I am moving soon and this women on craigslist has an aussie puppy that is 7 weeks, we won’t be moving for about another month. Which would make the puppy about 3 months old. Would that be a good age to get the puppy at?
thanx

“Black Labrador Retriever
” it reads. Surprised, you ask a clerk about the puppy, and are assured that it is indeed a purebred black Labrador. Purebred? Can black and white Lab puppies be purebred? The price certainly is “purebred” price!

As luck would have it, your children want that very puppy. You hesitate, and finally ask for the puppy to be held until the next day. Back home, you decide to do a little research. You go online, and search the Internet for “black & white lab puppies info”.

So Sorry

If the information you find is honest, you will learn that black Labradors do not come in black and white. Any dog billed as a white and black Labrador Retriever is of mixed blood. Unfortunately, disreputable breeders are working to convince the public that these mongrels are AKC registered dogs. Indeed, with a bit of dishonest paperwork, some may become registered as black Labradors, but their registration will not endure scrutiny.

Realizing that the puppy in the pet shop is far over-priced, since it is not purebred, you decide to look for a real black Labrador.

AKC Color Standard

The American Kennel Club (AKC) gives just 3 colors for Labrador Retrievers:

1. Black Labrador
2. Yellow Labrador
3. Chocolate Labrador

Any other color – or a combination of colors – disqualifies a dog for registration as a Labrador Retriever.

A black Labrador may have a small white spot on the chest and meet the standard, but even that is considered undesirable.

A black Labrador should be all black, from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. There should be no streaks, spots, or flecks of other colors. If the dog is older, and has a few white “age” hairs, that is fine. A young black Labrador, however, should be completely black.

The Color Genes

The black Labrador Retriever’s color is determined primarily by 2 genes.

1. The first gene (B) decides how dense a black Labrador’s coat pigment granules will be. When pigment granules are dense, the coat will be black. When pigment granules are sparse, the coat will be chocolate. If this were the only gene involved, there would be only chocolate and black Labradors.

2. The second gene (E) makes the difference. It determines whether any pigment is even produced. Regardless of the B gene, if a dog has the recessive E, there will be little color. It will be a yellow Labrador.

Variations in a number of other genes control subtler color details.

A black Labrador’s nose matches its coat – black.

Blue, Charcoal, Grey, and Silver

Unscrupulous breeders have come up with new names to fit their puppies that do not meet the officially recognized standard, telling people that it is a new line of “purebred” black Labrador.

The most blatantly pushed of these four colors is silver. This is a very light color and, since it is sought by some who do not adhere to the standard, disreputable breeders describe unusually light colored yellow and chocolate labs as “silver” labs.

Sharon Wagner, molecular biologist and geneticist of wigwaglabradors.com wrote an analysis, which concluded “Silver breeders also blatantly lie. They have information on their websites that talk about DNA testing done by the AKC … AKC never did any genetic mapping of silver Labradors nor do they have any plans to do so since they are a registering body only and the Labrador Club of America writes the standard for the breed.”

Dogbreedadvice.com states in a Labrador FAQ: “‘Silver’ Labradors are purely a scam and are either crosses with Weimaraners or very light chocolates.”

A black Labrador Retriever’s color should never be any of these shades.

Are You My Father?

Imagine that you mate 2 black Labradors, and nine weeks later a litter of squirming little puppies arrives. Three are black Labradors, as expected, but 2 are chocolate Labs, and 4 are yellow Labs. Ahem! Will the real father please stand up!

You know the real father – no question – so how did this happen? It all goes back to genes. A Lab with one gene for dark and one for red-yellow pigment will appear to be black or chocolate, depending on other genes that control black or chocolate color. Each parent of a litter with some yellow puppies must have at least one gene for red-yellow pigment.

We know we mated 2 black Labradors, so each of them must have had one gene for dark pigment and one for red-yellow pigment. If both parents had been yellow Labs, neither could carry the gene for dark pigment. None of their puppies would have been chocolate or black Labradors.
Black Labrador Retriever color is important to many people, as are the short, dense, weather resistant coat; the “otter” tail; and the clean-cut head with broad back skull.

More important, though, is that your lovable Labrador be happy and healthy.

By: Anna Hart

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A twisted take on the traditional love story. Think Misery with all the self-affirmation of Buffalo 66. Philadelphia City Paper … many intriguing twists… VarietyAttempting suicide, sultry but down-on-her-luck swindler Liz (Nadia Townsend) is rescued by lonely tow truck driver Aiden (Bernard Curry). But instead of rushing her to the hospital, Liz s savior abducts her to his remote farmhouse, convinced that she is the wife who abandoned him years earlier. Cut off from civilization, kept prisoner and guarded day and night by vicious attack dogs, Liz realizes she must rely on her skills as a con artist to talk her way out of t (more…)

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WHAT IS A PARASITE?

External parasites are pretty common among dogs. A parasite is an organism that lives off the resources your dog has to offer: namely, fresh blood (which most parasites drink) and a warm place to stay (in and on the skin and fur).

What are the common parasites that might affect my dog?

There are a wide range of parasites that affect dogs:

- Fleas
- Ticks
- Mites
- Lice

All of these parasites cause adverse reactions in your dog: typically, itching and inflamed skin, a dull coat, and bald spots. In advanced cases, your dog may develop anemia (blood loss) and become generally debilitated (particularly if he or she is very young, very old, or suffering from another condition).

