18/10/2020
1. Do You Have The Right Space For A Labrador?
Dogs need space, both indoors and outside.
Even small breeds need room to stretch their legs and run about, and Labradors as fairly large and lively dogs need quite a lot of space.
This means you need a decent sized backyard if you plan on buying a Labrador puppy. Somewhere that your dog can run around, play and enjoy training sessions with you.
Labradors can be quite silly during adolescence, bouncing and cavorting in the home. Their tails are long and thick, easily knocking any fragile decorations you might have from shelves.
If you have lots of ornaments then you will need to move them to higher shelves to avoid them getting damaged.
You will also need to move anything that could be easily damaged by chewing.
Labradors also need to go outside regularly for ‘bathroom breaks’.
With small puppies this will be very often indeed. Perhaps every 15 to 20 minutes during their first few days with you.
If you live in a flat, or do not have a garden, this will be difficult for you.
You’ll need to set up a system where the puppy can toilet indoors, using puppy pads or newspaper, then retrain him to go outdoors when he is older.
Some people successfully use a dog crate to help with their puppy’s toilet training and to keep them contained in the house.
Even more space invading is another great house training solution, putting a crate inside a puppy playpen for the first few months.
Although this will take up a lot of space indoors, it can work very well for larger apartments with no easy outside access.
Ideally however you do need to have a garden, and a part of the garden which your dog can use as a bathroom, along with a good system for clearing up after him hygienically.
Puppies should also not be allowed to ‘toilet’ where children play, as their f***s can pass on some horrible and dangerous parasites.
The right space for a Labrador includes large clear rooms in the house, with no breakable or fragile objects within his grasp.
And ideally access to a garden where they can easily be let out to the bathroom and have room to play.
Keeping a single Labrador permanently outside however is not usually a good idea, even with adequate shelter and security.
Labs are very sociable dogs and prone to separation anxiety if they lack company. This means your dog may be both sad and noisy.