this sunday we will be going to pick up our new yellow lab puppy.a little female.sorry if i sound dumb but this is our first dog. i ordered some books and some tapes on training but they are'nt here yet and i am just wondering how i introduce her to her new home. anything special or just turn her loose and let her do what she wants? and also what should i feed her. do i just fill a bowl or do i need to monitor her intake?any tips are greatly appreciated. lamar

Just let her wander to get settled in to start. If your paln is to be a "house dog" anyway. If she is to be outside in a kennel later weather permitting, let her stay in the kennel you have provided for the day time when it's warm and inside at night during cold temps( I see Alaska temps here)
I live in Minn. so, not alot of difference here. You have me beat by 2 weeks. I am picking up my 5th Labrador, also yellow, March 16th. Looking forward to a "fresh start" again myself! Keep tuned to this EXCELLENT website as there are many, educational pros that can be found in here. The people that manage this site are SUPER also! You will find anything you need for advice here.

Best of Luck with your new Lab! Patience is your best ally now!

Lab-Man (Labrador owner/trainer since 1963)

Congrats lamar. I am glad to see your dog is finally coming home....

beej

Lamar, let the pup run a few days , make her part of the famley, you will see that she will start retriveing your things that you leave around ,dont scold her , for this, pick up the things you dont want her to have ,tell her shes a good girl and you will see a very good buddy come of it, never hit your dog with anything the change in your voice will do, she will know when she messed up, a good lab has the inbred knolage to hunt ,most of the time all you need to do is train them to come back when you callno matter what she is doing, best hunting lab i ever owned was picked up in the pound, she hunted everything ,waterfowl, upland birds, you name it , the BEST 10 years of hunting i think i ever had was with sam by my side. the best book i think is an old one ,printed in 1967 called WATER DOGS, still one of the best books on training water dogs. good luck with her, its a blast , you will never hunt or br alone again .

Just let her be a puppy for a few weeks and ge used to the new surrondings.

One tip if she is gonna be a house dog make sure and take her out the same door everytime you let her out. Pretty soon you will see her standing by the door which means she has to go out. If you take them out different doors all the time they get confused easily as puppies.

As far as food Pro Plan puppy is pretty good. And I feed them 2 times a day based on what the bag says for their weight.

Labs are great dogs I have 2 of them in the house right now. One is a 5 month old puppy and he is doing wonderfully and of course the 3 year old lab loves the playmate.

Lamarg,
The best thing I find to do is let the little girl get use to you and her surroundings also show her affection and let her know she is safe with you. Then start building the best friend a man can have bond with her.

Though I be wounded,
I am not slain,
I'll lay me down to bleed awhile
and then I'll rise and fight again!

The habits the dog gets now are for life. If you don't want them on the couch or in the bed, it starts now, don't let them up there, or do, its you call.

My GSP always has food in his bowl (I have one of those big containers that you turn the knob and it dumps food). He regulates his own eating and have not had any problems (did gain weight when nuetered though, gotta watch that) But for 5 years he weighed 70-72 pounds, no deviations from that, and he was a rail.

Work with them from day one. Its crazy, but my experience, I spent weeks teaching him to sit, then one day he learned sit, and the next day he learned lay down, and the next he had stay down really well. Its like someone flipped a switch and he decided to learn or something. He also picked up on my hand signals before my words, so when I snap my fingers in an upwards direction he sits, when I point down he lays down, and when I give him the stop signal (open hand like a cop) he stays. Now days I use the hand signals more than anything, which is cool.

Anyway, don't get frustrated, when you do, take a break and play. The more time spent the better, considering how busy people are today, the more time spent up front will pay off later as opposed to trying to correct bad habits.

Thats my best advice considering my limited experience with hunting dogs (this is my first). Also, maybe take her to a dog obiedience class, this is a good time for her to get used to other dogs, so she can hunt with others and play nice. Jake is very motivated by treats, which is nice. Thats how they ran my class, most everything was using treats to motivate the dog.

Getting her used to water is fun. My GSP outswims all the labs I have had him with, he LOVES water. His first swim, me pushing him in the water. 15 seconds later he was JUMPING off the dock into the water and having a grand time. Its a great low impact exercise too (tell Jake "swimming?" and he goes nuts!). He even stands there and lets me dry him off after (for the ride home) and will lift each paw for me to clean them out from mud. Its funny how they get used to habits.

Anyway, have fun. As soon as I get a fence here at my new house I will be looking to get a second GSP.

--Jim