[b00mer16]

Hello every one,

First off, i wanted to say that i browsed around for a day and half before registering. There's a ton of info to be had! I'd like to share my experience and look for improvement/advices.

On Aug 13th i set out to meet a breeder whom had a litter up for sale. I had a plan to pick up a boy lab or pointer. My plan was to teach/train it for waterfowl hunt and bird hunt. guess what? I came home with two! Yes, two haha. Both are brothers and sisters from the same litter. They were 9 weeks old when i picked them up. The breeder said that the mother had a little sharpei in her and the father is full yellow lab. So i've had them for a week now, they seem to be fairly settled in. Both loves to play with my other dog (American bulldog) and they have alot of toys. Some ropes, balls, nylabones, kong, but no more stuff animals. They absolutely LOVE to shred it, pull out the cotton. I brought them both to the vet for a physical, vaccines, and worm meds on monday. Both seem to be doing ok other than dealing with the worms. The only thing i have for their diet right now is puppy chow, which i picked up a bag on the way home with the puppies. Apparently my family are weary/against raw diet and i'm left with dry dog food option. So i'm doing some research and i think i narrowed it down to a couple options. Blue buffalo wilderness or taste of the wild. Both seem to be grain free and very high protein. High fat. And very low carbohydrates… when compared to a typical dry dog food. Any hunters or active dog owners have a recommendation or tips for a yellow lab's diet? Scout and Lily seem to have skin irritation from the puppy chow and i want to make the switch to something better for them.

As of now after 2nd day obedience training, both Scout and Lily already know sit, come, lay down.

How do i go at it with "stay" and negative to positive discipline? For instance, knowing that both will be growing quite large in a short time.... I want to start teaching no jumping on certain things and people.

Thank you in advance.

Here's couple photos.
Bella watching scout and lily on gaurd

Fell asleep at the water bowl haha.

 

[Amaryllis]

Tired little fat belly puppy!

Blue or TOTW are great foods. I feed both, along with Wellness Core, on a rotation. It's important to rotate proteins to prevent developing an allergy to a specific protein, i.e., if you only feed chicken, you risk a chicken allergy, if you rotate between chicken, fish, venison, and beef, it's less likely to happen. I also like that they are grain free. Look at a dog's teeth, they weren't made for eating grains.

You should also look up "littermate syndrome". It can happen with two puppies raised together and it can be ugly. You can prevent it by keeping the puppies separated much of the time and training/walking separately as well. Definitely read up on it.

 

[b00mer16]

I went at a petstore for some window shopping. I remember reading a bunch about nature valley and i saw that it was on sale today. Nothing else was on sale and This store had alot of 5 stars rating dog food (rated from http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com). So i asked one of the worker to tell me about it or if she knows anyone who's using nature valley food... She seemed to knowledgeable but very young person. She said she knows some one who's using raw diet like i thought about and i told her i couldn't due to other family member objections. So she recommended me to use this alternative by buying; Nature’s Variety Instinct Duck Meal and Turkey Meal Formula and INSTINCT RAW FROZEN and i picked beef for that. She also said that i should start with daily portions of Raw (25% of diet): 2.7 oz and Instinct kibble (75% of diet): 1 3/8 cups.

So i decided to give this dog food / raw diet a try. Any comments about this? Also, i didnt think i should get the Instinct Cans. Or should i?

PS: Thank you amaryllis, I'll look into that syndrome. I've been taking one puppy outside at a time and keeping the other one in it's large play pen or kennel. However i have them both playing inside a lot and after their supper i have them outside together. Is it normal for both to be neverending wrestling and both would bite each other every where, even between the legs, never letting go haha. Their cries from eachother bites is kind of annoying, haha.

 

[Amaryllis]

Puppies are like perpetual motion biting machines. One of the reasons I don't do puppies. Definitely look it up.