Having heard there was a male Labrador crowding out Linda's home, we thought we would investigate further to fill the void left by a previous foster dog.   Little could have prepared us for the big smiling face of Bear. A gentle giant who just wants to wriggle, have fun and be loved. We introduced him to our existing dog, ex foster dog, Moose and they sort of got on, but it was hard to tell with all the male posturing and then playing in the garden. So with Linda's wise encouragement we took him home with us. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. I asked Linda, what makes intact males so different from desexed apart from the obvious. How should I be caring for two males when I have only been used to females. Linda was very reassuring and explained there was little difference in managing desexed males, but an intact male had other ISSUES! Well I resolved to get him desexed asap to fix those!

We took him home, gave him a medicated bath, gave him a flea treatment, gave Moose flea treatment, checked on everyone's flea status and then brought him inside. What a gentleman! I struggled to remember his name (Grizzle), I called him Guzzle, Gizzle and eventually the dog.  So we asked our son what he should be called. Continuing with a successful formula he settled on Bear because "he's so cuddly except he wriggles too much.."

After their evening walk he settled down a little but was still very stimulated with his new environment and playmate Moose. Linda had learnt us a dog cage just in case, so we set it up so we could get a decent night's sleep. I was still not 100% confident the dogs might come to blows with over enthusiastic play. No problem at all, he hopped into the cage which I made super comfy with an old duvet and of course some dog treats. Moose took up position in his bed and both dogs were asleep instantly. During the night I woke up, felt sorry for Bear and quietly let him out to go to the loo. No problem at all, he bounced back into the cage in anticipation of the treats which were quickly offered as a reward. I told Moose to go back to his bed and threw some treats into his bed. Surprisingly Moose kept on circling me and would not go to his bed, very odd. It took a moment or two for the penny to drop, I turned on the lights and yes, Moose was happily smiling at me from inside the cage and Bear was looking very unloved outside! The rest of the night passed on so peacefully and the next day, that we dismantled the cage and have used the spare bed instead.  Both dogs respond well to the drill of go to bed followed by treats and hey presto we have had no issues at night.

Bear has settled in well. He is very inquisitive and watches us most of the time. However he is learning to relax and follow Moose's example of just sleeping undisturbed and heavily whenever the opportunity presents itself. He is a very easy dog to have in the home and must have been used to a domestic environment at some stage.

I have been feeding him a homemade diet of fish, egg and raw vegetables to help his skin heal from the flea bites. His skin seems to be responding well from the care and attention he received before me and is already noticeably less aggravated. I hate to imagine how bad it must have been when he was first rescued from the pound.

Walking on the lead is fine, until he sees another dog. Then the hormones kick in, he starts barking and pulling. Luckily we have a harness to walk him in but I still need my husband to walk him as he has quite a sudden pull.

We have just had our ACT Moon Bear committee meeting at my house. Not surprisingly all loved the two handsome boys who wriggled and wagged their way around everyone.  I think a small role may have been secured in a future Animals Asia event.

So yes he is booked in for the snip on Thursday at one of the wonderfully supportive vet clinics here in Canberra. This with some basic obedience training on the lead around other animals will make him a pretty perfect companion...

Post by Gill, Grizzle's foster mum and Moose's permanent mum.

Training to be a Lab Rescue Foster Carer

Labrador Rescue takes wonderful Labs that, through no fault of their own, have ended up on death row at the pounds or are surrendered to us directly by their owners. These lucky Labs are placed in foster homes to live with the families whilst they wait for their new homes. Our foster carers treat them as members of their families and begin their training on what it is like to live with a real family. Some of these Labs have never had any training at all and have never even heard the word "sit"!

As a thank you to our foster carers for all of their loyal support and to help our Labs learn their manners even faster, we have asked the wonderful "Pawman" to come to Canberra and host a training day for all of our foster carers. Whilst he is in Canberra, he will also be doing a training seminar and one on one's for the general public. Labrador Rescue are asking for donations to help cover the cost of this valuable training for our foster carers. This will allow our foster carers to not only train their Labs in basic manners and solve minor problem behaviours such as jumping up but will also give them the knowledge to support the new families when they take their new Lab home. A beautifully mannered Lab has a much better chance of finding a wonderful new home as quickly as possible. It also opens up many new homes to a Lab that may otherwise need a very particular home.For example, not many homes could cope with a 35kg Lab that jumps up on them every time they want to say hi!

Can you help?

We will be bringing all our foster carers together for this event, which is quite a task! Our foster carers are located all around NSW, from Newcastle to Yass. Our main challenge is making sure we have enough money to fund this training course. If you would like to donate to Labrador Rescue and to help train our foster carers, our bank details are below. Every dollar helps!

Labrador Rescue Inc

Defence Credit Union

BSB: 803-205

Account: 2077 9092

But I want to go!

