Accidents Will Happen

Twice it has happened and each time I insist that it was not a dominance issue. Cheyenne loves sleeping in Dakota's crate whenever she can get a chance. Over the last 2 weeks, she has peed on Dakota's crate bed twice. This was not a dominance marking as it was a full bladder urination and Cheyenne also likes to sleep there - Labs generally wont go to the bathroom where they sleep. Since Cheyenne also sleeps there, it would not make sense.

My theory is that because the quilt is green and it is cushy, Cheyenne may have had to go to the bathroom and figured it was close to grass. You see, Cheyenne will even go to the bathroom on snow covered concrete because the snow is fluffy - even when there is grass near. The second thing is that we have been leaving the water bowls full until late at night. So, a fully bladder and the lack of humans paying attention, she may have gone to the only place she could find.

Needless to say, Cheyenne is no longer allowed in Dakota's bed. The crate is locked and no more water after 7pm again. Hopefully this wont happen again - especially since Dakota is getting a new and better bed this weekend!

Do not eat the blanket!!

Why can't she remember that there are certain things to chew on and our expensive winter comforter is not one of them! Yes, Cheyenne and her need to eat things she shouldn't has been at it again. At 4am, I awoke to a normal "daylight" sound of Cheyenne chewing on her blanket. The problem is that she was not in the Lab Brats bedroom with her blanket; she was in our bedroom with our blanket!

I got up quickly and had my sleeping husband turn on the light quick to catch Cheyenne in the act. As soon as the light went on, she ran for it because she knew what she was doing was wrong. How? Well because she was at the same corner of the bed that she chewed the edge off of our summer sheets!

Now before anyone posts hate comments about how the pup doesn't know better - then you don't have a Labrador Retriever or, if you do, you don't have a very smart one. Labs are very well equipped with understanding such things. Sure, the first time they do something, they may not know but the second time, they do it just cause it is there. Whenever Cheyenne does something wrong and I don't know about it, Dakota will walk near me with her head down and look for somewhere to hide. It is at that point that I know Cheyenne is doing something wrong and I will usually find her in the middle of the "naughty" act. We call it Dakota's "Tattle" because, in essence, that is what she is doing. Now Dakota is one extremely smart dog that she even knows when her sister does something wrong and doesn't want any part of it!

Needless to say, Cheyenne was scolded and commanded to "kennel up" (go in her crate), where she was kept for the next hour. No, I wasn't punishing her by making her go into the crate, I was restricting her freedom because she abused the privilege of being left out at night. How do I know she understood what she did was wrong? Simple - Dakota was still out of the crate during that time and Cheyenne didn't cry or bark once to get out and be with her sister like she normally would do. Now we have to decide whether or not we continue to restrict her privilege or make other accommodations so she cannot get into our bedroom...

Canine Separation Anxiety

Article By: Shannon

Do you leave your home and return only to find that your normally well behaved Lab has dug a hole straight through your couch or chewed the cushions off each of your new dining room chairs? If so, then welcome to the world of canine separation anxiety!

>>FULL ARTICLE<<

ALERT: Missing Lab!!

Cross posting.... please help find this lab baby! I am just sick thinking about someone stealing him out of his front yard!!

I have been missing since 10/11/2006 at around 8pm CST in Houston, TX - Southwest (Alief area). I was stolen right from my front yard as my daddy went to put up the groceries from the car to the house. He was only gone for less than a minute. I was outside taking care of my business. And as soon as daddy came outside this car sped off and I was at that same moment missing. I am a good boy and would never leave my parent's side. I am now around 95 lbs. I have mild skin allergies and also have a faded birthmark on my belly. Please help find me.

Please feel free to spread this to others in that area... we need to get Rocky home with his loving family!!

Rocky's Dogster Page with Pictures

Day 1: Uncrated!

How do you not become nervous when you are leaving your pups alone for first time? A thousand things go through your head. Sure, we have left the Lab Brats home alone before but never for more than a couple of hours. Today, however, they were left at home for around 8 hours! And what's more - they were uncrated!

We made sure to close the door to the computer/office room as well as the master bedroom, just in case Cheyenne would get any bright ideas about eating something that she shouldn't. (Remember, she is the one that ate glass!) Our dogs surprised us once again - they were perfect angels! Nothing was chewed on, no furniture was laid on and neither of them had an accident in the house. I am still in amazement. Sure, I didn't think Dakota was going to do anything bad but Cheyenne still needs some training... hopefully tomorrow will turn out as good.

As for now, I will sit back and watch my girls savor the treats they have gotten - a couple of raw hides - all for leaving mommy's furniture without holes!

