Never Say "All Done"

Certain words in our house invoke certain responses in our Labrador Retrievers. It isn't that we trained them with this words but rather that they have learned through repetition what certain words mean.

Unfortunately, the Lab Brats Daddy has not caught onto this yet. Your honor, I bring to light the following evidence:

My client, the Lab Brats Daddy, was playing with Dakota & Cheyenne in our backyard one warm summer day. Back and forth he threw the squeaky ball as both ran and jumped high in the air to get it first. He would say "Drop" and they would drop the ball at his feet for him to throw it once again.

The day began to get very hot as Cheyenne's tongue started to drag on the ground from getting overheated. They did not want to end the fun but the Lab Brats Daddy thought it would be best. No responsible dog owner wants their pup to suffer heat exhaustion.

Then, he said it - without noticing what he had done.

Dakota lay in the cool grass with the squeaky in her mouth - chomping away while he approached her. Normally she would drop the toy if he would have said "Drop" but instead he utter the words that would seal his doom: "All Done" and grabbed the toy on her mouth.

The jaws of life came alive as she clamped down hard on the toy and refused to let it go. No, it was her toy and she knew full well that "All Done" meant the playing was to cease. As long as she held on tight, the playing would continue on indefinitely and she would remain successful in getting what she wanted.

He fought with her and tried to use the most demanding of voices to still no avail. It took a trick from yours truly to dislodge the toy from the Lab jaws of life. I neatly placed my hand on the toy in her mouth and said "Ow!" in a high pitched tone that led her to believe she had hurt me in some manner. Instinctively, she released the toy and sulked away.

Sure, I tricked her but I had no choice. Once he utters the words "All Done" in our Lab pack, there is no other way to retrieve the toy. Alas, one day this trick may no longer work but I am hopeful that the Lab Brats Daddy will be quicker to learn how one must not say "All Done" in our house until the toy is firmly in the hands of the human.

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Cheesy Medicine Tip

We get so many people that write ask - telling us how much they love our "tricks" to getting our Labs to do what we want. So, here is another one that works for us.

Every morning the Lab Brats are given a Proin 50 pill to help with bladder problems (caused by spaying sometimes). The problem is that Cheyenne will eagerly take the beef smelling pill but Dakota knows better - she knows it is medicine.

Our trick is simple. Every week when we go to the grocery store, we buy the no-frills processed sliced cheese for the dogs. A pack of 16 slices lasts 32 days for the 2 dogs.

We simply divide the slice into 4 pieces and wrap a pill up in a quarter of the original slice. Of course, with Dakota being so smart and all, we have to make sure to wrap it entirely in the cheese or she will find some way to get the cheese and spit out the pill. (Kind of like those people that can tie a cherry stem in their mouth)

The great thing is that they look forward to it and Dakota even drools all over the floor as she waits for me to wrap her pill in the cheese. Just call out "Who wants medicine?" in our house and the dogs come flying. No need for me to put my hand into the vortex formally known as Dakota's huge throat. Just a nice and pleasant way to give our Labradors their medication and they love it!

Curbing Dog Barking

Excessive barking is nothing new. Dogs appear to enjoy barking, and they do so for various reasons. They bark when they want something, when they say “hello,” when they are having fun, when they are startled or alarmed, when they are defending their territory or threatening someone, when they are frustrated, and when they hear other dogs barking. Unfortunately, a dog who barks incessantly can drive the family crazy—and disturb the entire... [Read full article]

Watermelon Beats Anything

I was totally ignored this morning!

While the Lab Brats Daddy made his lunch, Dakota and Cheyenne stayed tight to his side. The poor man could not move left or right for fear of tripping over the two chocolate masses at his feet - or worse - slipping in the pile of fresh drool.

Being the nice Lab Mommy that I am, I decided to give the girls their medicine. Of course, Dakota is too smart for medicine so we purchase cheap sliced processed cheese and use a small portion of the slice to wrap around her pill. This works so well that as the words "Who wants cheese?" escape our lips, the Lab Brats are planted squarely in front of us in a pretty sitting pose.

