Anyone have experience with labs?

[chinamom2]

I have a black lab I adopted from a lab rescue. She is now about 10. By and large they are not hard to train and are generally easy going. Mine gets along great with my cats. Most are pretty active and love to fetch. Mine however, is a couch potato and prefers to be a home body. Mixes are always a gamble though I think Wiggles looks pure. They have good noses, scent work and flyball are two sports they seem to like. Ears can be a problem, but my lab has never had any issues with her ears. Here is a link to a lab forum. It is a pretty easy going group that love just about any kind of dog. Labrador Retriever Dogs Chat Forum Board - Dogs, Puppies, Photos, Training, Pictures, Rescue Forums

[Raccoonlassie]

We have a chocolate lab who turns 11 years old today. He came to us as a stray 10 years ago, showed up in the yard and was never claimed.
In our experience they are very prone to ear infections, in his younger days he was into the vet several times a year for ear infections. He also has allergies. Some are seasonal and every fall he was into the vets for severe hots spots from his constant licking and scratching. We also have to be careful what foods he gets or he gets itchy and his hair starts to fall out, he does best on grain free or raw. He has in the last three months developed cervical disk disease.
Personality wise we have found that he is very stubborn. But he learns quickly and enjoys learning new things. I taught him some basic retriever skills and he still loves to do his fetching. He is very selective in his hearing when it comes to obedience training though.
He is very food oriented! He steals food if it is left unattended and we have never been able to teach him to leave it alone! He will steal off the counters, table and sometimes the garbage.
He loves to chase things, like squirrels and rabbits! We cannot trust him around our chickens, rabbits and even very small kittens arouse more of a hunting desire in him.
But all that said, even in his younger days he was just as happy hiking, or playing as he was being a couch potato. He loves to play in the water and hunting frogs. He loved cuddling on the couch and even sharing your bed when invited. He always wants to be in on what you are doing and is very nosy. He loves digging for moles and although he does leave some trenches from his exuberant digging he has so much fun doing it that we let him do it. He is happy going out to Petsmart too.
Compared to my shepherd I find the lab to be much more laid back and but not as responsive to training.
Sorry for such a long post

[mssandslinger]

Originally Posted by Nigel

My lab Daisy is the only one I had experience with and from what I gather, she was not the " norm". She actually reminds me of my female gsds, confident, aloof and protective of the kids. She was not as Velcro as they are, content to lay in her favorite spot and not follow me around the house like the girls do. She was very healthy most of her life, but after swimming or running through fields, she would pick stuff up and get an occasional ear infection. She lived to be 14.5 years and finally lost her battle with hermangiosarcoma last September.

this is ho wmy black lab sadie is too! very much like a GSD. but very easy going and LOVES to play

[1sttimeforgsd]

Today my girl Mandy is 4 yrs old, she is the sweetest dog that you could ever want. She keeps me laughing all the time, the way that her eyebrows move individually and the faces that she makes, and the gas we can't forget that. She constantly walks around with something in her mouth, when she was a puppy she used to have access to golf balls, but the vet said to not let her have them or anything else too small to swallow. He said that he removed 10 golf balls from someone's lab one day, that they are notorius for swallowing small objects.

She is so loving and I would recommend them to anyone. Happy Birthday my precious girl.

[Bridget]

I didn't read the previous responses, so I might be repeating...we have two labs and they are great family dogs. Labs almost always love children and often enjoy other dogs. They have a real propensity to gain weight, so be careful from the beginning that you don't overfeed. Need much training, as they can be boisterous, I think especially males. I think they are fairly healthy, but as other large dogs, can get HD and bloat, etc. Sometimes they are not real protective, like GSDs.

[shepherdmom]

Sorry it is a few days late but I just saw their were new messages. Happy Late Birthday Mandy! Thanks again everyone for all the responses.

Wiggles is fitting right in and Ivan is loving it.

[JakodaCD OA]

my sister was the 'lab' person in our family,,she's had every color, has agility/hunting/ obedience titles on all of them.

Her last two, passed away at 14 years old! she fed raw, their coats were amazing even at 14 years old.

Very sweet dogs, she now has papillons but will get another lab at some point I'm sure