Attention Grabbers!

"I want attention and I want it now!!" This is Dakota at this very minute. How do I know she wants attention? Well, she is standing behind me, jumping in place, barking under her breath, and every once in a while stops doing all that so that she can paw at the large water bottle used for our spare change. Okay, so it is my fault that I taught her to paw at what she wants but that was only supposed to be for the back door when she has to go relieve herself and her toy chest when she wants me to bring it down for her to get another toy. It was not meant to hassle or annoy the hell out of me or my husband. And yet, Dakota has mastered it that she no longer thinks of it as annoying us but rather as a fine art.

What do I do? Ignore her - plain and simple. You see, Labs will do anything for attention - good or bad. So, if you want them to get out of a bad habit, it is better to ignore the bad habits or behavior and reward the good. As long as I don't make eye contact or turn around in my chair, Dakota has not won. She doesn't care if I turn around and yell at her - as long as I pay attention to her. Needless to say, the girl is losing the battle... Unfortunately, my ears are losing their hearing at the same time from all the noise she is making.... *laugh*

Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD)

I was hoping never to have to write an article on Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) but seeing as Dakota was diagnosed a little over 2 weeks ago with CHD, I felt the need to research the topic further. There was a great deal of information and although I am still in a bit of shock that she has it at such a young age (she isn't even 2), I thought this may be helpful for others. So, I wrote an article to help other families become knowledgeable about CHD so that they can help their pups as well. Let's just hope I have no more experience with canine medical conditions to write about for quite some time!

Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD): http://www.8pawsup.com/articles/health/hipdysplasia.html

Feedback is always welcome!

Lab smiles!

Dog Pools??

The Internet is overflowing with information, much as needed as the dust bunnies under your fridge. Do I sound frustrated? I should be! Usually I can find anything and everything on the Internet within a couple of clicks and yet I am highly confused by the lack of information on dog pools in our area.

With Dakota's recent diagnosis of CHD (Canine Hip Dysplasia), I have been devouring all the information I can find on the topic. Almost every article points out the positive effects of exercise on dogs with CHD and how swimming is the best form of exercise as it allows the leg muscles to build and strengthen while limiting the amount of weight bared by the joints. So, I turned to the Internet to find information on dog pools or dog beaches in our area and cannot find even one listing. The only places that allow dogs to swim is the last day of the season in our county pools but there doesn't even seem to be a local pet retailer that has this available. Heck, they have them in New York City but don't have them in the middle of the country, where we have tons of doggy daycares.

Of course, I want to do everything to make sure Dakota stays healthy, even with such a diagnosis. So, I am turning to you wonderful visitors of our blog - do you know where there is a dog pool or rehabilitation center in or near Milwaukee, Wisconsin? If so, we would appreciate it if you could leave a comment with further information.... Any information... Thanks!

Little Sneak

So far there is only one ball that Dakota cannot chew up in 30 seconds and she hardly plays with it. Handballs seem to be good for some Labs and that is why I gave each pup a hand ball in this doggie bag during the Lab Fest last weekend. Even though our neighbor doesn't have any Labs (she has two golden retrievers), I gave her a couple of gifts bags as well.

Where is this going? Well, it is to highlight what a sneak Dakota can be at times. She knows she can't have those balls and while I was cleaning up our backyard yesterday, I saw something blue in her mouth. It was one of the handballs! For the life of me, I couldn't figure out where it came from but knew it wasn't hers. She noticed right away that mommy was staring at her and started to dart off in the opposite direction. Finally, I got her to give it to me and put it away in the garage. As it turns out, the little sneak put her mouth under our gate and stole the neighbors ball I had given them not even a week ago! Lucky for them, I took it away before one of her giant fangs punctured it and Harley (the golden retriever pup) got his ball back safe and sound.

The motto here is: "A Labrador Retriever will put ANYTHING in its mouth to chew on - and if it can't find something, it will steal something from the neighbor!"

