First-time Labrador owner

Sukhpreet Aujla said:
I mentioned in earlier posts about being a vegetarian and having a dog on a vegetarian diet, I've decided not to do this. Regarding kibble or grain-free which is best? I have asked at two different pet stores and they said grain free is better, I know some people feed a raw diet but I think I'd prefer not to feed raw. If I feed grain free can it be dry or wet? I want to feed a dry diet with water separately.
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There is a dog food recommendation website, which I think is a 'sticky' at the top of this section of the forum. I use millies wolfheart, I feed dry, and pups have the same food as adults. (But dampened).
 
Apologies for bumping this thread up but it seemed a better option to post in here than create another thread. I wanted to ask about toilet training and whether I should take my puppy out on a lead so I can ensure she goes in the right place and doesn't get distracted? Once she's trained up I think this would not be necessary but generally how do you ensure the puppy goes when shes supposed to and in the right place?
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
Apologies for bumping this thread up but it seemed a better option to post in here than create another thread. I wanted to ask about toilet training and whether I should take my puppy out on a lead so I can ensure she goes in the right place and doesn't get distracted? Once she's trained up I think this would not be necessary but generally how do you ensure the puppy goes when shes supposed to and in the right place?
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We did exactly as you describe, toilet breaks were timed (with extras if needed, obviously) to every half hour, every hour etc as he got bigger, and we took him into a corner of the garden on the lead, waited for him to go, and said "toilet" very enthusiastically like mad people, with snacks when he performed! Eventually he cottoned on to how it worked. The lead was useful for making sure he didn't get distracted.
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
Apologies for bumping this thread up but it seemed a better option to post in here than create another thread. I wanted to ask about toilet training and whether I should take my puppy out on a lead so I can ensure she goes in the right place and doesn't get distracted? Once she's trained up I think this would not be necessary but generally how do you ensure the puppy goes when shes supposed to and in the right place?
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I would definitely train it on lead, both my dogs are hesitant to do their business on lead and there are times it would be very useful!
 
Sukhpreet Aujla said:
I mentioned in earlier posts about being a vegetarian and having a dog on a vegetarian diet, I've decided not to do this. Regarding kibble or grain-free which is best? I have asked at two different pet stores and they said grain free is better, I know some people feed a raw diet but I think I'd prefer not to feed raw. If I feed grain free can it be dry or wet? I want to feed a dry diet with water separately.
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I'm not sure why you want ro only give water separately? There certainly should always be water available but dampened kibble/biscuits is much easier to eat, which for a puppy is important. Grain-free or not is up to you but dogs really are omnivores and most can digest most things. Of course, some dogs struggle to digest particular foods, we have had to spend fortunes on 'salmon & potato'/'duck and rice' for dogs with problems but if your dog doesn't need grain-free, you don't need to go down that route.
 
Our parsons Russel “points” squirrels in the apple trees, (and shouts a lot to ensure you know it’s there), if OH gets it with the air gun she can catch it before it hits the ground.
At one point her recall only worked if you were dangling a squirrel. She is better now. :rolleyes:
Sorry to digress OP, good luck with your lab.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm not sure why you want ro only give water separately? There certainly should always be water available but dampened kibble/biscuits is much easier to eat, which for a puppy is important. Grain-free or not is up to you but dogs really are omnivores and most can digest most things. Of course, some dogs struggle to digest particular foods, we have had to spend fortunes on 'salmon & potato'/'duck and rice' for dogs with problems but if your dog doesn't need grain-free, you don't need to go down that route.
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I meant in a separate bowl along with the food, not separate as in giving dry food only then water at a later point
 
Water should be available at all times. We have always free fed our dogs so they have always had dry kibble available ad lib too. We have found this methods eliminates the shovelling food down at a rate of knots by the dog, chances of bloat are reduced as the dog only eats what it needs when it is hungry and reduces the risk of obesity as they know there is food there when they need it so no need to stack it in. Always had dogs prone to obesity like labradors and Golden retrievers never had a fat one yet
Of course this is not the usual way and at first it means it is harder the house train as you have to observe when the pup is eating in order to get it out as short while after it has eaten.
 
windand rain said:
Water should be available at all times. We have always free fed our dogs so they have always had dry kibble available ad lib too. We have found this methods eliminates the shovelling food down at a rate of knots by the dog, chances of bloat are reduced as the dog only eats what it needs when it is hungry and reduces the risk of obesity as they know there is food there when they need it so no need to stack it in. Always had dogs prone to obesity like labradors and Golden retrievers never had a fat one yet
Of course this is not the usual way and at first it means it is harder the house train as you have to observe when the pup is eating in order to get it out as short while after it has eaten.
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I must admit that I would love to know how you teach a Lab puppy not to eat until the bowl is empty and then start on the next one! :D

OP, I prefer to feed kibble dampened- and I did realise that you were intending to have water available in a separate dish but I wasn't sure why you wanted to feed the kibble dry.
 
They have all self regulated from the start didnt do anything special just filled the bowl when it was empty. Will concede we have never dampened it or added other food just the complete dry kibble age appropriate of course
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I must admit that I would love to know how you teach a Lab puppy not to eat until the bowl is empty and then start on the next one! :D

OP, I prefer to feed kibble dampened- and I did realise that you were intending to have water available in a separate dish but I wasn't sure why you wanted to feed the kibble dry.
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I thought its fine to give kibble unaltered out the bag in one bowl and water in another, I just assumed the kibble is always dry unless I dampen it a bit? How do you dampen your kibble I have thought about doing it if my puppy is struggling a bit with it dry
 
i always put a little cold water with kibble so that they get some liquid at the same time as eating as one of mine hardly used to drink and i was worried she would have problems. my current 2 always drink but i am in the habit anyway so still do it for their main meal.
 
I just pour a bit of tepid water on the kibble in the bowl. Some kinds of kibble, if not all, swell up when wet, so I would be worried that the pup would eat more dry kibble than its internal organs could cope with. TBH, it would never occur to me to feed completely dry food.
 
When measuring the food just think how big a pups tummy is - so as big as a tighly clenched fist maybe? Smaller than that at 8 weeks. Then remember the dry food swells. The breeder will tell you how much and what they have been feeding, stick to that to start with.
 
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