In addition to this, many parasites convey secondary and internal parasites to your dog – for example, fleas usually carry the common tapeworm (which causes constipation and flatulence), and ticks can cause a variety of much more serious problems like Lyme’s disease and paralysis.

I’m going to be looking at fleas: what they are, how to tell if your dog’s affected, and how to get rid of them.

A CLOSER LOOK AT FLEAS

Fleas are without question the number-one most common external parasite affecting dogs. They’re small, jumping insects that are light brown in color, although humans generally can’t see them – they move much too quickly for that!

Fleas live off your dog’s blood. The life cycle of a flea moves very rapidly from stage one (egg) to stage four (adult flea), which means they’re capable of multiplying with staggering rapidity.

An adult flea lays hundreds of eggs per day. Each egg will then become an adult flea, which lay hundreds more eggs of its own. One flea becomes a major problem very quickly!

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DOG HAS FLEAS

The symptoms of a flea infestation are unmistakable.

A dog with a flea infestation will scratch almost constantly, often at areas that fleas seem to favor: the ears, the base of the tail, the belly, and the stifle (the webbing of soft skin between the thigh and the abdomen).

It’s actually the saliva of the flea that causes the irritation, not the bite itself, and some dogs have a genuine allergy to this saliva (as opposed to a standard irritation). Dogs with allergies suffer much more significant negative reactions to a flea infestation, and usually develop “hot spots”.

These hot spots are areas of sore, inflamed, flaking, bleeding, and infected skin, caused by the flea saliva and your dog’s own reaction to it. Bald patches will sometimes develop too, from repeated scratching and ongoing inflammation.

If you think your dog has fleas, you can confirm your suspicions by taking a closer look at his skin: you probably won’t be able to see the fleas themselves, but you should be able to see what looks like ground pepper (a thin sprinkling of fine black grains) on his skin. This is flea dirt (poop).

If you groom him with a flea comb (which is like a fine-tooth comb), try wiping it on a paper towel: if red blotches show up on the towel, you know that your dog has fleas (on a white background like a paper towel, flea poop shows up red: since fleas subsist on blood, their poop is colored accordingly).

TREATMENT FOR FLEAS

Because fleas only spend a small amount of time actually on your dog, and the rest of their time leaping through your house laying eggs and feeding on human blood, it’s not enough to just treat the dog: you also have to target his bedding, the entire house, all human bedding, and the yard (yes, fleas lay eggs all through the yard, too. Even if it’s cold outside, you’re not necessarily off the hook: cold weather doesn’t kill flea eggs, it just puts them into a state of hibernation. The eggs will hatch as soon as it gets warm enough outside.)

You’ll need a broad-spectrum treatment which kills not only the adult fleas (which are the ones that bite), but also any developing fleas, and the eggs.

PREVENTION IS THE BEST (AND THE EASIEST!)

Prevention is definitely the best cure – you should keep your dog’s flea treatments up to date with the use of a calendar, and use a treatment that’s prescribed by the vet. Off-the-shelf treatments aren’t recommended, since different dogs require different strengths depending on their size, age, and activity levels. A particular benefit of prescribed flea treatment is that most are also designed to prevent other parasites (like mites, ticks, and heartworm) from affecting your dog.

FOR AN EXISTING INFESTATION

If your dog already has fleas, you have two options:

1. You can ‘bomb’ the house and yard with a flea-pesticide. These come as foggers (which coat each room, and the yard, in a fine mist of pesticide) and sprays (which are applied manually to each surface throughout the house and yard), and although they’re very effective in killing fleas and eggs, there’s one major drawback: they’re highly toxic to humans, dogs, and the environment. Depending on your priorities, this is probably the quickest solution to a flea problem (and will effectively wipe out the eggs, too) but if you have anyone in the house with allergies or a health condition – including pets! – you might want to think again.

2. A more health-friendly alternative is to target the dog with a topical anti-flea solution prescribed by the vet (like Advantage or Revolution), and to rigorously clean the house on a regular basis until the flea problem has gone. This means vacuuming each room thoroughly each day – put a flea collar in with the vacuum bag to kill any fleas that get sucked up – and wash all human and dog bedding in hot water as often as you can (once every day or every two days is recommended). You’ll be able to tell when the problem’s gone because your dog won’t be scratching, and his coat will be clear of flea dirt when you inspect it.

WHAT NOT TO DO ABOUT FLEAS

- Don’t use multiple products on your dog – it’ll make him sick, since you’ll be overloading his system with toxins.
- Don’t forget to treat all the animals in the house at the same time: cat and dog fleas are interchangeable, and if one animal has fleas, they all will have them, even if some are not displaying the symptoms.
- Flea collars are no longer recommended as a safe option for flea prevention, since the collars are highly toxic – vets have realized that placing a toxic material directly against your pet’s skin for long periods of time (flea collars have to be worn 24/7 to be effective) is detrimental to your dog’s health.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PARASITES AND THEIR TREATMENT…

Fleas are just one of the many, many types of parasites that affect your dog. To find out more about the complete prevention and treatment of all types of parasites (external and internal), as well as a comprehensive guide to all aspects of dog health, take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health.

This book is an invaluable resource for the responsible dog owner, and will help you to ensure that your dog remains happy and healthy – just the way you want him (or her) to be!