Still Licking Paw

Dakota is still licking her paw, only this time she has moved onto another paw as well. It usually is her right back paw that she is giving the most attention and yet there really isn't anything wrong with it. One would assume it would be the dog food but we just opened a new bag and it would take a few days for any signs of allergic reaction to show up on her skin. My thought is that it is environmental because her eye discharge (AKA "eye junk") has returned slightly. Also, I have been suffering with abnormal allergies the last few days as well since the temperature in Wisconsin has been up and down by 20+ degrees every other day.

Both pups are playing fine and are, at this very minute, running around like mad little women and destroying my house. There is no lack of energy or mood change. Needless to say, I am slightly confused by it all but not ready to run to the vet for something like this. Dakota isn't missing any fur on that paw and isn't biting at it - she is just licking it at. Hopefully the weather will become stable here and she can return to her normal obsessive compulsive "football" fetish.

Itchy Paw

I kept looking at Dakota as I passed by her and there was always drool coming out of her mouth. Dakota never drools until there is food around, so to see her laying in front of our picture window without even the slightest mention of food has me concerned. I got a closer look and noticed that her right paw was all wet too - seems she was licking it. A flashlight revealed a red and itchy looking skin between her toes. The skin is not broken open nor infected but just looks uncomfortable.

Usually skin irritations are caused by an allergic reaction to food or something that made contact with their skin. This is especially predominant in Labrador Retrievers so it isn't surprising to see one of our Labs with this. The problem is identifying the culprit given that the girls are on holistic large & giant breed dog food and have been for several months. Hopefully it was just something she brushed against outside. Whatever it is, I hope it goes away because these girls have had enough health problems in their short lives.

New Blog Design

Well the girls got sick and tired of being "girlie-girls" and wanted their blog totally changed. I told them how much work it was but Cheyenne kept barking at me and telling me that she is a tom-boy anyway and pink just doesn't compliment their chocolate coats anyway. (laugh) Needless to say, I agreed and have been in the process of changing the bloc look and feel. Right now we have it a little basic but Dakota likes the laid back look - it goes well with her personality. Since I am outnumbered two-to-one, we will keep it for a while and see what we think of it over time.

What do you think of the new bloc design? Let the Lab Brats know!

Milwaukee LabFest 2006

What do you get when you combine 6 families and over 10 Labrador Retrievers? One heck of a party! What a party it was! Yesterday we hosted the Milwaukee LabFest 2006 and got a group of people together from as far south as Chicago and West as Madison to join us for a fun filled day of Lab energy and fun!

At 12:00 noon, we started off in the Granville Dog Park. This is an off-leash park with a nice size river and loads of trees. All the families met there and let the dogs go wild. For over 2 hours, the Labs played ball, ran after each other, mud wrestled, and just have some great dog fun. Us humans stood on the sideline and looked like we had gone off-roading with our clothes since the Lab pups would run onto the bank, shake all the mud and water onto us, and then head back into the river for some more!

After 2 hours, we all headed back to our house for some doggie cool-down time. The pups got loads of treats and we had ourselves one heck of a BBQ. It was great fun - talking about our world online and offline. We had truly made friends and there was no shortage of laughs. Dakota and Cheyenne didn't know what to do with themselves. Sure, they loved the park, but never expected 10 Labrador Retrievers to show up at their home shortly after. They walked around, played, ate, and ran some more. When everyone headed home, Dakota and Cheyenne weren't the only ones to crash - we humans took a much needed nap as well and dreamed about the next LabFest.

Want to see more pictures of the Milwaukee LabFest 2006? Well then click here and have fun!

Oh no! Dakota has Hip Dysplasia!

Yep! That's right - our Dakota was diagnosed with Hip Dysplasia this past Saturday morning! She had been getting stiff in the back left leg for the last couple of months after she had been exercising and such. DH had enough and last week made an appointment for her to get checked.

