Saving boy from dogs ‘a tug of war’

Globe and Mail - However I never see any news about a Labrador killing a kid. If you just play the odds, it’s probably safer not to have a Rott Start sueing everyone who deals with Rotts, especially breeders. Our justice systems only works when high priced lawyers More

Achoo! Are any pets really allergy free?

MSNBC - And that’s where breeders and even genetic engineering come in. A San Diego company recently announced it has developed a pets the neighbors bichon and Pomeranian than when she visits friends who have heavily shedding breeds such as a Labrador
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

the has-been
Slate - Which is why the Labrador’s increasing popularity may be tied to the advent of exurbs and McMansions . Since 1971, the average Also, as more and more families opt for a particular breed, dog breeders respond by increasing the number of litters their
Source: www.slate.com

Labradoodles: Kern’s well-bred secret
Bakersfield Californian - The dogs, part Labrador retriever, part poodle, are intelligent and loving companions, breeders say. They look like four-legged Ewoks. Bakersfield has several Labradoodle breeders, but one said the dogs aren’t that well-known in Kern County. Jodi
Source: www.bakersfield.com

Next Page
New York Times - But in Japan, all too many breeders throw aside caution in search of a quick profit, experts in the business say. In these so recent that the only comprehensive survey of genetic defects came out two years ago, looking at malformed hips in Labrador
Source: www.nytimes.com

Puppy Mills: The Dark Secret Behind Labradors That Are Sold In Pet Stores

For at least four decades puppy mills have been one of the most shameful embarrassments of the dog world. Many AKC critics are particularly voiced that the organization hasn’t done more to attack the problem, arguably one of the most cruel and pervasive examples of animal abuse in the nation’s history yet the average pet shopping consumer does not realize this.

By Humane Society estimates, puppy mills are almost the exclusive suppliers of the approximately half-million puppies sold annually through America’s pet stores. There are an estimated 5000 puppy mills in the country. They are concentrated mostly in six midwestern states - Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Arkansas - referred to as “the puppy mill archipelago” by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). California is cracking down on puppy mills. Kansas, on the other hand, has made it a felony to sneak into a puppy mill and photograph or otherwise document its activities.

Pet store operators will tell you their labradors don’t come from puppy mills. The ASPCA estimates that only about ten percent of all pet store dogs are non-puppy-mill animals. Numerous investigations have documented the often barbaric conditions of these operations. puppy mill labradors are found being raised on wire, like chickens, or in cramped quarters, like veal. Dams and sires live their entire lives in cages and are bred nonstop from the time they are six months old until five or six years of age. When females have mothered themselves to exhaustion and their litter sizes drop, they are often killed. ASPCA reports that the mothers’ bodies are sometimes fed to the surviving puppy mill dogs. American Humane, another animal-welfare organization, reports that one puppy mill breeder fed dogs “the heads of slaughtered animals.” There are puppy millers who breed hundreds and even thousands of puppies a year.

Labrador puppies born in these operations are often shipped during infancy - at four weeks of age - in containers so tightly packed that suffocation is not uncommon; they are frequently poorly nourished and rarely given appropriate veterinary care. It is estimated that about a half-million puppy mill pups perish each year before they reach the pet store. Forget about such niceties as socialization and breeding away from hereditary disease. A May 1990 study by the California Assembly concluded that forty-eight percent of the puppies sold in the state’s pet stores were ill or carrying disease at the time they were purchased. The study also found that puppies imported from puppy mills outside California were three times more likely to have problems than puppies raised locally.