If you wish to learn more about doggy behaviour, fix a problem issue with your best friend (only of the canine variety!) and see why we think The Paw Man is the most fabulous dog trainer, the details of his public training are below:

Event: Canine Behaviour Seminar by 'The Paw Man', "Understanding and Dealing With Difficult Dogs"

Presenter Bio: 'The Paw Man' has been a qualified Police Dog Handler, Trainer and Instructor for the last 33 years. He specialises in solving canine behaviour problems especially those involving disobedience, dominance and aggression. His Brisbane based business 'The Paw Man' has been operating for over 12 years and boasts a success rate of over 99%. Visit 'The Paw Man' web site at www.thepawman.com.au to find out more about the man and what he does. Seminar Content Description: Seminar attendance is strictly limited to 50 persons. This ensures the maximum amount of interaction with the group. The Paw Mans straight shooting but light hearted style will shatter many myths about dogs and their behaviours that abound in these Politically Correct times. He will simplify the understand of canine behaviour to a level where even the most difficult of canine behaviours will be understood with ease. He also teaches the correct use of aversive in behaviour modification and discusses various other dog training styles and their advantages and disadvantages. The Paw Man also has a strictly limited number of 1:1 consultations available in the two days following the seminar where he will come to you in Canberra and deal with your dogs problems in the home environment. His 3 previous Canberra seminars have all sold-out before the event so book early to avoid missing out.

Event Date: Easter Sat 7 Apr 2012

Location: Olims Hotel, Braddon Time: 0800-1200hrs

Cost: $100- per head includes light refreshments and reference manual at end of seminar.

Booking Inquiries: For seminar inquiries send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We wish to take this opportunity to thank The Paw Man for all of the assistance he provides us on a daily basis with our rescues and we are looking forward to being able to spend Easter Friday with him learning so much more.

Everybody meet Louise! She's recently fostered Evie and Oscar. She came onboard just in time for Christmas and has been helping us out a fair bit by fostering, offering vet advice and help with the Sydney Pet Expo.

Louise describes her experience fostering in an email to me this week, thanks Louse!

I suppose it's about time I wrote something about myself! My name is Louise (or Lou as most people call me) and I am one of the newest foster carers. I am a vet (it goes without saying that I love all animals!) and I live on acreage near Richmond in NSW, with plenty or room for dogs! Labs have been my favourite dog breed for over 13 years, ever since we got our beautiful lab Taiha. We had 3 labs for 10 years, but sadly in July last year, we lost our beautiful Max, just 6 weeks after we had to put our old crossbreed dog to sleep. So it was a quiet household for about 6 months with just 2 labradors that soon became even more spoilt, as I was so upset about losing the other 2 dogs. Chanel and Taiha now think they can make themselves comfy on my bed whenever they feel like it!

I have always been a huge animal lover and have for many years been involved with foster caring cats and kittens from the Animal Welfare League, as I have always wanted to make a difference for animals in need. I had never foster cared any dogs until joining lab rescue though, probably because we always thought that 4 dogs was enough. But when we were down to only 2 dogs, I decided that I wanted to use that extra room to help dogs that needed some love. So I contacted Lab Rescue and I'm so glad I did! Our first foster dog I fell in love with very quickly. Oscar- the blind chocolate lab- is such a darling that we have decided to keep him because I couldn't bare to send him to a new place to adjust again to new surroundings. Unfortunately I was told by the eye specialist last week that Oscar's cataracts are almost certainly not removable. I was a bit sad that my wish to have his eyesight restored could never happen. But being blind doesn't stop Oscar for one second and he loves going for runs with me and going swimming.

My 2 old labradors are so easy going and loving that being a foster carer has been no problem so far. Except for dogs that don't like cats- they are the only problem (we have 10!). After only a few months with lab rescue I have already experienced so much happiness and joy seeing the foster dogs and how happy they can become when they are shown the love that they deserve. I parted with Evie today, the first labrador I have had to let go to a new home. It was really hard saying good bye to such a beautiful girl, but she provided us with so much joy and entertainment while she was with us it is satisfying knowing that she is now going to a loving new home. When I dropped her at the airport I shed a few tears and the lady who worked at the transport company told me that I am doing such a good job finding dogs new homes. And it's so true. My younger sister was so upset to see Evie leave that she said she doesn't want any more foster dogs because it's too hard to part with them. I agree that it's hard to say good bye, but in the end we have to put our own emotions aside and keep doing what we are doing because the dogs need us to. It's far too easy to turn a blind eye to sad  things like dogs that are dumped and are without homes, but it takes a strong person to see what needs to be done and do it, even if it means you become attached to the lovable creatures and shed a tear or 2 along the way. I know that I will always want to keep the dogs that I foster care because most labradors are just so lovable, but I'm going to try to continue being strong like I was today even if it's upsetting, because I will continue to remember that all the foster carers are doing such a wonderful thing and we should be proud!

It has always been my dream to one day have my own animal shelter, and perhaps now that I'm a vet I will have a combined animal shelter and vet clinic. But until I have the funds and the space to do that I will be satisfied by helping any animals I can that I come across at work, and by helping Labrador Rescue, which is such a worthy cause. Hats off to Katherine and to everyone else who is involved in some way with Labrador Rescue. The world needs more loving people like us!   :P

I think Louise has captured foster carer's feelings extremely well. We are all sad saying goodbye, but there's ALWAYS another one needing care. And we use the happy endings stories and photos as comfort, knowing that these dogs have just been given an amazing second chance of life.

Keep it up Louise, I'm sending another dog your way soon!

Come meet our cuddly dogs and their foster carers this weekend at Canberra's RSPCA Adoption Drive!

Puppies often come into our care needing training. All of our dogs get toilet trained because they all live inside the house. Linda kindly wrote down a few tips on toilet training that I thought I'd share. Feel free to add your own in the comments below. 

