r/labrador

Meet Echo. She's 8 weeks old. She woke up and whined to be taken outside in the night, but otherwise she slept through without crying. She tries to nap on me but is easily directed to napping in her crate with her snuggle puppy. When she wakes up she waits patiently to be let out.

She's had no accidents indoors yet (although I expect at some point it'll happen.)

She plays nicely, loves chasing a ball and her squeaky toy from the breeder is a massive hit. She's just happy, wiggly and cuddly, mostly!

Honestly, this is going so well, I'm worried!

Not my first lab by a long stretch, I grew up with them and had my own before - very aware we haven't seen anything yet! Can't wait to start training, it's one of my favourite parts!

my girl jett is always in my room waiting for our nightly cuddle. usually she’s waiting in the dead centre of my bed, but tonight she decided to lay down in the spot she ends up in anyways. just a sweet lil bug who just wants her cuddles <3

Probably trying to figure out where the snack cart disappeared to!

Hi everyone. My dog has fully entered the velociraptor era and I guess i’m just looking for confirmation things like running and body slamming people and children, biting anyone who pets him, the jumping and snapping, all this is a phase. I understand training is key but it feels like it’s one step forward and three steps back right now. He excels at tricks and commands but the aggression is so much sometimes. I’d love to hear stories of insane puppies turned around or if this is something I need to prepare myself for. We tried puppy school but I highly disagreed with their methods. It felt like it took us back so much further. Did your dog bite strangers? What did you do? Is the answer just avoid all new human interaction for awhile? He just turned 4 months and I feel like the crazy is just beginning so any tips or tricks I can get is so appreciated. Especially with kids as he loves kids and we have none around us right now. And I also don’t want to ask people to use their kids as guinea pigs for my mini terminator.

He was pouting because I wouldn’t feed him 45 minutes early. I never feed him 45 minutes early, but that news is equally as devastating every day

Eris, looking so fresh and handsome after bath time!🫧

I think he liked it

I am telling this story both to honor my best buddy and to hopefully keep other dogs and dog owners from the same fate. No one deserves what my boy went through.

This is Bronte. He was born to my “neighbors”, but since we live in a very rural area this is about seven miles away. Now, supposedly, both of his parents were purebred Chocolate Labs from some breeder near Fruita, Colorado. Yes, they were from the same breeder…and they were LITTERMATES. We did not know this at the time. No, they were not bred on purpose; the neighbors and their cousins, who live nearby, adopted two littermates and, before they could get them fixed, the boy got loose one night and ran over and you can put two and two together. Again, we did not know this. The neighbors of course were horrified but assumed there would be no harm to the pups. And to their credit, they immediately got their girl fixed as soon as the puppies were weaned. But they gave my family one of the puppies for fifty bucks back in 2018. We named him Bronte.

Bronte was…Man. I don’t know how to start. He was the first dog I ever had and he was as sweet and saintlike as they come. He would lay by your feet whenever he saw you. He preferred our mom over any of us, but if we were sick or sad, he wouldn’t leave our side until we were well. He was very fond of sniffing and licking ears, particularly my sister’s. His favorite food were Greenie dental bones, and he would go insane for a pup cup from my work. And at night, when he was starting to fall asleep, I would lie on the floor and he would come find me and fall asleep by my side. He would make sure some part of him was touching me somehow. And for eight years, he completed our family.

Then, in April 2024, Bronte started acting different. He didn’t want to eat or drink. He was lethargic. He would vomit on occasion. If he stood up, his legs would barely hold him. We immediately took him to the vet. They did some X-rays and diagnosed him with arthritis and bone spurs. We were given pain meds. These worked for a week or two, but then he slipped back to being lethargic. The vet then said that we should take him to an animal hospital in a town thirty miles away, so my dad did. This vet felt around Bronte’s stomach and found a sensitive spot. She ran further tests and diagnosed Bronte with hemangiosarcoma.

For those of you who don’t know what that is (as we didn’t) this is a highly aggressive and malignant type of cancer which affects blood vessels. The cancer creates its own blood vessels, which are weaker than natural ones and burst easily, which causes internal bleeding and can lead to death. Bronte had his in his spleen. And the worst part is that dogs often don‘t show symptoms until the cancer has spread to other organs.

We did have Bronte’s spleen removed and tried to fight the cancer. He made it nine months. And he did really well during that time. He figured out that we all felt sorry for him, so he would refuse to go in or outside unless we gave him a treat, and he would only drink water if it was cold and from the hose. And we did those things. We made sure he got to do everything he loved. And my parents were convinced that he was going to beat this thing.

Bronte slipped after Christmas. As soon as I went back to college, he wouldn‘t get out of bed or eat. He wouldn’t drink. My dad called me and I immediately drove the three hours home, bawling to “The Dance” by Garth Brooks, which JUST HAD to be playing on the radio. I stopped at Starbucks and got Bronte a massive pup cup. He licked it but did not eat even half of it. The next day, he didn’t want to move. He only staggered to his feet when I came downstairs and started talking super cheerfully like everything was normal. I managed to get him outside to use the bathroom. He did his business and just flopped over. He wouldn’t move. I brought him back inside. I cooked him a pound of hamburger and gave him all the pepperoni from my pizza, which he actually ate. He refused all food after that. We arranged for him to get put down the next day. I tried to lie down for him to snuggle with me that night, like we usually did, but he didn’t move over beside me. He didn’t have the strength.

We put him down the next day. The vet came to our house, which was nice. We stayed by his side the entire time. The last thing Bronte did was reach his head up and lick my sister’s ear. Then, well, he was gone.

I don’t know how I’m holding up. Usually I’m fine, but then I come home from break and I think I hear Bronte’s toenails clicking on the driveway as he comes to greet me. But no one is there. I keep wanting to bring pup cups home. I can’t listen to Garth Brooks. And what scares me the most is that I am forgetting. I don’t really remember what he acted like as a puppy. I don’t really remember what his bark sounded like. I am losing my boy all over again and I, once again, am powerless to save him.

I have done research into Bronte’s cancer…it does seem prevalent in Labs, particularly Chocolate Labs, due in part to their lack of genetic diversity. In fact, one of Bronte’s sisters died two weeks later of the same cancer. We are wondering if the accidental incest had anything to do with it, or if he was just cursed by being a Chocolate Lab.

But here is a warning for all you Lab owners out there: This cancer exists. It is a real risk. Your dog can seem normal one day and be at death’s door the next. SCREEN YOUR DOG FOR CANCER! Regardless or not if they are showing symptoms. You don’t know what could be going on inside of them. You could save your dog’s life. I couldn’t save my Bronte, but I would save yours if I could.

And one more thing…give your dog a pup cup tonight, or tomorrow.

At least she keeps me company while I vacuum.

My first Labrador, didn’t plan on getting him because we have other dogs, but my wife fell in love with him and she grew up with labradors.

He is pretty awesome and they are quite smart I’m finding out.

Tonight my son and I walked some more of our friends training to be service dogs for veterans
If you want to know more, ask away or check out their site (in comments)
Their names will be on their photos