Students Doing Good By Volunteering 

CINCINNATI (AP) - Nine Seton High School girls are raising puppies that will be trained for use as seeing-eye dogs for the blind. At suburban Anderson High School, students raise money to buy Christmas gifts for children affected by AIDS.
Source: www.fox19.com

Prison picks pups for dollars, scents 
State expects to save money by raising own drug sniffers At a month old, the dozen jet-black puppies being raised at a state prison compound aren’t quite ready to take a nibble — much less a bite — out of crime. But give them time.
Source: feeds.baltimoresun.com

GameDay Data: Lady Vols Versus Old Dominion 
The #5-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols (10-1, 0-0 SEC) return to the road for a single contest before the Christmas holidays and will travel to longtime rival Old Dominion (3-6, 0-0 CAA) on Dec. 22 at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk, Va. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Source: www.chattanoogan.com

Protein: The Most Important Food Item You Can Feed Your Labrador

Protein is the most expensive ingredient in dog foods. Its source often determines the quality of the food. Animal sources are superior. Unfortunately, there’s not enough meat around to satisfy all the pet dogs in the world, so the producers substitute vegetable protein.

The difference between vegetable and animal protein? Vegetable is often harder to digest, and more of it has to be consumed to meet the Labrador’s needs. More food equals more stool. The best advice is to find a food that uses more animal protein than vegetable protein and requires smaller rations to meet the MDR.

More protein is not always better. High protein diets are used for show or working labradors. If your Labrador’s mellow or spends many hours alone, feeding a high protein diet will make her jittery and hyper. When reading the label, watch for key words like gluten meal and animal protein. These indicate animal protein sources. Words like corn, soy, and rice all tell you the protein is from vegetable sources.

Be true to yourself when choosing a dog 

Dr. Amy Marder still chokes up when she speaks of her Australian terrier, CeCe, who died last year during an operation. Read More…

Feeding Your Labrador: Are You Confused?

What daily quantity should a Labrador be fed? This question is no longer properly answered with the “pound of food per 50 pounds of body weight” foods are available today, so we must ask, “What kind of food?” Is it dry, semi-moist or canned? The best indicator is based on the dog’s output. In other words, the quantity should produce firm and well-formed feces. Any tendency of the stools to become loose indicates overfeeding in a healthy dog. Conversely, a stool so dry that it appears to have a chalky coating indicates underfeeding. The quantity fed should be increased or decreased by 10% in such cases.

In growing Labrador puppies, you should feed them for formed stools. Further, the number of feedings should be the same as the number of bowel movements per day. This attunes the input frequency with the metabolic rate of the pup. It also results in up to 6 feedings per day for some pups, usually only for a couple of weeks. Most owners agree that this feeding schedule is not quite as inconvenient as a Labrador puppy that is not house-trained.

Pregnant or lactating females with puppies require especially large quantities of high-quality protein. The old wives’ suggestion of “eating for two” tends to carry over into feeding of pregnant female dogs, who often eat for ten pups. The uninformed breeder often merely offers 2-4 times as much of the dog’s standard diet. The trouble with this practice is that the huge quantity of a commercial diet usually results in some degree of obesity if the female actually eats it.

This tendency toward obesity stems from the fact that many popular diets are usually significantly higher in carbohydrate than in protein. If the pregnant dog does not metabolize the vastly increased carbohydrate intake, she usually gets fat. This can lead to a number of problems, such as sick or stillborn pups, or prolonged labor.

Pregnant and lactating Labrador females (up to 4 weeks postpartum), as well as their pups, require increased amounts of a high-protein diet. It might be more sensible to meet this need by supplementing, rather than simply feeding them more of the usual diet. Addition of protein in the form of raw liver, cooked eggs, milk, dicalcium phosphate and an oil containing vitamins A and D, in addition to a daily general vitamin-mineral supplement, satisfies the special dietary requirements of mother and offspring, and avoids overfeeding with its possible side-effects of loose stools and obesity.

Five Pa. duck hunters rescued from Cape marsh by Coast Guard 

DENNIS TOWNSHIP Five duck hunters who got marooned in a marsh on the Delaware Bay were rescued Friday morning by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter. The five men, all from Carlisle, Pa., were duck hunting Thursday when the engine to their 16-foot duck boat quit.
Source: www.pressofatlanticcity.com