Hi everyone, what a wonderful forum this is here. I've been searching to my hearts content for days. I took in 5 lab pups from some people who were trying to dump the remainder of the litter that there female had. It was a litter of six, and they were keeping one. They were weaned off of the mother before I got a hold of them, but they were fed dairy milk, and hadn't seen any kibble yet. Since i've taken them in and worked with them, i've started on milk replacer, then worked up to a gruel, then kibble with water, and now have them eating dry kibble with delight.

I'm planning on keeping two males, and have found an established rescue that is picking up the other three. Aside from searching on stuff like shots and the proper time to fix a lab, i've done a lot of searching here on the topic of food and have quized some animal health centers and vets. Seems there is a very broad opinion...... One vet/health center said the best value comes down to Ol' Roy, they carry Diamond for a premium brand and then the generic stuff. Another health center says the best thing to do is call and talk to my vet, that health center recommends CN/Evo/Innova and also carry about everything else. They also strongly recommended Nutri-Source for a food with value, and said they've had good experiences with it. I think my vet recommends Purina & Science Diet, but I think they might carry Diamond too. When I made conversation with a family member about the quality of food that they are feeding, they simply get a little upset and say "no one, especially you, cannot afford to buy the fancy stuff". Also they say that their dog is picky and prefers what it has, but I doubt they have ever tried any quality food.

Seems the mainstream are just satisfied with box store or supermarket food? Should I be satisfied like that too? I picked up a 5lb bag of Nutri-Source for the pups yesterday, as I thought it was about the best I had seen available from the couple places I had checked. I checked for availability of California Natural at a local animal health center, and they were getting $40 for a 30lb bag. Is that good? I didn't spring for it, as they didn't have any 6lb bags to try. I know these dogs will eat Ol' Roy. The people gave me a little box full of it, as they were feeding the stuff to the mother, and the pups happened to find it while I was letting them get some exercise. Is it really all about what the dog likes and what it eats, or should I be paranoid on what i'm doing to the dog by feeding it what I choose and going through trial?

Thanks

My food advice will depend on how old they are...

BAD idea to keep two male littermates.

BAD idea to keep two male littermates.

Hi, would you have any recommendations, please? Just pick one, or pick a male and female, or pick two females?

I was under the assumption that two females wouldn't get along. As of now, the two males play with each other, and sleep on each other. They also seemed to be the most friendly with me, but another is turning real friendly on me. One other one really doesn't want anything to do with me, and the other one is super hyper and likes to whimper either when it's not held or held more than a minute.

Thanks

The NutriSource looks pretty good. I wouldn't recommend Ol Roy.

This site will be a huge help:

www.dogfoodanalysis.com

Thanks, yes that is a good site. I've spent many a hr on there.

I have had good experiences with Canidae, California Naturals and Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. Chicken Soup is probably the best price of the three.

Hi everyone, what a wonderful forum this is here. I've been searching to my hearts content for days. I took in 5 lab pups from some people who were trying to dump the remainder of the litter that there female had. It was a litter of six, and they were keeping one. They were weaned off of the mother before I got a hold of them, but they were fed dairy milk, and hadn't seen any kibble yet. Since i've taken them in and worked with them, i've started on milk replacer, then worked up to a gruel, then kibble with water, and now have them eating dry kibble with delight.

I'm planning on keeping two males, and have found an established rescue that is picking up the other three. Aside from searching on stuff like shots and the proper time to fix a lab, i've done a lot of searching here on the topic of food and have quized some animal health centers and vets. Seems there is a very broad opinion...... One vet/health center said the best value comes down to Ol' Roy, they carry Diamond for a premium brand and then the generic stuff. Another health center says the best thing to do is call and talk to my vet, that health center recommends CN/Evo/Innova and also carry about everything else. They also strongly recommended Nutri-Source for a food with value, and said they've had good experiences with it. I think my vet recommends Purina & Science Diet, but I think they might carry Diamond too. When I made conversation with a family member about the quality of food that they are feeding, they simply get a little upset and say "no one, especially you, cannot afford to buy the fancy stuff". Also they say that their dog is picky and prefers what it has, but I doubt they have ever tried any quality food.