Toilet Training ideas from my experience that might help you with new dogs - Linda

Body Language 
Learn the body language your dog exhibits before toileting. This can only be done by observation. Watch your dog until it toilets.

Constant Supervision
While housetraining a dog not to toilet inside, constant supervision is a must. If you can't supervise for a time pop the dog in a crate or outside while you're busy. Remember not to leave the dog in a crate for too long as you want to set up the dog for success not failure . If you keep getting distracted tie the dog to you with a leash so you don't forget (Labs won't mind a bit)! If you are supervising you will be able to catch the dog in the act of toileting, then you make a loud sudden grrowly sound , 'no' or 'bah' to shock the dog into stopping and take it quickly outside following the toileting routine below. 
Note: You cannot punish a dog for toileting inside if you find the evidence more than 10 seconds later, it will have no idea what you're trying to teach it!

Routine
Develop a toileting routine. Dogs generally toilet after a meal, after a drink, upon waking or becoming active after a period of relaxation, like greeting you. At these times take your dog to the same door and walk out with them to the garden and take the same route to the general area you'd like to encourage them to toilet in. Keep wandering around slowly and watch your dog's body language until it goes. When finished give the dog a treat and some lavish praise or a game of fetch or something you know the dog loves.
If you get sick of waiting for the dog to toilet , take it back in and continue the constant supervision while inside, put a timer on and go out again in about half an hour, keep doing this until the dog toilets either inside (and interrupt it) or outside (and praise it). 
Hopefully the dog will start to follow that routine before it toilets and you will notice it trying to tell you that it's time to go. Give yourself a pat on the back when you realise you can understand what the dog is trying to tell you .

Cleaning Up
For a dog that is new to toileting outside on grass, you may like to clean up the mess and transfer it outside to an area of the garden to get an area to start smelling like a dog toilet. If that is not necessary then wipe up inside and spray with vinegar. This will neutralise the smell so that the house doesn't smell like a toilet to the dog.

Chloe came to us from an overwhelmed family in Sydney. They had a young child and couldn't handle Chloe's energetic personality. Poor Chloe went from being a prized puppy to living life tied up in a backyard, all in 9 short months. Gill has recently taken her in and her dog Moose is teaching her about how amazing life is at Gill's house. Gill's been doing some calming exercises with Chloe, teaching her when to settle down. They've also been working on toilet training.

We think Gill's a SUPER foster carer, balancing (the relatively new the family) Moose, a birthday boy and his friends AND a joyful energetic new puppy!

Gill sent us an update today with some hilarious photos attached. 

Dear All

I am on the sofa with my cup of coffee and Chloe at my feet, but still keeping an eye on Moose the destroyer chewing another toy outside. (Sorry Belinda your lovely two toys hit the dust this morning and one of ours...) Yes what a blissful normal picture this represents, we are getting there and its only day 2. The sun is shining and its a beautiful morning for the dogs, and I thought I would share part of the fun we have had getting here.

Last night was an experience. Having had a cat nap Chloe was full of bounce again. However she really loves the big cushion. So we popped her on a lead and made her sit on the cushion while we ignored her and Moose and watched a film. She was soon fast asleep again and did not budge until we got up to go to bed.  Thats when the fun really started. Normally Moose tumbles into bed in the laundry eager for his bedtime treat and never stirs again until the morning.  Hhmmm well we tried that once, then twice, then lost count...an hour later after the dogs were howling into the night, I thought we had lost Chloe at one point as she semed totally AWOL, we heard a massive thump and it was not the dog door...the dogs were partying good and proper. Having tried to be calm and ignore them I lost my rag and shouted at both of them. They sat in their beds shamefaced, panting and happy while I stomped off in my nightie. Not before I barricaded up the front gates with anything to hand to make sure Chloe was not going to escape. By this stage William had stolen my side of the bed and so I was left with the spare single mattress on the floor (Another story behind that.). I lay there for probably about half and hour and to my disbelief there was silence...eventually I fell asleep but even when waking at 6 there was still no sound! I had half expected one dog to be missing, but no two waggy tails greeted us for their morning walk...though we think Moose looked a bit worse for wear!

So this morning the two dogs have played tug of war - with Moose sitting down to try and win, but not always. She has been alot more confident and assertive with him, hackles up at times and he has responded with growls. I am sure they will sort it out but one thing is for sure she has more energy and go than him! Trying to go through the doggy door two at a time is the funniest thing I have seen for a long time.

Toilet training is not going so great. As she has been drinking alot she has been peeing alot too. I have closed off all my carpeted area and while she knows the place in the garedn to go, (she even looks at me for praise as she pees there,) its still alot less effort to go wherever she happens to be standing. I am up for any tips but I have now set my phone to beep every 30 mins so I take her out regularly.

Well its now afternoon and beautifully quiet again. However this email has taken me the best part of the day to get off. Had one interruption after another. My son's 11th birthday today and boys just don't get not playing with dogs. Both dogs are now exhausted and asleep at my feet. I have  been taking lots of opportunities to give her special tummy scratchies when she is calm and sitting or lying down as I hope this encourages her to like quiet time too. At this moment she has her nose an inch from my foot, I can feel her breath on it but I hope the smell does not make her feel sick !

Anyway got to get on with the birthday cake etc, nana and great nana are on their way!

Best wishes

Gill

Gill we all think you are fantastic. If Chloe could talk, she would say how fun life is with your family and explain how thankful she is that you and William are taking care of her while she looks for her forever family. 