This morning, however, it was different.

They saw the cheese, they heard me ask who wanted some, and yet I was totally ignored. Their daddy was dividing up watermelon into his rubber container and if their eyes even looked away for one second, they would surely lose their prize.

Funny how he had to tell them to go to me for some cheese before they even realized I was even alive.

Quickly they dashed over, grabbing the pill wrapped cheese gently (but quickly) from my fingers, and dashing back to their daddy before he could even take another breath.

It seems that watermelon in our house reins supreme over their own mommy, daddy, or smelly processed cheese. Maybe I should let the watermelon do the training in our house. *laugh*

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Stomach Woes

The wee one is sick.

We woke a couple of times this weekend to vomit in the living room and back door entrance. When asked who got sick, both Dakota and Cheyenne would drop their heads and walk away. Needless to say, it is always difficult to see who gets sick in our house because they both take on guilt so easily.

Throwing up is not a punishable offense in our home. We just want to know who did it so we can keep an extra special eye on them for any other aliments. So, when both look guilty, it just makes our job as responsible dog owners even more difficult.

However, I got have a trick that was confirmed this morning. You see, when asked who got sick, Dakota will always act guilty even if she is not. However, Cheyenne will not act guilty unless she is. Again, I couldn't be sure but then I fed them.

Dakota finished her food in the normal 10 seconds but Cheyenne (who is normally as fast as her older sister) took forever to eat. She didn't turn her nose up but kept eating her food VERY slowly until her plate was clean. It was a clear sign that the vomit culprit had been the Wee One (Cheyenne).

There is no loss of energy nor vomiting other then during the night. But that doesn't mean anything because she eats everything she can get her mouth on - hence her AKC name "Cricket's Great White Hunter" because sharks are found with even tires in their stomachs at times.

Who knows what she could have gotten into - too much grass at the dog park yesterday, a stick behind the garage, or even a dead animal. Whatever the case may be, Cheyenne is now on supervised outdoor time and this Lab mommy will be whipping up a batch of boiled ground beef and plain rice for Cheyenne's dinner to help ease her ailing stomach.

Sweetener Toxic to Dogs!

A sugar substitute found in a variety of sugar-free and dietetic cookies, mints and chewing gum is proving highly toxic, even fatal, to snack-snatching dogs.

Xylitol, popular in Europe for decades but a relative newcomer to the U.S. alternative-sweeteners market, can be "very, very serious" to dogs when ingested, says Dana Farbman, spokeswoman for the Animal Poison Control Center of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"It doesn't take a whole lot (of xylitol), and the effects are so rapid that the window of opportunity to treat the dog is extremely small," Farbman says.

The ASPCA sent an advisory to veterinarians last August warning them about the potential for serious harm or death. Veterinarians have used a variety of means to get the word out, including posting signs in their offices and making copies of the bulletin for clients to augment the caution the ASPCA has posted on its website.

[Read full article here]

Dudleys and Pinkish Noses

During a recent Lab meetup group in my area, a member and I were discussing her Dudley Labrador Retriever when another member turned and asked the meaning of the word dudley. My smile broaden as I looked back and forth from her to her own dog and pointed at her beloved canine companion at her side. Needless to say, she was a bit speechless as she looked at me a bit bewildered so I explained the term further.

A Dudley is a yellow Labrador with chocolate pigmentation (eebb in genetics). It can also refer to a Labrador Retriever with absolutely no pigmentation on the nose or eye-rims (meaning all pink in color), but actually, this is extremely rare, and probably a genetic abnormality. While some Lab owners and breeders may view this trait as undesirable, it does not indicate some sort of genetic abnormality. There is no known connection between those pups with Dudley noses and poor health.

A look of understanding fell over her face as she continued to pet her pup in the most soothing of manner. For 3 years she has had her beloved Lab and never once heard the term Dudley nor knew that her beautiful baby was part of not-so-secret society of Yellow Labs. It just goes to show that Lab love transcends the physical.