Seems the mainstream are just satisfied with box store or supermarket food? Should I be satisfied like that too? I picked up a 5lb bag of Nutri-Source for the pups yesterday, as I thought it was about the best I had seen available from the couple places I had checked. I checked for availability of California Natural at a local animal health center, and they were getting $40 for a 30lb bag. Is that good? I didn't spring for it, as they didn't have any 6lb bags to try. I know these dogs will eat Ol' Roy. The people gave me a little box full of it, as they were feeding the stuff to the mother, and the pups happened to find it while I was letting them get some exercise. Is it really all about what the dog likes and what it eats, or should I be paranoid on what i'm doing to the dog by feeding it what I choose and going through trial?

Thanks


I wish I paid only $40 for a 30 lb. bag.....from my perspective, that's a relly good price.

I'm one of the people who swears by CalNat Lamb & Rice.

Barb

I've been using taste of the wild. Just switched my dogs a few weeks ago. They really love it. And look very good (shiny). It's about $42 for a large bag (I guess it's around 30lbs) around here at tractor supply.

Cal natural is about $28/15# bag here; that's all I get for the month cause Rivers eats other things, but I have no choice but to feed him this food, it's the only one he's ever done good on consistently.

Aside from this though, my dogs diets are very important to me, they are all rescue dogs, but I've taught each one from the word go that they were not allowed to be picky. Thank goodness I really didn't have to teach them that, each one is a garbage gut and will eat anything.

In regards to Nicole's comments on keeping two males, it WILL work, but how comfortable are you with training, enforcing commands, and running your house with dogs? Are you going to be able to dedicate time to training each one individually? Two male littermates are NOT EASY. I kept two from my litter. It was a tremendous amount of work. I had 3 labs already, and NONE of them were as much trouble as these 2. Even now as they are slowly approaching 2 years of age, each one individually with me is fine (I spent ALOT of time with each one, and with each one and the adults so that I could limit the bonding the 2 did to one another), but in a pair, they are still difficult. This would not be a situation to go into with blinders on. But if you were to think long and hard of the work ahead, how you will take care of them and train them, and are super dedicated to it, it CAN be done.

In regards to the food, what you feed and how you feed it really depends on what age these pups are. I would stay away from Ol' Roy. It's comparable to feeding a sugar cereal to your kids for ALL their meals. I wouldn't feed Science Diet either, but the other brands like Iams, Eukanuba, Pro Plan are all good foods. Yes, the all Natural, organic, fancy brands are great, but honestly not all of us can afford to feed that nor do all of our dogs do well on that food. Not all of us live in an area with ready access to the fancy brands either.

[QUOTE=CanyonLabradors;1964278870]In regards to Nicole's comments on keeping two males, it WILL work, but how comfortable are you with training, enforcing commands, and running your house with dogs? Are you going to be able to dedicate time to training each one individually? Two male littermates are NOT EASY. I kept two from my litter. It was a tremendous amount of work. I had 3 labs already, and NONE of them were as much trouble as these 2. Even now as they are slowly approaching 2 years of age, each one individually with me is fine (I spent ALOT of time with each one, and with each one and the adults so that I could limit the bonding the 2 did to one another), but in a pair, they are still difficult. This would not be a situation to go into with blinders on. But if you were to think long and hard of the work ahead, how you will take care of them and train them, and are super dedicated to it, it CAN be done.]

I have never had litter mates but I do agree with Jen's statement. Our friends have Diesel's brother Quandry and man oh man I can see how it can be difficult. I have taken a lot of time and effort to train Diesel and Quandry has not gotten that training. And it shows - with both of them!! Diesel usually does very well, but I can see how if having both of them together would be difficult. Because still today at a year they are a little nutty around each other. I think it can be done, just a lot of time and training. :)

Thanks for the replies. I paid $12.99 for a 6lb bag of Nutri-Source. I know that if I bought a larger bag, it would be cheaper for the poundage. But just calculating that price into a 30lb bag, it would be $65. That would sound insane, compared to the price of the $40 for a 30lb bag of CN. Do any of you know if they offer samples to any of the vets or health centers? The health center where I checked only has samples of stuff like Purina, Hills, and Diamond, and maybe one or two more. I could order a smaller bag, but I would have to pay for special order. My concern is if they would have a reaction to it, that would be a lot of food left in the bag, and a lot of money wasted.

Is it any sex of littermates that give a problem, or having a certain two sexes of them? What about just having one of the pups, and getting a second from a rescue? I'm not sure if another pup would be better, or an older dog? Or am I just best to stick with one? I suppose they would like another companion, but I realize your apt to loose their respect if they have another of their type.