Finally I've attached some pics that Gill managed to snap of Moose and Chloe playing. She's a bright little cookie, and I dare say she's keeping Moose on his toes!

Chloe (at the front) resting. You can see Moose at the back going to pick up a toy. 

"Ooooh! Playtime!" Says Chloe.

And it's ON!

I think Moose feels like he has a bit to prove here, it was HIS toy!

Moose tries a new strategy. He sits down. Apparently it's worked in the past. 

But Chloe's worked out that she can stand ontop of him, and twist it just the right way...

Poor Moose, maybe next time buddy!

We're so lucky at Lab Rescue to have such talented people using their gifts to support us. Late last year a lady contacted us about a painting she had created. 

Hi

Lewis was surrendered to us last week. He is a beautiful 16 week old puppy who's still growing up. He's about the size of a big cat. We VERY rarely get pure lab puppies this young, so it's a bit of a treat for us to see them.

Lewis has just been moved into foster carer Laurie's home so that he can learn to play with golden retriever Ari. I was lucky enough to drop Lewis off and watch him play with Ari for the first time. Oh how they loved each other! At one stage, trembling with excitement, Ari ran towards Lewis, forgot to stop and bowled him over! Completely knocked off his feet!

Lewis is learning quickly however, next time Ari came running at him he gave a warning snap. Ari was so taken aback that he cringed! Poor old Ari, told off by someone a third of his size!

By the time I left Laurie's house the boys were panting heavily. They had just spent the last 20 minutes chasing each other around the yard and play bowing. It was VERY cute.

Laurie sent me some photos of Lewis the other night, I think they are rather cute!

Labradors are notorious for suffering arthritis. One of our volunteers Angel has just reported that her young, fit healthy girl has just been diagnosed with early onset arthritis. We've currently got two dogs in our care who have suffer from arthritis, but at times we've had a lot more.

If we get a dog with arthritis it's CRUCIAL that we keep the dog at a healthy weight. (i.e. when the lab is standing you can feel it's ribs under a layer of skin. The ribs shouldn't be visable.) We also keep the dogs fit, usually by swimming or slow long walks as it puts less stress on the joints. The muscle build up supports the joints reducing arthritic pain.

Katherine's been looking into a couple of products who help arthritis. She's been talking to other rescue groups getting their advice, as well as talking to some of our vets. We will be bulk ordering some drugs to help our rescues. If you are interested in finding out about what we use, feel free to email Katherine ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) and discuss these options with your local vet.

We are not vets and we don't know your dogs history. Please note that any advice you receive from us should also be discussed with your local vet.

We've seen many dogs who come into care with arthritis and although they are all different in personality, they all share the one thing. They love life, and don't let a bit of arthritic pain get in their way. Playing, swimming, tummy rubs and chewing a big bone are DEFINITELY not inhibited by arthritis!

Bit of a life lesson for us huh? I complain and swear at the mere thought of a paper cut....

Lucia's owners emailed us over the new year with an update. It had such a funny picture in it, I just have to share it!

Apparently Lucia's learnt how to loop herself into the seat belt when in the car, how clever! Very sensible of you!

Here's Gregi's update on Lucia:

Although not strictly a foster dog, I really wanted to give you an update on beautiful Moose. Moose was a foster with Linda before Christmas and was adopted by Gill, another foster carer. We've been looking after him while Gill went away on holidays. We can't take a foster at the moment because our fences are in such a terrible condition (all the foster dogs poking their noses next door for a pat!)

I emailed Gill, Moose's owner an update how his 'holiday' is going with us.

Hi Gill,

About a week ago we got an email from someone asking how expensive it was to have a lab. I though this would be a great opportunity to write a blog post on the expected costs of labradors. 

I've only owned a lab for 9 months, before then I'd never owned a dog. My hubby and I are still learning what to put aside for the dogs so there was no way I could write an article based on my own experience. So instead, I asked a few foster carers with dogs of their own to tell their stories. 

Some foster carers don't own their own labs, some own golden retrievers, some curlies some wolfhound crosses. But they are all relatively big dogs with similar common health issues.

So firstly I'll introduce everyone. 

Kim - Kim is a holiday foster carer, helping out when we're really busy in the holidays. Kim's recently adopted Bronson to befriend her lab Ella. 

Linda - Most of you will already know Linda, she's the one who matches dogs with people. Linda owns a Brittany, a Curly Coated Retriever and a tabby cat, all who have seen many fosters over the years. Linda's passionate about responsible dog ownership and loves reading and sharing her dog training tips.

Kylie - If you have ever adopted a dog off us, you would have recieved a congratulations email. Kylie finalises all our adoptions and sorts out our paperwork. She's adotped two labs off us, Bella and Zippah who joined Sammy J and Emma, Kylie's other labs. She also owns two rabbits and a cat. I think it's fair to say Kylie knows a thing or two about the costs and benefits of keeping animals!

Frances - Frances is one of our more experienced foster carers. She's had many through her doors and has lots of stories to tell. She and her family all love dogs, you just have to hear her strategy of walking three dogs at one time! Frances has a cocker spaniel who teaches fosters manners, and sadly has recently said goodbye to her beloved goldie. Frances also has a cat.

