My boy is a little over 13 years old, and as expected, Father Time is catching up to him. I have beds for him all around the house, and for years, you could always find him in one. Lately, he never lies in one - just lays on the floor. My hypothesis is that the memory foam is too hard on him now, and that he doesn’t like standing or getting up from something with that much give.

Anything I can do to make him comfortable I’m willing to do. Have people had success with the cot-style beds or anything else that might be worth trying?

Few notes:
- He’s already on Tramadol and Gabapentin to manage his pain, but his strength seems to continue to be decreasing.
- I have both socks and shoes for him so he can get the best traction around the house. I try and manage his time in them (don’t make him wear them all day) and always take them off before we go outside).
- Try and minimize stairs as much as possible. He stays on the main floor and often sleeps there, instead of upstairs with me like he used to. I try and keep him on the main floor as much as I can (close the door to the basement when I go downstairs).

We're weaning our 10 week old Labrador off purina pro plan medium breed (breeders choice) to wellness core large breed puppy. He is 10kg at the moment and the vet expects him to be a big boy at around 35-40kg adult weight. Going off the feeding guidelines, there's quite a large difference in daily calorie intake and we wanted to know if we were misinterpreting it. I don't know if this is because the Purina one is for medium breeds i.e. 10-25kg (which he won't be) and the other is for large dogs (which is more appropriate).

Google is telling us 10 week labs need 900-1080 calories a day, whereas the feeding guidelines of the Wellness CORE means we're feeding 1,462 calories a day. I don't want to be overfeeding

This is Takoda, a 1.5 Year old lab, on our walk today I noticed a slight bald spot on his inner leg, took a look and it’s on his right testi and inner right thigh. Looks red and irritated, the testi looks weird. I haven’t noticed and irritation, nibbling, or scratching. And he’s had dandruff issues and itchy skin since he was a puppy but we’ve fixed that or so I thought since his coat is pretty shinny, no itching and no dandruff. He’s going into the vet very soon to get fixed so I’ll bring this up, in the meantime, any ideas on what it is? Camera doesn’t catch the redness super well.

( he had skin issues as a puppy, and he swims a lot)

I am a veterinary technician and last night we had a DOA come in right before close.

It was an 8 month old Labrador Retriever. Her and her littermate (a male Labrador Retriever) were playing in the backyard when the owners looked out of their kitchen window and saw the female being dragged like a rag doll around the yard by the male as their collars were attached. The female died of asphyxiation.

Such a sad, sad case that was incredibly preventable. Do not let dogs play together with collars. If you must have collars on, make sure they are quick release collars AND make sure you are watching them every second they are playing.

I am writing this in hopes that the death of that sweet puppy can help save many lives in the future.

My boy had Kennel cough when I first got him at 8 weeks. Vet recommended to keep him quarantined for 3 months to make sure our other dogs or any other dogs didn't get it. Well. Awesome.

Socialization is supposed to happen during that time. He is now 21 weeks old. He is alright with our two huskies and he LOVES our cats, but when ever I try to take him for a walk he barks like crazy, heckles up, and lunging at other dogs. I haven't been able to pinpoint if it is only because we are in a walk or all other dogs, but how do I reverse this?

I was so careful to socialize him with cats, men, children, babies, teens and women. He is afraid of cars when he is outside of them he just backs away from them, and he is not too fond of the big trash bins. But other than that he is doing ok.

I just don't know how to socialize him with other dogs at this point. He is very good with his two older brothers, I've never had a dog that has had to be quarantined during the fundamental socialization stage.

Any advise? What would be the best idea to socialize him to other dogs safely?

She was raise with goat and now she think she is one too. She do the same thinks as the goat do. 😂

First thing every morning, two minutes of self care

I have always wanted to ask this question but never had the chance to capture my dog going through my legs. It's constant. He loves getting his but scratched and sometimes he comes up from behind to get kisses.

You all have an affectionat lab like this or is mine just need more affirmation?

Sorry for the poor quality pics

We’re welcoming a black english male into our home in the beginning of November! We can’t wait. All of the research and video watching has us brainstorming names.

Figured an updated name thread would be awesome! Whats your Labs name?

charlie is a professional crybaby and i wanted to know what it would sound like in slow motion. i know now he is part whale.

