not a good mental state for
a dog to be living in.

This was many years ago in the 1980s-the dog had regular veterinary care but I am not sure a vet would have recognized at that point in time, and yes we brought a trainer into the home but this was a time when folks were transitioning from Koehler methods to more positive training methods. His methods did not work and I learned ways not to trip her triggers -- most of the time she was perfectly fine.

In retrospect, the more I look I think the dog had a good bit of dominance agression with the lack of body language precluding an attack. Her eyes DID glaze over though. She definitely had resource guarding issues. You can say it is all me but I owned 4 dogs before and 4 dogs after this dog and never had any real temperament problems....and the dog was well bred.

Either way....I KNOW I am not the only one that has experienced spaniels (cockers and springers) coming unhinged fairly easily. I understand you are less likely to have problems with Field stock or stock from England.

[foxywench]

unfortunatly the group (especially cockers) whent though a HUGE boom in popularity in the 80s and temperment (even in "good show dogs") REALY suffered...(even in the UK)

things have gone through alot of good changes the past 10 years and the group as a whole is getting their "feet" back in terms of temperment, as long as your carefull about the breeders practices.
the BAD temperment actually helped, they got such a bad rap that noone wanted anything to do with the group and their popularity dropped which gave those TRULY serious about the group chance to bring it back to what its supposed to be...
a happy go lucky easy to please all around sporting dog.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by foxywench

the group as a whole is getting their "feet" back in terms of temperment, as long as your carefull about the breeders practices.

Yeah, like inbreeding for one, be sure to ask for a complete pedigree so you can be sure there wasn't a lot of inbreeding.

[WritingMama]

We are rescuing the dog - so I won't be able to get much information about breeding. We decided to go with the lab puppy and are scheduled to pick him up in a few weeks.

I've been looking more into foods for him, thanks for all the great advice!

Does anyone have any good/helpful tips for house-training? Luckily there isn't many days where my husband and I aren't home due to our opposite schedules so we can spend a lot of time working with the puppy on it.
And, luckily, the brief periods where one of us isn't home, our laundry room is large and has cement flooring so we don't have to worry about him messing up the floors

[subject2change]

We've been trying to get this stickied since it's maybe the #1 question people have, but I guess they have limits on how many stickies each forum can have.

//www.city-data.com/forum/12658064-post4.html

[mrs1885]

Originally Posted by foxywench

if your on a budget 4-health form tractor supply, or kirkland from costco are great choices for the budget concious...
some other good brans are blue buffalo, timberwolf, welness, merrik Befor Grain...just read the bag, your looking for meat, rice, oats or potatoe should be the grains of choice if you dont go grain free...corn, soy and "brewers rice" are junk.

I'd never heard of this brand before. With money tight and the rescue pretty much closed, we had to cut way back on the quality of food we're feeding. I'd stooped as low as WalMart brand briefly but it caused major tummy issues for Munchi, so we're on Purina One Lamb and Rice at the moment.

I pulled the site for TSC and found this food. Their 35 pound bag is $35. Very comparable to the P1 we've been feeding but the quality in the bag is way better! I think I'll go buy a bag and switch them this week.

Lamb seems to sit okay with everyone here. We do have two new fosters coming in this weekend though. They've had a constantly changing diet though, as the rescue is donated food like we were so it always is a different bag. We have a mix of large and small breed dogs, so I don't want a 'large breed' or 'small breed' formula and there's no way I'd be able to keep them all apart so they can only eat 'their' food. So I need something that's going to work for everyone as much as possible. Do you think sticking to the lamb is best or try chicken? My knowledge on food for them is fairly limited. I know the basics of what to look for but aside from that I'm clueless. Is one meat better than the other?

As for the OP, congrats on the new addition. Wouldn't have been my choice - I'm not a lab fan - but then again I know plenty people that aren't fond of my chihuahuas, bulldogs, rotties, and mastiffs too. That's the beauty of having so many breeds to pick from. There's really a breed for everyone.

Oh, and we like picture. A lot. And you'll probably be harassed mercilessly until you provide them!

[WritingMama]

Here's the little guy!