Karen - Karen's a foster carer we pinched from Golden Retriever Rescue! She has a 9 year old goldie and a gorgeous king charles spaniel. Like Frances, Karen has been with lab rescue for a while, fostering many dogs. She's always a sucker for a good dog story and loves to hear how her fosters are going in their new homes.

Carole - Carole is our WA rep who adopted Roxxi and flew her all the way from Canberra to Perth. After spending all that money transporting Roxxi, Carole quickly found out she had an ectopic urethrea. Despite all that, Carole's family love Roxxi to bits and think every cent is worth it. Carole helps out by responding to emails in our email box. She's often everyone's first contact with Lab Rescue. 

Shalini - Shalini is a foster carer and event organiser for Lab Rescue. She's got two boofy lab boys Lynx and Viper and if she had her way, she'd have a lot more! Since Shalini's joined Lab Rescue late last year she's organised a stand at the pet expo, rehomed half a dozen labs, made countless trips around Sydney and Canberra and various phone calls. Shalini's passionate about rescuing labradors and has a real soft heart for them.  

Food

How much do you spend on food every week? How many dogs does that cover? What is it that you buy them?

Kim: We buy the biggest bags of dog food, which last about a month or so - $100 a bag? I must admit I don't keep close track of how long it lasts although with our new lovely Bronson we are certainly going through the food. Extras would be $10-15 per wk on top of the dry food, max.  

Linda: Our Pet Barn bill came just under $900 (generally food, toys & grooming needs for 3 dogs & cat) which adds up to about $12/week/dog. Food varies from low end Bonnie or Supercoat to high end Eukanuba or Nutro

Kylie: We have Royal Canine (Obesity) for our oldies $140 for a 20kilo bag, with joint formula but Supercoat $20 10 kilo (I think) for the Jnrs. With bones and chicken wings, carcasses I would say similar to Linda around $12-14 a week per dog.

Frances: I use Bonnie Lite as i have oldies and buy a 20 kilo bag at about $42 I think which last 3 dogs (and sometimes a sneaky cat) about 3 weeks. I add a large bone, treats etc and would agree it would average out at about $8 to $10 a week.

I add Omega fish oil capsules (3 X2000) per day  and 1X glucosamine tablet per day for any dog over 7 years of age or in poor condition plus a splash of sunflower oil per day for all ages. I buy the tablets in woolworths in jars of 200 each. Approx $40 ish dollars a jar.

Karen: Per year I'd spend about $500 on Science Diet for Heidi my 9 year old goldie. Treats will probably add up to $500 per year too. I give her bones when I go to work each day. 

Carole: We buy big bag of weight control eukanuba. I'm not sure how long last for but costs around 120. I guess I'll probably go through at least four a year.

Shalini: I spend about $25 a week on my two boys. That covers canned dog food and dry pedigree biscuits.

Toys!

Do you buy toys for your dogs? How much do you spend, say per year? What is it they like to play with?

Kim: Yes we do! Especially when they are pups, or if their favourite 'breaks' (i.e chewed to bits). We spend maybe, $20 per year? I suppose most years they get nothing new, really, they have heaps of toys. They love to play with tennis balls! Kmart sells packs of 6 cheap, and we got some bigger, squeaky ones from PetStock. Also fans of the tug of war rope, and soft toys to carry around.

Linda: My dogs like to play with rope toys, kongs, larger sized balls, squeakies. Our toys are included in the Pet Barn bill, under $900 a year. 

Kylie: Toys.. tennis balls, anything that squeeks. I usually buy them from the cheap shops and they last as long as the expensive ones. Kongs have survived but they are not interested in them unless they have food in them! Clam kids pools are an annual buy $15 from big W.. they all love splashing around in them anytime of the day.

Frances: I bought a shell for paddling from Bunnings for $18 dollars recently. Noticed last week they had them on sale for $12! 

Karen: Heidi likes playing with the tug of war toys like the Kong Wubba. We probably spend about $50 a year on toys. 

Carole: Roxxi loves the squeaky chickens, we probably spend about $40 a year. 

Shalini: My boys love anything with stuffing in it! So we go through about $100 a year on stuffed toys. 

Medical Expenses

Do you have medical insurance for your dogs? What's the largest vet bill you've had for your dog/s? How much do you spend per year as a minimum at the vets?

Kim: No insurance. 

When we lost our lab Satchmo to hemangio sarcoma (sp?) new years day a year ago, we dropped $1400 at the emergency vet just in one night on all the tests trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Then there were extra costs for the final, horrible chest xray, the cost of putting him to sleep, and disposal. I don't know how much that was, we just handed over the credit card distraught in tears.

Being big dogs, the cost of vaccinations and such (based on weight) is not cheap. We would budget around $500-600 for the yearly checkups and jabs? I think? I know it's a lot but again it's not something I fret over. We're not made of money by any means but the yearly checkup and jabs is just a must do. If we're going to the coast, I think it's about $70 for a few doses of Frontline for the ticks. That stuff IS expensive.

Linda: Last year we spend $325 at the vet, that covers two dogs and a cat. 

I think you would need to spend at least $300 a year to keep a dog C5 vaccinated, free of heartworm and intestinal worms and fleas/ticks.

I don’t have pet insurance for current dogs but will for next dog from 8 weeks!

Gus had a $240 vet bill this month (for teeth/ear clean/nail clip), has had a $1000 emergency vet bill and a $1200 vet bill for mast cell tumour removal in the last 2 years.

