My Chocolate Labrador's Bad Eating and Other Dog Habits
Our beautiful Chocolate Lab
This page is the story of Rascal.
A stunning full bred Chocolate Labrador Retriever dog with American Kennel Certificate registration papers. He truly is a gorgeous specimen of this breed. Dark brown shiny coat. His weight ranges between 65-75 lbs, depending on the season, and thickness of his fur. A proud stance that is a credit to his sire Makayla's Mr McGiver and dam Lucy Lee Spencer.
If you are interested in a Labrador Retriever, please consider beginning at a Rescue Center, your local Shelter, (click on Pet Stuff to enter zip code) or Petfinders.com.
Thanks for dropping by and Enjoy!
Rascal and Jacob
His Early Years
Rascal basically grew up with a very busy 2, then 3 year old child named Jacob.
They trained each other to play hard in a yard absolutely wonderful for a kid and his dog.
They trained each other to wrestle.
They trained each other the game of chase.
They taught each other the game of tug.
Can you predict where this is going?
His Social Graces... or lack thereof
Excited when we come in like an exuberant greeting "Hi, Hi, Hi!".
We've trained him to get his Kong ball. That's helped a little. We've trained him (sort of) to let us put our stuff down before we say "Hi, Hi, HI!" back. Even if he's not jumping, he can still knock over a toddler, or knock them back out the door, in his excitement. If he were able this greeting would like more like a hug than jumping. He really likes everyone, it just doesn't look like it.
Bark and jumps on the window if he's inside.
Barks and and jumps on the deck rail when we are outside.
Or pulls on his leash when an owner/dog come within 500 yards of us, and he would bark and jump on them too, if given half a chance.
His Sex Life
Since he's been neutered, he doesn't have much of one.
He does have a thing for the towel that covers the only furniture he's allowed on; the ottoman.
He takes it away to "hug" and chew it while having his "fun".
Previously in his life, before us, he had a standard dog bed.
That is, until he ATE it.
His Eating Habits
A.K.A He'll eat almost anything
Since he has a problem with dry skin and ear irritations involving yeast which he transfers to his paws, or maybe the other way around, he needs a non-beef, non-chicken or non-wheat dog food and treats. That leaves a very-high priced venison and potato chow. We usually have venison in the freezer, and always have potatoes, but he eats through more than I can make so it's added to his diet.
He would eat the cat, Kitty Cat Kisses, if only she would hold still long enough.Then there is the challenge of staying away from her pretty long nails. But you have to give him credit because regardless of those 2 challenges, he does keeps trying to accomplish the impossible feat of nailing her down.
But wait, there's more...
I've already mentioned his towel in "His Sex Life".
He's also partial to fleece throw blankets left around by my kids and grands.
Tennis balls are only for playing catch. Otherwise he'll EAT them.
He chewed up a medium sized Kong when he was less than 50 lbs.
The only size Kong he hasn't chewed up, so far, is a XXL Kong.
If given his way he would snack continually on the kids toys.
Paper plates.
Paper towels.
If given the chance, he also enjoys a treat of socks and underwear.
Oh, and used tissues and other unmentionable items from the bathroom trash can. Eeew.
See the product below for my solution for that particularly gross problem.
Yes, Labs will eat ANYTHING!
Maybe we don't have it so bad...
Recent Tags that delivered readers to this lens:
- dog hump substitutions
- dog ate a towel
- how to keep my chocolate lab out of the trash
- chew toys for chocolate labs
- labrador eating candle
This site is focused on the Labrador breed, but other breeds mentioned here as well.
Article Credit: Shannon Tobin on tcstyle.com
Picture Credit: labradorretriever.name
How to keep the Dogs out of the Kitchen Garbage and Bathroom Trashcans. - Wow, they really do work great.
If you are concerned about battery life. Don't be. The batteries in both the small and large trash bins have now lasted over 2 years with operation many times each and every day.
Note: My Lab may be pretty, but he is not the smartest canine creature in the world. If you have a dog who has trained him- or herself to open ANYTHING, I do not recommend this for use around them. Unless the cans are taller than they are. Or they can climb or jump to get what they want.
His Sleeping Habits
He spends his quiet times during the day on his ottoman shown in the picture for "His sex life". He also sleeps there at night.#
That is until he heads for our queen-size bed as soon as we are settled for the night, unaware of his stealthiness.
He slips right in between us.
Stretched out to his full size and width which can be mistaken for the other spouse,
Once he's discovered he's pushed out,
then he begins this process again.
We would just shut the door, but for the cat. If the cat is shut, in or out, she will scratch the door to get to (through to?) the other side.
Since this seems to be mutually beneficial for the both the cat and dog, we think this is their only shared mission in our household.
Suffice it to say we usually discover both the dog and cat in our bed come morning.
* sigh *.
# Update 2012: No more ottoman. He punched a hole in it. That piece of much missed furniture now resides in the extra bedroom. He now rests on the super comfy, premium padded, carpeted floor. Unless I've caught him on a couch.
* BIG sigh *
UPDATE 2013: He finally outgrew eating the towels, blankets, or durable tablecloths, we placed over, stapled, or tied to cover the holes and escaping foam pieces. So he got the ottoman back for good.
* Aaahhh *
His Toilet Habits - such as they are
Lab-sized bombs everywhere.
Hanging mid-air in evergreen shrubs.
On top of flowers like my already struggling rose bush..
Underneath the swing set and at the ends of the play slides.
As you can imagine they they invariably get stepped on by toddlers.
Then there is the miraculous reappearance of the a fore-mentioned items in "His Eating Habits" chapter above.
Yellow grass near the fence lines.
Near the hot tub.
Puddles on the end of the play slides. Not under them. On them.
Next to my Flower pots.
Maybe a yellow-sided shrub or 2, or 3, or 4. You get the idea.
We are trying to train him to "go to the weeds".
See the ribbon grass garden planted for this very purpose in background above.
Mildly successful with the praise and bribes of treats.
As long as treats are shown, but not said yet.
We're working on that.
And we have to be in the yard most times.
We're working that, too.
The is the end of his story, as it is so far...
His Training
Well...
This is a tough subject.
Professional training is out due to lack of disposable funds.
Techniques that seem work by the televised trainers: some work, some don't.... yet.
Family training solidarity is an issue that we are trying to resolve..
So we are trying the best that we can with techniques that seem to work.
He is walked at least daily in the neighborhood.
We play "get the ball" in the yard when we are able.
Despite all this we love him dearly. He is a wonderful addition to our now empty nest family.
Even the cat loves him.
Well...
maybe not.
Sorry to say this story did end...
He really did eat anything he could get his snout into, and that finally did him in. Unfortunately he ate a plastic container, showed no symptoms until it was tool late.
Rascal lived a wonderful life...
He was well loved by me, my husband, my daughters, spouses/significant others, and 3 grandchildren who essentially grew up with him.
Rascal
Dearly Loved
& Missed
2007 ~ 2015