She hasnt been in any pain but just stiff and uncomfortable. When he showed us the x-ray, you could definitely see the left hip was not good. Thank goodness though - the vet put her on Metacam and told us to start her on a joint supplement - no surgery! He said we want to keep her exercising in order to continue to build muscle mass on that leg cause that will help greatly with her condition. He also instructed us to get her to lose about 5 lbs (she is 85lbs) to get the stress off the hips. Of course, she has it in both but the right is so slight at this moment, we dont want to make it worse. The Metacam may be used for the rest of her life but we will easily take medication over operation!

I was surprised about the exercising part but it made total sense. He says that if she handles it well, then she can do it. Of course, no running marathons with her but she can still do agility training and running in the dog park. Thank goodness cause I couldnt imagine trying to keep her crated up. She is not even 2 years old - can you imagine the build up of puppy energy!?!?

So, it isnt as bad as it could have been but we are happy to have a diagnosis and that the vet isnt wanting surgery. Please keep Dakota in your thoughts and prayers. This is definitely not something we wanted for our girl but knew that, with Labs, this can happen... she is a tough girl though and we couldnt imagine life without her... even with bad hips!

Labrador Retriever Sibling Rivalry

Every household with more than one child experiences some form of sibling rivalry. As humans, we automatically try to even the playing field and do everything in our power to ensure that all children in the house are seen and treated as equal. This is human conditioning and, unfortunately, most humans take this same approach with dog sibling rivalry. The problem is - they are not human and do not follow by the same "everyone is equal" rules. Read More >

I just cleaned these floors!

Rule #1 of Labrador Retriever owners should read something like: "Never leave the water bowl full for your pup unless you are prepared for the consequences." What do I mean? Picture this - you are walking through your house, barefoot, and as you walk into the kitchen, you fall straight onto your rear end. No, no banana peel here - just a ton of water all over your nice clean floors and a painful bum to remind you that you have Labs!

Sound familiar? Well, I speak from experience. Cheyenne isn't that bad but Dakota, oh Dakota, she cannot drink water like other dogs. No! Our Dakota needs to have enough water in her bowl in order to dip her whole chin in it while she is drinking. The water must be cold and there must be lots of it or she will paw at you until the water bowl is full. As we place the water bowl on her elevated platform (cause if it were on the floor, she would swim in it), we can't help but laugh. We have placed it strategically in front of the dishwasher because not only does it get all over her chin but she makes sure to splash whatever is in front of her!

Next, we have to grab one of our bath towels, that has now been downgraded to the "dog towel", and stand over her as she continue to drink. Occasionally, she will glance up at us to see where we are exact with that towel and just as she removes her chin from the water and we go to dry it off, she dives in deep for another 30 seconds of soaking her chin. We place ourselves with one hand on either side of her head - half of the towel in each. It is like a tender operation - you only have one chance to get it right or the end result is a mess! Alas, our Dakota is a smart girl - she will wait until we glance away and in that one second, she will take her head out of the water, dip her head slightly to avoid our now tiring hands, and make a run across the rest of the clean kitchen floor and towards the living room carpet!

We run after her, slipping in the waterfall of water that has cascaded out of her mouth and over her soaking chin. We grab her, but the 83 lbs of Lab keeps pulling; resisting feeble attempts to wipe the flowing water and drool off of her face. Finally we wrap the towel around her entire head so she is stuck and dry the chin off as fast as we can.

Now short of breath, we turn and wipe up the ginger bread trail of water Dakota has left behind. As we hang up the towel to let it dry properly from the battle of watered Lab, our ears hear a distinct sound and our heart drops - not only has Cheyenne decided now is the time to attack her own water bowl but Dakota has returned to her own water bowl - determined to win the next battle between her and the dog towel!

Welcome to 5 minutes of our daily life with our own Lab Brats! Water and Labs do indeed mix - it is water and kitchen floors where the battle still wages on!