What a Surprise!!

I love when you don't expect something from your dog and they amaze you! Even though both of our girls are well trained, there are some things we never even thought to teach them. So, we were absolutely amazed today when we went through our normal Sunday routine of doggy ice cream.

You see, we go food shopping on Sunday mornings and when we return, we give both pups a Purina Frosty Paws dog ice cream. With the sun shining, the girls enjoyed their favorite treat in the backyard. Of course, we never give anything to the brats unless we are watching them. So, as I was putting away groceries, I kept an eye on them from our kitchen window. Shortly after, I look out of the window and grab my husband's attention - which, was already on the site outside!

Here comes Dakota, towards the backdoor with the empty ice cream cup in her mouth. She was bringing it to us to let us know she was finished. She was cleaning up after herself!!! It wasn't like she was chewing on it - she was actually delivering the empty container to my husband who was right inside the back door! Let me just say that my husband praised her like he has never praised her before and all of a sudden, he was standing with a straighter back; being very proud of daddy's girl.

There was no way Cheyenne was going to be left out in the cold! (She is mommy's girl!) I watched her finish up her ice cream, leave the container on the grass, and head slowly to the back door. I rushed to stop her, opened the door, told her to go get her ice cream and bring it to me. As I pointed out to it in the yard, I used my "excited voice" to make it into a game. It took 3 times for her to catch on and although she did chew on it for a couple of seconds once she got back to it, I was able to use that same voice to get her to bring it all the way back to me and drop it at my feet. We were both so excited and even though she didn't bring it on her own like Dakota did, she did bring it back to me... without eating it first!

Way to go girls!

Coolest Dog Contest!

Dakota and Cheyenne have both been entered in the World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show hosted by Dogster.com!! There were a number of photos for each, submitted in various categories from Tongue/Slobber to Craziest Tail and everything in between! So, please vote for each of the pictures we submitted... some are just too funny to miss!

Vote on Cheyenne's Pictures
Vote on Dakota's Pictures

You can only vote once per picture so please make sure those votes count by clicking on the rating you give the picture and then the vote button right below it. If done right, you will get a large "VOTED" button next to the picture! Many Lab thanks!

Vacation during vacation!

We returned home to our happy pups on Sunday and released them from their crates only to have them walk past us and look around the house for something. Seems they were looking for our house/pup sitter and were only slightly happy at the sight of our return.

Later that evening, our house/pup sitter and her mom came by our house. The Lab Brats went crazy and didn't listen to a command we gave them. As soon as they came in, the house/pup sitter sat on the floor and the girls just started to play bitey-face around her. This is a sign that they are truly happy and she was hugging all over them and telling us about the great time they all had. Even her mom (my aunt by marriage) was telling me how she would get on the floor with them and play games with the blanket. No wonder the dogs had a blast - all the attention was on them all weekend! Sure, we do things with the pups but we don't shower them in attention every second of the day...

Now we are getting distinct looks from both the girls begging us to go on vacation once again. Gee - can't you just feel the love?!? *laugh*

8 Paws Up Lab Gifts Sale!

Halloween Chocolate Lab

Trick or Treat! Happy Howlloween Labrador Retriever - with Halloween Costume Mask and Pumpkin.

Art By Angi - Apparel and gifts featuring artwork and designs by Angi Laframboise, including fine art, as well as her popular dog cartoons and other animal designs. Chocolate Labrador Retriever Dog Lover Gifts and Apparel featuring Angi Laframboise Dog Breed Cartoons.

Want to see more Labrador Retriever designs and products from this wonderful artist? Well check out her Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Black Labrador Retriever, and Yellow Labrador Retriever sections! It is well worth the click!

4 Day withdrawal!

I hate doing this! Last time they didn't even recognize us and it took them about 10 minutes before they started getting happy to see us. Yep - we are leaving our pups for a few days and although I much need a vacation, being without our Labs is difficult. Why? Well, simply for the fact that these are our children and they make us smile every single day no matter how gloomy the weather is or how bad of a day we are having.

So, for the last several days, I have been getting us ready to go out of town for a wedding. Since my husband is standing up in it, we have to be there a couple of days early. That means our beautiful girls will be having company for a few days - our 21-year old cousin. We are blessed to have family that will come and dog sit our girls while we are gone. She actually lives in our house for the entire time we are on vacation and the Lab Brats don't have to go through any type of separation anxiety by leaving the comfort of their own home. Needless to say, it worked out perfectly back in April when we left for a 4-day Florida vacation - so well that the girls greeted us with barks rather than kisses... Maybe if we bring some special doggy cookies, we will get kisses sooner this time! One could always hope!