Bit the bullet. Here I go!
 

I am taking possession of 2 gorgeous AKC championship bloodline adult lab females tomorrow am. I have to drive a couple of hours to pick them up, but I'm SO excited!

One is a chocolate that's been bred twice and is about 70 lbs. The other is a black 80 lber that's been bred 3 times. The black is highly trained for duck hunting. The chocolate is more a pet and breeder.

So anyway, Moses will now be a polygamist and I'll be in the business of raising labradoodles. Here's hoping it's half the fun I expect it to be! :thumbup:

Congratulations Tink!!! :) Sounds like fun!

I have a friend that raises labradoodles and they are so cute! Good luck!! Soon you'll be like Janet, up to your ears in puppies!!!!!!!!

Well congratulations to you and to Moses. He's going to be king! Lapradoodles are a mix of labs and poodles? That sounds adorable.

Waiting for pix,

They are adorable! I just googled lapradoodles, and saw a really cute video.
You're going to have fun.

Thanks ladies, I'm so excited!
I'm thinking Moses won't mind sharing since it will mean fringe benefits for him. Since he's not full grown yet, the females will have him outsized, so he shouldn't be able to pick on them too bad while they all adjust.

I went and bought supplies tonight for 2 additional dogs. I've got so much to do and so many ideas zipping in my brain right now that it's almost overwhelming. I hadn't expected this to happen so quickly, but I hate to let the opportunity slip by since finding good quality breeding age females was a major concern I've had. Now I just need to get in gear and make it work!

Dh was very agreeable when I talked to him about it earlier today. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get hold of him until it was too late, so was very relieved to get his call back. This was something too big to just do on my own without getting his input first. He says since he's going to be putting up fences anyway, what's a bit more to keep the girls safely contained? He really enjoyed the puppies we had before.

Having 2 large new dogs in the house with me might also be a good deterrant to the neighbors as they won't know them and I plan to keep them from getting to.

Congratulations Tink. You will be a bit more busy than I....LOL they have many more puppies than Yorkies do, but just think of all the fun. I have regretted getting our Penny (Golden Retriever) spayed. She's beautiful. Our former Vet was a little bit overbearing when it came to neutering and spaying and I just did what I was told. I've gotten some backbone now and have a wonderful Vet for my Yorkies.

Now we want pictures!!!!

Have fun shopping for the girls, Tink.

I'd love to see the crazy neighbors' expressi9ns when they come to get their strawberries and corn and are confronted by 2 large Labs!

The girls and I made it home safe and sound.
They jumped around for a little while in the car, but pretty much settled down by the time I'd gone 10 miles, so it wasn't for too long.
Montana (the chocolate) stuck her nose out the window and sniffed most of the way home. She started whining when we got within 5 miles or so of home, then shot out of the car like a rocket once we got here and had a bout of diarreah.. Thank God she didn't do it IN the car and seems to be over it already.

Canada (the black) stood on the seat behind me licking my head, ears, and hand when I'd put it up for her. She seemed to think she needed to "kiss up" lol

I'd bought tie-outs for both of them, so have them staked out right now. They can touch noses, but not tangle together. Between them is a little kiddie pool filled with water which they both seem to enjoy. They were barking pretty wildly until I gave them each a large basted chew to work their frustrations out on. They're behind the house under a huge old cedar tree so have plenty of shade and fewer distractions to help them settle in.

The neighbors yellow lab pup has already been over to introduce herself. Montana let her know she should go back where she came from. My elderly dog-loving neighbor came over to meet them and helped me by hanging onto Montana while I got Canada situated. He thought they were a very nice pair.

I can watch them from my bedroom window, so will be checking on them frequently. I figure I'll leave them alone for a while so they can unwind a bit before I try bringing them in the house.
Attachment 1645 This is Moses and Canada during their initial meeting. I'd cleaned out the pool and filled it with fresh water just minutes before, but with 3 water loving dogs jumping in it, it didn't stay that way long. LOL Moses looks unsure of the girls, and rumbles down deep when they get too personal while sniffing him, but they just shrug it off. I'll post some better pictures once I get new batteries for the camera. It died after this one shot!

They are beautiful Tink-Congratulations!

It sounds like you have everything under control there! They are beauties.

Enjoy them,

Can't wait to see more pictures Tink. Labs are so beautiful and are one of my favorite breeds.

For the life of me I can't make these pics small enough to upload here today, so I'm done fighting with it. :mad:

Montana, my new chocolate lab

Canada, my new black lab

The girls cooling their paws

Sorry I couldn't just post the pics, but I'm out of patience. :eek:

Aww, they are so cute Tink. Looks like they are getting along well enough. :)

What wonderful dogs Tink! They look like they're getting along too. I also like the totems a lot.

What are you feeding the dogs?

The people I got them from had been feeding them Pedigree Judy. They've been on it for years so I'm told. I've never used it with my dogs, but know I'll have to switch them over gradually. Obviously they're both overweight, but they do have great shine and lots of energy! I was told they tried to put a little extra weight on them between litters so that when they'd be nursing a large litter they had some reserves to start with. Looks like they succeeded. LOL

My vet has always told me that with big dogs Purina dog foods are fine, and Beneful is what we've used most. They have a "healthy weight" type that I'm thinking I'll try on these 2. Besides this, since they'll be breeding, they'll get a daily vitamin, some beef liver, and yogurt. Right now they're turning their noses up at anything new I offer them. At their ages I don't want to load them up with a lot of high protein since that can be damaging too. While gestating and nursing they'll get off the diet rations and have some eggs in the mix but in between I'd not want to do this.

Moses gets Purina puppy chow until he's 18 months and is done with the majority of his growing. He's on vitamins, but hasn't seemed to need the yogurt. He is of normal weight and size for his age. Our water is high in iron, so I don't supplement that with liver for him.