Labradors are great companions, and easily one of the most popular breed of dogs in the world. Besides being very adjusting and friendly, perhaps the best trait this breed has is its strong desire to please the master. This trait makes it very easy for owners to help them learn thousands of word commands, ranging from the simple household “sit”, and “stay” to much more demanding and ambitious ones, like drug-sniffing and narcotics detection.
The Labrador (“lab” hereafter) is more than just a domestic household pet. For those who might think so, here is a list of various areas that this animal helps us out in:
1. Hunting and retrieving.
My Labrador Pal - Bugsy
2. Hearing dogs, for the deaf.
3. Guide dogs, for the blind.
4. Arson and bomb detection.
5. Drug and substance detection.
6. Watch dogs.
7. Search and rescue/ avalanche and earthquake work.
8. Therapy dogs for hospitals.
9. Cancer detection.
If you are an owner of a lab and you didn’t know this I am sure you’ve already started to look at your pet with newfound respect. Now, in some years of experience of dog-owning, I’ve come to learn some do’s and don’ts in dog care. I am just going to leave you with a nice list of them. Just follow those to ensure your companion lab is happy and in good health. Here are some dog care tips -
1. Avoid taking the lab for walks/outside at least until he is 3-4 months old. This gives time for him to develop resistance.
2. While taking him for a walk, avoid letting him run off too much into deep grass, sand, slush, and mud. He can pick up ticks at these locations.
3. After every walk, groom him well, while checking his skin and coat for any signs of rash/tick infestation. If you do, DO NOT try to remove the tick yourself. Call the vet.
4. Do not let him play with other dogs, unless you are completely sure that the dog(s) he is playing with is vaccinated and well treated, well groomed, clean, healthy, and isn’t aggressive. Be on constant guard.
5. Wash and rinse his legs after every walk.
6. Be sure to apply a good powder, prescribed by the vet, at least once in two days. Apply throughout the body with motion opposite to the direction of the fur.
7. By habit, make it a point to examine the lab’s body for signs of scars, bruises, scratch marks, lick marks, dandruff, ticks, lumps, mange and other skin problems, at least once every week. If you do find something, contact your vet immediately.
8. Keep track of the medication and vaccination record for your pet. Make sure that his vaccines, and deworming are done periodically, and when they should be done.
9. Diligently make him obey you from a very young age itself. Teach him all the basic commands like, “no”, “sit”, “stay”, “fetch” and “come”. Always, the dog’s temperament and personality reflects the owner’s training and attitude towards the animal.
10. Take your lab for a nice refreshing walk at least once a day. Labs love exploring, walking and enjoying the fresh air with their masters.
11. Get your lab some safe toys which you give him to play with, or you play with him, at least once a day. This keeps his brain stimulated, and as a result the dog is happy and healthy. Running after his own tail, for example, is an act of self-rewarding, which indicates that his brain needs some healthy and fun activity. Self-rewarding must be discouraged. Give him a toy instead.
12. Provide lots and lots of clean water. Have a separate bowl for water. Replace water everyday, or every 6 hours (in dusty places). Clean the water bowl once daily.
13. Be alert for any signs of excessive scratching, or licking. If he does, make a note on which area he scratches/licks, and call the vet immediately.
14. For adult labs, a good 2 meals are enough. We here feed him a bowl of Pedigree(adult) and some essential vitamins and tonics(prescribed by the vet), an egg(boiled) in the afternoon, give him another egg(boiled) in the evening, and 4-5 chapattis (wheat bread, Indian dish) for dinner, and sometimes some milk in the morning.
15. Do not give them anything we’d eat, like sweets, butter, etc. Human food is very bad. Avoid as much as possible.
16. Chocolates are fatal. Be warned.
17. Give him occasional doggy treats, made specially for dogs/labs. Buy these from a trusted shop/dealer. See if the brand is popular in your country/city.
18. A cold and a wet nose is a sign of good health of the dog. Keep that in mind.
19. If the dog shows signs of stomach trouble, like vomiting, first give him some ice to chew, and some fresh egg-white. Then call the wet. The ice and the egg-white soothes the stomach, and relieves the nausea.
20. Labs are known for their scavenger-like traits. So have a check on your garbage cans, on your dog rather!
21. Give your dog chewy treats, like raw-hide bones and sticks etc. These will keep their teeth healthy, clean, and prevent tartar.
22. Labs are wonderful communicators. They will communicate to you their needs, if you learn to pay attention to them. In fact, they are so intelligent that they learn to answer “yes” or “no” by barking/not barking to a list put forth to them. For example, lets say that your dog wants some water..
a. He will first approach you, paw you/sit/see you with soulful eyes, tongue out. He wont remove his eyes from you. This is a clear sign that he wants something.
b. You should now start asking him questions.. “want treat?”, “want walk?”
c. He will either sit simply or get restless.
d. The moment he hears what he wants, when you say “want water?”, he answers with either a loud restless bark, or a small tiny shrill whiney sound.
e. If you ask him this question repeatedly, he increases his volume as he barks and starts to jump around and gets animated.
Of course, making the dog come to this level of responsiveness is completely the owner’s diligence, patience, responsibility and training skills. Its simple how to train them actually. I will post an article and a video demo of how I trained my pet Labrador sometime in the near future. So please do stay tuned.
And most of all, give your lab lots of love. They will reciprocate manifold with selfless love.
