Bit the bullet. Here I go!

[Tink]

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!

[AngieDoogles]

Congratulations Tink!!! Sounds like fun!

[DianaB]

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!!!!!!!!

[judy]

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,

[judy]

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

[Tink]

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.

[Tink]

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

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.

[AngieDoogles]

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

[judy]

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?

[Tink]

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.