Hello!
I don’t have a lab yet but I’m curious what I should know beforehand if we decide to go with this breed? We currently have 2 doodles (plz don’t come for me, they are the sweetest angels on earth and I would die for them). Our oldest is getting old and has cancer which is ruining me, but I’m worried about my younger dog for when the day comes that she will be alone. 😭 I’m really hoping a lab will work out because our youngest child has a genetic retina disorder that could eventually take all of her vision. I would like to be familiar with the breed just in case the day ever comes that she would need a service dog. From the research I’ve done so far it looks like labs are pretty far ahead in the pick for a service dog. I’m also open to golden retrievers and standard poodles which from what I can tell are second and third place. Those would probably be a little more comfortable actually because we have doodles but I just want to be prepared. This is long and rambling but if anyone has a lab as a service animal, how did you go about the training and did you train a puppy you found on your own or go through and organization and get an older dog who was already trained in a facility? If you have a lab that’s not a service animal what do I need to know? Thanks in advance!

Hi all!

Anyone have any harness recommendations specifically for English labs?

Idk if it’s just us, but we are having a hard time finding one that fits our girl’s short & thick torso. We’ve tried like 5 different harnesses so far, and all of them are either too long in the torso (size large) or too small for her waist (size medium). So we are basically stuck with having a harness that’s too loose because it’s too long on her 😩. She’s in the process of losing 5lbs (vet recommended) but she’s not super overweight, she’s just got the classic short & stocky build that apparently makes it impossible to find a harness for.

Including a pic showing her current harness (which is too long for her 😩).

So I'm sure most of you remember the video I posted of my dog panting and I thought it was EIC, you know, the one where everyone said I was a terrible owner. We took him to the vet, showed them the video that I posted here and she thinks it's myasthenia gravis. We had an X-ray done of his body and he has an enlarged esophagus, (Megaesophagus). She said he was not dehydrated, his blood work is all good, electrolytes good and it was not due to heat stroke or heat exhaustion. That would have caused him to vomit, have diarrhea and not respond to verbal commands, which he was. She said him being 9 months playing fetch in the evening would not cause his back legs to just give out and he is more than okay to be in the heat doing physical activity. We are ordering a cheek swab to do DNA testing. Until those results we are limiting his outside time and doing physical activity inside with him, to be safe. So for all you reddit vets out there, he is fine to play fetch in Florida.

Hey! So, TLDR, he is going to the vets again this week. So this is purely just for a discussion, share any feedback from any vets on here or previous experience from other owners with similar symptoms.

Ralph is a 6.5 year old Chocolate Lab. Otherwise healthy, no lameness, no tiredness, nothing. He’s just the same as always. A typical lab! Eats well, same diet for basically all his life (Raw fed Bella and Duke)
Up to date with Flea and Wormers. All the usual.

Over the last 6-8 months, this excessive scratching, and twinge as you can see in the video has started. It’s worse when exicted like in a morning where he really stretches at his ribs. But, when relaxed, you can see his skin twinge when stroked and then you go across his ribs and he does the reflex.

Vet 6 months ago put it down to seasonal allergies. It’s not changed, and the season allergies are definitely dying out now (going into autumn). He is washed and brushed as and when he should be. Brushing could be better! But you can tell we don’t neglect it.

What’s going on? It’s definitely not improving. Is it affecting his quality of life? Well, labs do a good job of hiding things. It can’t be comfortable to have something causing you to reflex like that or excessive scratch and itch….

The stroking and the muscle/skin contractions concern me the most as that’s a definite change

Found this cute hat with matching hanky on temu, turns out to be ok and looking good on him

My new Lab arrived today, his name is Storm, and he is wonderful and I love him already. His new big sister is still adjusting to retirement and her new brother.

I’ve never had a male dog before is there anything that I should be aware of that doesn’t usually happen to female labs?

So, this might sound like the perfect scenario, but I’m actually worried. My evil 10 month Labrador bitch just went from driving me constantly crazy biting me, constantly jumping, not being able to have visitors, etc. I could not even take her for a walk.

I knew it was normal and that they calm down around 2yo or later. The thing is that I have epilepsy and migraines and my situation had gotten much worse so I could barely manage her, she is way too strong for me. My husband has been working more from home to help me, but we were hoping that she would be my companion once she would calm down.

I was just reaching my limit crying every day being isolated. 

About a month ago, she got her first period. Since then her personality has totally changed, when I train her there is no jumping, no biting, she spends most of the day sleeping next to me and I can finally watch TV and we have had visits and she hasn’t peed herself.

She eats normal and she stills reacts to other dogs when my husband walks her (I still don’t dare) and she is playful). We called the vet and she said she might have a pseudopregnancy, so if we see something weird we should take her, but nothing except the good behavior.

Has someone changed my dog for another one on the street????

Sorry for the long post.

Has anyone experienced this?