New Pup - New Name

[PrueIsLove]

Hello All!!

Some may know me from my previous account MaxIsAGoodBoy. Max was my family's lovable, sweet 8 year old Yellow lab who unfortunately had to be put down a couple of weeks ago. In the past couple of weeks I have received such an overwhelming amount of support from this site - this is really a wonderful community. Well now I am back, starting from scratch and happy to announce we picked up a new furry bundle of joy over the weekend. She is a black lab and her name is Prudence - Prue for short. My wife and I are big Charmed fans and loved the name.

Prue really is a God send. My wife and my Yorkie were so depressed, it was just unbearable. Both lost their appetite. My wife wasn't sleeping, while my Yorkie slept in her brother's cage. I told my wife to start researching breeders thinking it would take a while to find a good breeder at a decent price, but we found the perfect breeder upstate New York and picked Prue up as soon as she was available. (5 hour ride - road trip!!)

It is wonderful to see my wife smile again. The past month we have gone through a whirl wind of emotions, and continue to do so with every memory that happens to creep up. We had to pick up Max's ashes on Tuesday; and while it was hearbreaking to know our sweet baby was in a box, having Prue around really made the situation a little lighter. My wife and I cried as was expected, but then we sat with Prue and told her how she has a great doggy angel brother watching over her.

But enough with the heavy...

I welcome any advice on raising a female lab. My wife says already in just the 4 days we have had her, she is way different from how Max was. She thinks it's because she is a girl. Also does anyone have any advice as far as pet insurance? This time around I want to be prepared. My wife had Max before we met and was kind of anti insurance, while I have our Yorkie on a Banfield Wellness Plan. Is pet insurance worth it? Which ones are best? The only one I know about is from the ASPCA.

TIA for any advice. I look forward to being able to interact with all of you wonderful Lab Lovers on a more cheerful note.

[Maxx&Emma]

I am so glad you came back to share this wonderful news with us. Congratulations on your new puppy, I love her name! We do need to see some pictures!

I do have Pet Plan insurance for Maxx but fortunately have not had to use it in the four years he has been with me. I like the fact that I will never worry if I can afford treatment for him.

[PrueIsLove]

I am so glad you came back to share this wonderful news with us. Congratulations on your new puppy, I love her name! We do need to see some pictures!

I do have Pet Plan insurance for Maxx but fortunately have not had to use it in the four years he has been with me. I like the fact that I will never worry if I can afford treatment for him.

Thanks for the warm welcome!! I'll have pics up soon. Does the pet insurance cover regular doctor visits? Vaccines? I'm used to Banfield and how their plan works, so I'm a little confused with what to expect with pet insurance. With Banfield I don't pay for office visits or vaccines. I pay reduced fees for medication.

[MikeLynn]

Good to have you back with this wonderful news, and can't wait to see some pictures of Prue. No advice on insurance, but there's a lot of people here with a lot of experience in this field.

[BaconsMom]

Welcome to your family and Prue! I have had both female and male labs, and to be honest they are both quite similar. My female lily was more laid back, and my male is more rambunctious, but they also came from different lines, my female was bench lines, and my male is from field/hunting lines.

We have Pet Plan for Bacon. It gives us the peace of mind that if he gets hurt we dont have to worry about cost of surgery.

[Moby and Barley's Mom]

I don't have pet insurance - but have considered it. Good luck with your new puppy. You will need the advice and support from the wonderful folks on this forum. They have been very helpful to me with both my hundreds of puppy questions (Barley is now 15 months old - thank god! And my hundreds of senior dog questions - Moby is 14 in Sept.) Good luck with little Pru!

[zd262]

Welcome! I have pet insurance for my puppy. I got it after he ate a small piece of glass. It made me realize that he would probably eat something again in the near future and I would never want to choose between spending upwards of $5000 on surgery and saving my 4 month old puppies life.

From what I understand it does not cover regular vet visits or vaccinations, or anything "preventative", but it covers anything new or emergency that comes up. I have PetPlan Bronze.

[Maxx&Emma]

Pet Plan does not cover vaccines and well visits but there are other companies/plans that do. Personally, I would not use Banfield or their vets. I would want insurance and my own primary care vet. JMHO.

[POPTOP]

Welcome Home Prue! Sometimes a set of puppy paws in the house help ease the grief of loss.

Looking forward to pictures.

[barry581]

Congrats on the new addition!!!

I've had an equal number of males and females over the years, and in my opinion, the males are a bit easier to deal with than the girls. In my opinion the males are more eager to please, and have a greater desire to work. The females tend to be a bit more stubborn than the boys. Bruce and Sophie are like night and day. She was a puppy from hell, and he was a piece of cake. Bruce passed his CGC with flying colors at 6 months old. Sophie was 3 when she passed, and it was touch and go the whole time. Sophie tends to lay on my feet, or touching me, Bruce crashes on the couch.

All that being said, every one of the 10 Labs we had had their own personality, and I've loved everyone of them equally.

I use Petplan for both dogs, cost is under $350 per year, per dog. I haven't (thankfully) had to make any claims. Both dogs have had a few minor issues that I could have make claims, but since the dollar amount was so small, I didn't bother. To me, it's cheap piece of mind.