Kylie: Vet bills for 3 dogs had been around $1500 for the year. Then again our oldies have daily anti inflammatory at a fair cost but it makes a huge difference to their mobility and happiness. (our rabbit has just hit $1800 in 6 weeks after 2 surgeries!) The largest bill we got from the Vet was for our 14 year old lab who had spleen cancer 4 years ago. All up the operation and the 6 months on chemo was roughly $10k. BUT she is still with us and has been a great help for cancer research in Labs. The bill was payable as we went so after the initial operation it was payments here and there over the 6 months.

Frances:  Our dogs get annual check up, C5 and annual heart worm injection. Then add monthly Frontline for flea protection. Logan's cancer investigation and then euthanizing cost close to $1800

Karen: I think something that people who are getting dog of any age need to realise that a large vet bill could come at anytime. eg. when my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was 3yo, she had OCD in her shoulder (extremely unusual for her breed) - the operation and associated treatment cost atleast $2000.  Without the operation, she would have been in a lot of pain.  As Linda said, pet insurance is a good idea and I will definitely get it in the future...

My breakdown is:

Annual Vaccination & Heartworm - $200

2011 Vet Bill (covers a lump removal, skin irritation, yucky eye) - $1,000

Allwormer - $50

Advantix/Frontline - $40

Carole: No pet insurance, sigh! 

So far since adopting roxxi 2 years ago we have spent $ 6500 on knee reconstruction and associated xrays and costs. We have also spent approx $5500 on trying to determine why she leaks all the time which we discovered she had when she arrived – there is still no answer so we will probably be up for at least another $2000-4000 to discover what it is and fix it if possible.

These amounts are in addition to the usual vaaccinations, worming etc – she also is on catrophen injections and is also on sashas blend. 

This is on top of the $400 adoption and the $550 air transport cost to get her to Perth.

Shalini: I have pet insurance, it costs me about $15 a week. The largest bill I've ever paid was about $1,000. The minimum I'd pay in a year is about $200.

Other Expenses 

Have you had to modify your backyard for your dogs? (Fosters don't count!) Have your dogs ever destroyed something you had to fix/replace? How much do you spend per year on holiday arrangements for your dogs?

Kim: Our dogs haven't really done much damage. We've done a bit of fence patching in the past. We've picked past rentals and our current (own) home based in part on their dog friendliness! 

If we can't take the dogs with us, we use pups4Fun pet sitting. They come and walk, feed, water, check mail, take up bins, water plants, etc etc - that is $40 per 30 mins visit for two dogs ($65 for 60 mins), though we usually need to pay a holiday surcharge on top. We generally don't leave them for more than 3 days in these cases, any more and I ask my brother to actually house/dog sit for us (well, I always ask him to do it in the first instance, so I can save money!). So, pet sitting might be $150 a year, give or take, if we really need it.

Gus pushed through three palings of wooden fence, easy to fix. My dogs are quite easy on the garden but they’re not Labs! Kaeli likes to dig but that has very little impact and doesn’t bother us. Already had sandpit for the kids, Kaeli encouraged to dig there but prefers bug hunting in the grass! We did build a large new deck with weatherproof roof with the dogs needs in mind, as well as ours.

Kaeli chewed the pedal off my sewing machine but that was easily replaced!

Kylie: We take our animals with us to visit family but also have family animal sit if we need to go on an extended trip. We have hired animal friendly houses by the water a few times on average $200 - $250 a night depending on where it is and we have shared with other people to keep costs down. There are loads on http://www.stayz.com.au/pet-friendly-accommodation

They have destroyed beds and washing, shrubs but nothing like a lounge or big ticket items.  Leads and collars last many years even with washing them (as long as they can’t chew them off). Initially maybe $30 per dog and then a tag for $20. We have had the same leads for years and they still look like new. We do put them away each time so no teeth can chew so am sure than makes a difference. Guess we have been lucky too!

Anything else? 

Kim: There are usually unexpected vet visits. Ear infections, weird lumps, etc we get checked out.

Set up costs if you haven't owned a dog before or getting a second one - collar, lead, ID tag, dog poo bags, dog bed, registration. You can save money though, e.g. We use ice cream containers instead of dog bowls! If you buy a pup I suppose there is desexing, microchipping...

There is no getting around the fact that owning labs is not cheap. You HAVE to expect some major vet bills in your future: dog gets hit by car, dog needs a knee replacement, dog gets cancer, dog gets chronic illness...all awful things but if the vet assesses there's a good chance for recovery / a good quality of life, you have to be willing to spend the money, or honestly don't get a dog in the first place. I'm pretty harsh about that I think. A work colleague just spent around $5000 on her lab getting his leg amputated because of cancer, plus the treatment, and now he needs some tooth extractions for an abcess - as she said, 'he gives us more than $5000 worth of love a year, and as long as he has a good quality of life the money doesn't matter'

Linda: Bedding can be something that needs regular replacement!

Membership of an obedience club can be excellent both for learning training techniques and having access to off leash exercise areas. Often just over $100 per year.

I find dogs very high maintenance money and time wise, much more so than cats, but worth it.

Kylie: We bought expensive beds, around $130 after trying MANY – Kazoo brand. They are soft and the outside is washable which is fantastic! All the puppies love them and choose them over others we have. The extra large can fit 2 no worries.

