Let's Talk About the Pros and Cons of a Lab..... (labs, retriever)
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Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Labs are great dogs but purchasing or adopting one because you are under the impression that the breed can be characterized as "calm and docile" will likely lead to a very rude awakening.
1: theres no such breed as a "ill put it in the backyard while its a puppy and make it a house dog when it calms down"
2: labs are PUPPIES untill they are 2 yrs old
labs are a great breed if:
1: you find a good breeder, back yard breeding and petstore puppies has made for some SERIOUSLY mentally unstable labs
2: you understand this is a breed bred to retreive, they NEED alot of structured excersize to work off the energy that is inherent in any lab...(guide dogs are CALM because they are extensivly trained and the WORK they do as guide ogs is 100% focused mental excersize...) running around the backyard after a ball is fun and all but not enough...they need structured walks/hiking or after 2 yrsold jogging, most labs also LOVE to swim.
3: you dont mind hair...labs are HEAVY sheders o matter what way you look at it
4: you dont mind having a PUPPY for 2 years which is the point when they START to slow down, labs ae HYPER and very needy.
5: you want a HOUSE dog. because of the nature of their "job" retreivers tend to be very connected to thier people and DONT do well away from them, ive never met a lab who oesnt suffer at least some mild seperation anxiety...
WATCH MARLEY AND ME...
i your interested in a lab i suggest finding an older lab, somehting 2-4 yrs old that needs a good home...but ONLY if your looking for a very loyal partially needy HOUSE dog.
We have a 9 year old chocolate lab and he still acts like a 2 year old! He is very high energy and needs good LONG walks twice a day at minimum. Our vet kept saying, "oh, he'll calm down when he turns 2, came and went, he'll calm down when he turns 5, came and went." I figure he will calm down when he dies. We love him to death, but he is a ball of energy, oh, and he's 110 lbs.
If you leave him in the yard when he's a puppy, how will he learn the house manners he needs as an adult? Or anything else? Then you'll have a large, untrained dog to deal with instead of a little untrained puppy. And nothing on this earth is sadder than a little puppy stuck out in a yard by himself all the time with nothing to do and no one to play with.
And yes, labs are double-coated and famously heavy shedders.
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