What to Consider Before Getting Chocolate Lab Puppies

Unlike your typical yellow Lab puppies, chocolate Labs have a very different coat color that can make them stand out dramatically from many other dogs. While it does not impact their personality all that much, you will still want to be prepared before taking new pups into your full-time care.

As with every dog, chocolate Lab puppies will have their requirements for a proper upbringing. On top of that, every single pup can be different in terms of personality, behavior, habits, preferences, and even the way that they interact with other dogs or the people around them.

If you are getting chocolate Lab puppies soon, it is a good idea to prepare. Here are some things to consider before they arrive and settle in, especially as a first-time puppy owner.

Choosing a Puppy

If you have not already decided on some chocolate Labs, be sure to get them from a reliable source. While it can feel strange to treat dogs like commodities, there are many people who breed chocolate Labs purely for profit, neglecting their health and care as a result.

While it can be tempting to take these hastily-bred Labradors to give them a good home, they are also significantly harder to work with and might even be born with health issues that you can’t fix. This makes them a lot harder to care for and only gives these breeders more money.

Turning to shelters or more respectable breeders is important since these are the groups that actually care about the animals. While they might still be trying to turn a profit, their main focus is on keeping each dog healthy and sending them to homes that they will be happy in.

Choosing a good source is not just for your own benefit but also for the benefit of the dog. A badly-bred and awfully-trained puppy might become violent, destructive, or even openly hostile due to abuse from their breeders or a lack of proper time with their mother following their birth.

Training

All puppies need to be trained, but some puppies will need more than others. There are countless ways to train a puppy, but not every pup is going to respond well to the same things, and your own schedule can play a factor in how often you get to train them.

For example, if you are a busy person who works quite long hours, then you might have to train the puppy at night. Since it will be darker outside, this could mean keeping them indoors during the day, making it harder for them to practice social development.

There is also the fact that some dog breeds respond better to certain things. Labradors (including chocolate Labs) do not learn from negative reinforcement, so you are better off praising them for following commands rather than scolding them for bad behavior.

Training also provides a way for you to connect with your new dog, learning some of their habits and the ‘signals’ that they send to try and communicate. This makes it a lot easier to tell what they are thinking: for example, when they are in a bad mood compared to when they are tired.

Socialization

An important part of properly bringing up chocolate Lab puppies is letting them be social with other dogs, as well as any humans that they happen to meet. While this can be risky when they are still very young, it is important not to isolate them completely once they are old enough to socialize.

However, there should also be times where your pup is allowed to rest and recuperate at its own pace. Chocolate Lab puppies can be very cute, and you might be incredibly tempted to keep showing them off, but they also need private time to balance out the social elements.

Remember that you want to build a relationship with your chocolate Labs, too. This means spending personal time with them and making sure that they are getting some space to relax with you, rather than a constant flow of noise and distractions.

Health

Do not forget to look up any relevant health information that you might not be sure about, especially if you have not owned a dog before. Even a small mistake can snowball into something larger if you are not aware of the impact that it might be having, so you want to be fully prepared.

Many people might think that certain types of human food are safe for dogs, but there are a lot of ways that bad feeding habits can harm them. Some fatty foods are incredibly bad for dogs, but a lot of dog breeds will eat any food you give them, no matter how dangerous it could be for them.

Even if you think you know everything, double-check that information with reliable online sources. Misinformation about dogs is quite common, and it is easy to believe a ‘fact’ that is not actually true or does not always apply. Clarifying everything can help you avoid unexpected health concerns.

Remember that all dog breeds are slightly different and that every individual dog will develop differently. Your chocolate Lab puppies might have significant differences from a friend’s, either because of how they have been brought up or just how they were born.

What Now?

If you think you are ready to take in your new chocolate Labs, do not rush ahead. Think things over and make sure that you have not forgotten anything, especially the important parts like your dog’s health or the kind of training and care that you can provide.

Once you adopt or buy chocolate Lab puppies, they are going to become a major part of your life, so you want to be ready ahead of time. Do not underestimate them, and be prepared to adapt based on how they settle into your life, especially if you have a highly specific work schedule.

It should not be long before your Lucky Labs are able to get used to life with you, but until then, you need to be prepared for anything. It can take a little while to build up that special connection that dogs have with their owners, but once you do, things will become far, far easier.