Dog Tip: Applying Flea & Tick Prevention

The Lab Brats don't particularly care for the 2nd of every month. They know when we go into their special draw in the kitchen that is means only one thing: time to put that nasty smelling liquid on the back of their necks.

Our house uses Frontline Plus because of the climate we live in and the fact that Labrador Retrievers are double-coated dogs. The trick is to get the application on their skin and not all over one's hands nor the dog's fur. For that, we have a trick up our sleeves.

When the pups were small, we purchased a flea and tick comb to check them regularly for any nasty bugs. Of course, the comb became obsolete so we now use it to apply the Frontline to their skin. As the comb makes a clean part down into even the under layer of fur, the Lab Brats Daddy is able to apply it without any assistance. One hand uses the tip of the comb to make a part between the shoulder blades and then just tilts the comb 45 degrees to the side to show the dog's skin. With the other hand he applies some of the liquid directly to the skin and then makes a couple of more parts in the fur with the comb until the applicator is empty.

Of course, we apply the medication at night so that we don't run a higher risk of them rubbing it off on furniture or our petting them in that spot. However, the comb is the most efficient (and less stressful) method of applying flea and tick preventative that we have found and the Lab Brats love how it only takes a few seconds to apply.

Comical Dogs

So often I speak of how our Lab Brats make us laugh. Sometimes I wonder if they perform a comical act just to get something in return.

While making last night's dinner, the Lab Brats were once again at my feet as they don't seem to understand the necessity of personal space around open flames. *laugh* In order to finish up the meal (protecting myself from tripping over a brown pile of mush and burning myself on the stove) I was forced to let them outside.

The food was done and I brought my own plate of food to the other side of the kitchen and let the Lab Brats were let back in... and then it happened... Dakota stood between the stove and the table with my plate and threw her nose up into the air. Back and forth her head waved as though she were trying to put on her best Stevie Wonder impersonation. *laugh*

What scent to follow? The one on the stove or the one on the table. Back and forth her head went while sniffing the air... undecided of which path to choose. Which path to take to the fish and chicken smell? Which would lead her to the prize she so desperately was seeking?

A minute passed when Cheyenne came prancing in and stopped dead behind Dakota. "What is this?!?" Her head flew into the air as she sniffed in the same Stevie Wonder fashion while the Lab Brats Daddy and I laughed ourselves to death. Tears streamed from my eyes as they continued this back and forth motion without truly being able to decide which way to go.

Needless to say, this sisterly comic act earned them some leftover brown rice with just a tad bit of the fish & chicken sauce (after we were done eating). I truly think this was their plan from the minute they put their noses to the air. Make mommy and daddy laugh so hard that they will have to pay us in food. What clowns!

Touch of Grey

Life seems to be more special when you introduce a mix of Labrador Retrievers into your already busy schedule. They not only love you unconditionally but add a sense of well being and balance to lives that are filled with technology, noise, and stress.

It is those moments, when you realize that your Lab is getting older that you truly start to appreciate the positive effect they have on your life.

Yesterday was that day for me.

Upon my normal regiment of wiping Dakota's chin from her water bowl slobber, I noticed that no matter how much I rubbed, the glistening on her chin was not going away. Upon closer observation, I smiled slightly while looking into her big beautiful topaz eyes. Our girl has officially hit middle age at the tender age of just 3.5 years old. Dakota, indeed, is starting to get a small collection of silver-grey hairs under her chin.

Immediately I called the Lab Brats Daddy at work and broke the news to him. His precious 80 lbs mushy laid-back puppy had her first signs of getting old.

Does that mean that her life is over? Of course not! Unlike us humans, dogs don't let a little change in fur color tell them how old to behave or how much life they have. Dakota is still a very big energetic puppy and a huge part of our family. We will not make changes to get life just because of a little grey but rather the grey on her chin now serves as a reminder of how precious she is in our lives and how enriched our lives are every day because of her. Sure, she may be getting older but even when she is 20 years old, she will always be our "little" puppy.

(Now where is that brown hair dye? *wink*)