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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Hello! I'm new here!

    Hello! My name is Susinko and I have a six year old lab named Ellie. Ellie is my first dog and has been a learning experience. My husband has had dogs before, but only as a kid and he wasn't taught to treat them properly. Please be assured that he does now and he views as a second chance. My daughter doesn't get along well with the dog, complaining about behavior that's just dog behavior. Yes, you have to take dogs outside to go to the bathroom and a dog will eat your sandwich that you left on the floor. That's because she's a dog.

    Ellie was found by the rescue organization on the side of the road with her twelve newborn puppies. No one attempted to claim her. Although her puppies were ready to go at the same time as her, I know that puppies go fast and fewer people would want mama, so I picked her. Ellie is a pretty chocolate color with severe separation anxiety issues. Just shutting her into the living room while I take a shower or spend time with my husband will reduce her into a shivering, crying, drooling mess.

    I'm hoping to meet some great people on this board and maybe get some advice on some of her perplexing habits. For example, Ellie will meet new people and dogs with a wag of the tail. And then ignore them. She'll calmly sit down and turn her head from side to side to avoid face-to-face contact with other dogs. She'll sniff people for food and then she ignores them too. Everyone tells me this is wrong behavior for a lab and I have no idea why she does it.

    One of my biggest pet peeves are people who get angry with me that Ellie is fixed. It confuses me why they get angry or disgusted in the first place. Just because you have a purebred dog, it doesn't mean you have to breed her. I wouldn't even if she hadn't been fixed when I got her! I don't know anything about breeding first of all and I know that it takes knowledgeable people to make sure that negative traits aren't passed on. That isn't me. Also, I don't think she has the best confirmation, so why would I breed her when there's already so many dogs and puppies out there? It's silly.

    I want to thank everyone who reads this!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog WhoopsaDaisy's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome. Thanks for rescuing Ellie!
    Katie and Aric (7/1/17) Hidden Content
    Whoops-a-Daisy B. 1-26-13 Gotcha 8-25-13
    Jett B 8-17-17, Gotcha 10-7-17




    “Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.”
    Hidden Content (author,Hidden Content )

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Sue-Ram's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Susinko View Post
    I'm hoping to meet some great people on this board and maybe get some advice on some of her perplexing habits. For example, Ellie will meet new people and dogs with a wag of the tail. And then ignore them. She'll calmly sit down and turn her head from side to side to avoid face-to-face contact with other dogs. She'll sniff people for food and then she ignores them too. Everyone tells me this is wrong behavior for a lab and I have no idea why she does it.
    Welcome. My dog does the same thing when meeting dogs and people, although he's a mix. I don't see anything wrong with calmly sitting after a greeting. By not doing a face-to-face with other dogs, it's my understanding that's the way they let other dogs know that they're not a threat or looking for a fight. I think you have a dog with people and dog manners, it's a good thing.
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    Ram - Adopted @ 6 y/o - 7/18/2011 - 7/4/2019
    CGN - 6/10/2013


  4. #4
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    Welcome to the forum! My first lab was a rescue, and some of the same things you are describing with Ellie happened with her. She was abandoned 2 separate times before we took her to her Forever home. She slowly grew her way out of it. She learned that we always came home, that we would always have her. Thank you for rescuing sweet Ellie, she really needed someone like you!
    Julie & Jake, Bacon's Humans

    Instagram: @mrbaconthelab


    Born: 9/02/13

    Gotcha: 11/08/13

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    In memory of Lily 1/1995 - 2/2/2012

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  5. #5
    Senior Dog Jollymolly's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome. Thanks for rescuing Ellie I have no doubt that she will learn that you are not abandoning her with time.

    Lookiing forward to seeing some pictures of her

  6. #6
    House Broken jertom's Avatar
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    "Everyone tells me this is wrong behavior for a lab and I have no idea why she does it."
    Who the heck is everyone and why do you care?
    Be grateful for good manners, Rocky believes that all people and other dogs are in this world to play with him, sounds good until you have 70lbs.
    jumping on the mail girl, neighbor, etc.. We're working on it but wish I didn't have to.
    Same with anyone that has the nerve to say you should breed your dog, they probably don't even have a dog at home.
    Good luck to you.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    Welcome! She sounds like a perfectly normal, well behaved girl.

  8. #8
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    Sounds to me that if others are telling you she shouldn't have been spayed so that you could breed her, these people really don't have much of a clue about dogs or their behavior. So, if they're saying her turning her head away is not usual behavior for a lab, I'd ignore those comments along with the why-did-you-have-her-spayed comments. If my dogs would sit quietly looking away from other people or dogs, that would be fine with me. Looking away, as Sue-Ram said, is supposed to be what one author calls a "calming signal". Whether she's indicating to the other dogs that she's not a threat or calming herself, I've never quite figured that out. But looking away is OK. Sounds like you've got the right ideas about caring for her. Welcome!
    Sue

    Chase 9/29/2006- 6/30/2017 Always in our hearts
    Lark 12/25/2012- 2/2/22
    Henry 7/14/18
    Joey 5/14/2022

    “Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”

    Mary Oliver, Hidden Content

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome!
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    Tammy
    Maxx and Emma Jean

    Ozzy - 10/2002 - 06/2011 - Rest well my sweet boy. You are forever remembered, forever missed, forever in my heart.

  10. #10
    Senior Dog MikeLynn's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome! First of all - thank you for adopting/saving Ellie. As for the spaying problem, I really agree with you; I've had two lab girls, and both have been spayed. I just didn't want to have puppies - I'm not a breeder, don't have the knowledge and experience it takes, and I would be just scared that some of the buyers might treat them bad. I always sort of joke that selling a pup is a lot like marrying your son or daughter. They're would have been my children/grandchildren, and I would've had to know that they would get just the best.
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    Lynn 5/17/1999 - 7/23/2013
    You shall never be forgotten, my friend

    Mel *6/14/2013
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