ATTENTION: All First Time Dog Owners!

Calling All First Time Dog Owners!

Thinking of getting your family’s first dog??  Labs are in fact great family dogs, but regardless of the breed you decide on, EVERY first time dog owner needs to FIRST do their research!

 

We’ve talked a lot about researching which breeder to go with, yes, but there is much more research involving being dog owners that needs to be done as well!  Not only for you family’s sake, but for the sake of your new furry family member.  Some breeders won’t even work with first time dog owners because often times people get in way over their head and and aren’t prepared.  Many people have purchased their first lab or even their first dog from us, but we make sure they have the materials to prepare their homes for a pet.

So are you ready for this?  It’s a lot of information to take in but I STRONGLY encourage you to read this before making the 15 year (or longer!) commitment of owning a dog. (I promise it’s worth all of the responsibility and homework in the world though!!)

The first step-  Be willing to read a book or two!!  https://emlabradors.com/2013/02/books-we-recommend/

The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete is AMAZING and we ALWAYS ask our clients to read this!  You need to train yourself before you can train a puppy.

To read more about puppy training (and puppy proofing!) click here –> https://emlabradors.com/puppy-training/

We also send every client their very own “Puppy Prep Kit” once they reserve their new canine baby.  This is full of information on training and nutrition.

Nutrition! That’s another thing!  We try to teach our children good eating habits, right?? So then why wouldn’t we do the same for our dogs? If you’re willing to feed them Twinkies (the equivalent of most commercial dog foods) because of financial convenience, then maybe you need to rethink how serious you are about this decision…

Click here to learn more about Dog Nutrition!

You also need to find a veterinarian…  We strongly recommend finding a holistic vet in your area, as so many vets now jump the gun on drugs and surgery. There is a holistic veterinarian network online that you can search for a vet in your area.

So that covers most of what pertains to your dog’s health and preparing to train a puppy…

An important part of getting yourself ready for a puppy is to know what temperament is.  When you come to us for good temperament, this doesn’t mean that your puppy may not still act like… ready for this? A puppy.  We have many naive people who assume that getting a lab bred for temperament means they are getting the world’s most perfectly well behaved puppy.  It’s all about nature vs. nurture. We can give you a good foundation, but you can ruin that in really less than 2 weeks. We have always focused on good temperament in our labs.  I can send you countless pictures of Scotch or Amy or Doc or any other lab here, lounging around with my assistant’s 16 month old daughter, Eva (shown in the picture above with Amy).  Just in case you weren’t convinced yet of how great these guys are with kids! (You can check out some testimonials here: https://emlabradors.com/testimonials/) However, Eva has also been taught from a young age to be gentle with the dogs.  Looking for a dog that will be good with your kids is just as important as making sure your kids are good to your dog.

I could go on and on about training but the reading material referenced and recommended earlier really covers it…  You can also read more about play-biting here: https://emlabradors.com/2013/02/how-do-i-get-my-puppy-to-stop-biting/

Bottom line: Do your homework and prepare your home to have a dog, so that you can reap the benefits and rewards of making the amazing decision to add a dog to your family! 🙂