Towels for washing on days like today. Prob $30 per dog per year. We wash them constantly with swimming and walking. The cheap ones really don’t last unfortunately.

Christmas pressies $10 per bag/bones just for fun. Dare I say reindeer antlers at $3 each! hehehe

Frances: Collars generally last about half a lifetime and leads last a lifetime or more. I keep the knots out of the leads and make sure they are dry before putting them away.

At least 2 tags per dog in a lifetime as the metal wears through approx$10 each engraved.

Add in a car harness per dog for safety in traveling. Probably about $45 each but it's been a while since I bought them. They last a lifetime too.

Bedding for us is the trampolines since Logan ate everything else. Large Goldie size or Goldie plus springer plus cat if a cold night was over $120. Medium for springer plus cat and lab if cold night about $80??? Add in comfort mat which clips to trampoline for older dogs, medium mat was about $60 plus. Cheaper mats which just sit on the top of the trampoline rather than attach can be got from $2 shops. Not much padding however.

Add feed bowls and LARGE stable water containers even a lab trying to swim in can't knock over $20 for both tops.

LOL crikey it does add up!

Karen: The only other thing I would add is bedding, we've spend around $100 on that. 

Carole: I can't think of anything else to add. 

Shalini: Maybe a couple of other token items:

Dog bed- $25 each

Collar- $15

Kennel- pointless but why not $200.00

Dog door in glass panel- $900.00

Conclusion

Phew what blog post! It all looks a little daunting when you add it all up doesn't it? Remember this is just a couple of experiences, yours will be different depending on your lifestyle and the health of your dog. 

One question I didn't ask the foster carers, was the question of worth. Are dogs worth all of this? 

Undoubtedly we think so. We keep loving them despite the hole in our wallets. There's no 'discount dogs' at Lab Rescue. Even if you did manage to get a dog for free, the costs of upkeep with a lab can be quite severe. It's just another thing that needs considering. 

I hope this helps everyone in preparation for their new dogs! Big thanks to all the foster carers who shared their experiences. If you would like to ask a question about anything mentioned above, feel free to leave a comment. 

Angel's volunteered to maintain a Lab Rescue facebook page! You can share photos, stories and read all our blogs on facebook. 

There are a couple of Lab Rescue pages started up, so look for the new logo as the profile photo. Here's a direct link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Labrador-Rescue/209331982493477

Hope to see you on there!

About a year ago Frances, one of our foster carers, picked up Sasha from Yass. Only a day after picking up Sash, Frances was called up to help as part of the SES for the Queensland Floods. 

Frances' neice Annie was at home and helped look after Sasha. Apparently she texted Frances saying -

There's a Hippo in the House!

Sasha was 42 kilos and drastically overweight! Frances and Annie had to work hard to get the weight off. Frances is the Michelle Briggs of the canine world! 

Sasha was adopted early last year by a couple who later adopted Coco. They live in South Australia and rumour has it, the girls have been water skiing! We knew she loved the water, but didn't realise how much!

Here's an update from Sash and Coco's owners. 

Hi everyone at Lab Rescue, and Happy 2012!!

So sorry for our late update to you all, but I've attached a photo depicting the love affair we are having with the very special Coco and gorgeous Sasha we recently adopted!

There are no words to describe how much we love them, or how much the girls have enriched our lives.

Sasha's lost 11kgs since we brought her home in August - and now looks (and runs) like a 3 year old! Coco's skin and hair condition have both improved out of sight - she's now a shiny, delicious chocolate girl!!

The girls love to swim in the river, adore their walks, love chasing their ball, and let's not forget their food! But mostly, they love us, and would trade it all off for their 'Dad' in the picture. Even the cats have grown to love (ok, tolerate) them!!

Thanks to Linda for matching us all up so well, and to Katherine for arranging their interstate trips to get to us! 

Lab Rescue is an amazing organisation, that we highly recommend and adopting Sasha and Coco is without doubt, one of Jonathon's and my best decisions ever!!  

This is on the the ABC news over the weekend:

The Queensland Government is moving to wipe out puppy farms in the state, saying time is running out for unscrupulous dog farmers.

Regional Economies Minister Tim Mulherin says proposed new registration requirements will eliminate cruel and brutal dog breeders, making it very difficult for them to run inhumane and secluded operations away from scrutiny.

The new system, developed with the help of animal welfare groups, will mean dog breeders must comply with very high standards for canine management, breeding, rearing, health, housing and record-keeping.

Mr Mulherin says every dog will have a micro chip so it can be traced back to the breeder.

"The registration system involves mandatory registration for intensive dog breeders [and] regular monitoring," he said.

"In addition, all microchips will include the breeder's information and the dog's mother's micro chip number. This will allow authorities to more easily identify puppy farms and trace the origins of the puppies.

"These notorious operations generally have very poor conditions, sometimes with hundreds of dogs, and fail to meet any of the dogs' behavioural social needs.

"With the proposed new breeder registration system, these unscrupulous puppy farms will be squeezed out of the market."

January 21, 2012 12:38:21 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-21/time-running-out-for-puppy-farms/3785822

We'd love to get your advice on some new walking harnesses.

Do you think they would work with Labs?

;)

We've been contacted about a puppy needing a home, we don't have space for it at the moment so we are just going to advertise it here. 

Ad says:

Big, beautiful, puppy dog and I am quite sad to get rid of it however due to its size it takes up a lot of space in my apartment. In excellent condition and well behaved.

$30

Photo below:

I realise we're always saying that we are busy at Lab Rescue, but it's honestly the truth! There's always something to be done and there's never enough time to do it all. 

The last couple of days have been incredibly busy with people contacting us about rehoming their dogs. Each have their own reasons and unfortunately we can't always help them all.

Many rescue groups refuse to take in privately surrendered dogs. When I first joined Lab Rescue  Linda and Katherine were tearing their hair out over it! Unfortunately many people who surrender their dog to us don't realise how much work goes into rehoming them. They think it's  quick money for us and that they are doing us a favour by giving us a dog for free. It's not always the case, but it only takes a couple to be burnt by this attitude.

We once had a dog who was only a couple of months old surrendered to us. He was still so young he wasn't fully grown. He was showing typically lab puppy behaviour which was too much for their young family. Knowing we had the space and the time, we decided to transport the dog from Sydney to Canberra to rehome him. 

The day we were going to pick up the dog we were contacted by the owner who explained that the family was distraught over giving the dog up and wanted to give it another go. We were sympathetic but a little frustrated at the amount of work we went through to organise transport. It's hard to ask for favours all the time and we had just facilitated a pick up and drop off just for this dog. 

We gave the family a few tips and hoped for the best. We weren't sure how successful they would be since they didn't sound so receptive. There was nothing more to do, so we just moved on. 

A couple of days later we got news that the dog was being sold on gumtree for $500. 

We happened to know the person who ended up buying the dog and they said that the family had bought another puppy a few days after selling their labrador. 

So please understand that although we save dogs from the pound frequently and rather successfully, we are a little suspicious of people surrendering their dogs. Above everything else we wish that Labs didn't need to be rehomed, either via the pound or through a private rehoming. We wish that organisations like us had absolutely nothing to do.

The worst decision we have to make is to decide whether we take in a surrendered lab into foster care. How do we prioritise that dog's life over a dog in a pound? And if we have a foster carer free, what happens if we get an influx of labs in the pounds? Where do we put the new dogs then? 

This is why many rescue has a blanket rule to all private surrenders, asking them to rehome their dogs themselves. They encourage people to put up posters, facilitate meet and greets and assess new homes themselves. They do this with a massive amount of guilt, since they know that it's very likely that intact dogs go to backyard breeders. Or the dogs get dumped in pounds, or even bounce between homes. 

We try to have a balanced approach. We are passionate about people committing to dogs forever, and we're unashamedly unforgiving with this point of view. If you are giving up your dog (in our opinion) it's a heartbreaking, horrible outcome for both you and your dog. There's no 'good' reason for such a break up, it's just a bad situation. 

We're lucky with our website at Lab Rescue, we have a great web system and a very goodlooking web administrator to go with it (me!). We've created a system that allows us to advertise approved dogs online for a donation to our work. The actual rehoming process, the meet and greet, the paperwork and any transport is all held responsible by the original owner of the dog. This means that we only have to approve of the dog and communicate with original owners. This cuts out a lot of headache for us!

We don't let just any dog on our website. They obviously have to be a labrador, preferably pure and can't have any aggression issues. (although we can't prove this, it's up the the people applying for the dog to check this out). It's part of our licence that all dogs who are associated with Lab Rescue are desexed, and it's something we take seriously.

So if you are considering rehoming your lab, please understand if we are a bit gruff with you. Please understand that we put a lot of work into making sure that our labs go to good homes, it's really sad (and personal) for us to see that a lab hasn't had the privilege of having the best home life so far. 

Finally, thank you to everyone out there who are considering adopting a rescue dog. By adopting a rescue dog your stopping the cycle of unnecessary breeding, and hopefully providing FOREVER homes for these lucky little dogs!

We got this email recently that I wanted to share with everyone. It's an important message that Sammy's old owners wanted to pass on. 

Dear Rescue labrador
 
We adopted through Labrador Rescue two years ago (almost to the day).  And we were one of the success stories.  Sammy (previously called Riley) was a very healthy, happy and much loved dog and member of our family.  But we are the bearer of sad news.
 
Our Sammy passed away on Tuesday, 3rd January.  We were away on holiday and my inlaws looked after her.  They took her the beach for a week to the Coast.  After returning home, she became paralysed and was rushed to emergency vet.  5 paralysis ticks were located included 2 which really did some damage.  She had cardiac arrest hours later and she died.
 
We had only been to the vet a week earlier for her annual check up and were told that she was as strong as an ox.  Needless to say, my husband and I are devasted.  To lose our much loved pet this way, when she had really come into her own, so happy and confident seems so cruel.
 
I am telling you this - not to simply share the sadness but in the hope that you can help spread the news about the high risk of ticks in the South Coast area.  Had we known, we would have done so many things differently but now live with regret.  Ironically my inlaws dog only came back with a case of the fleas.
 
In your network capacity, please warn about the risk out there.  
 
Many thanks.
 
Regards
 
Sammy's owners. 
 

Over Christmas we got an email from a lady in Sydney who was concerned about a lab in her neighbourhood. She described him as a skinny chocolate lab. We arranged transport and a foster home for him and Linda took him in. 

Poor Jackson was so filthy that when we gave him a bath, underneath all that dirt was a black labrador! 

Jackson's now spent a couple of weeks with Linda and she wrote in an email today about his progress. He's become quite a star at her house!