Puppy Care
Kane 8 weeks
The biggest thing with caring for your Labrador puppy, or any large breed puppy is the 1st 12 months when they should be fed a high quality large breed puppy food as it contains all the right levels of calcium and nutritional requirements a large breed pup needs or a comprehensive raw food diet suited for puppies. Always have fresh water available for your pup.
Please do not over exercise your Labrador puppy, they can usually get all the exercise they need in their daily play sessions for the 6 months, although some pups need to be rested because the can get a little carried away especially if there is another dog in the household or come to visit. Remember socialisation is a must so puppy school is a great place to start, it is a safe a and controlled environment for your puppy. A week or so after your puppy’s 3 month vaccination, parks and beaches are also a good environment to meet other dogs.
Never allow your Labrador puppy to go and down stairs or jump on or off the sofa or your bed, including in and out of your car, until they are older because this can cause major damage to growing and developing bones when they get older. Keep an eye out for rougher play with bigger animals… – this is just a caution for the 1st year of their life. They are a large dog and those bones grow very fast and need to be taken care of. Adding some Ester C to their diet can be helpful for ligament and tendon development as well.
Your Labrador puppy should never carry unnecessary weight. Some people think the more they feed the bigger they will get, this is incorrect, a lot has to do with your dogs bloodlines firstly as to how big they get and overfeeding a pup will only cause bone issues when older. There is nothing more heartbreaking than having to put your beloved pet down before 12 months of age due to dysplasia. They are better kept on the leaner side, especially during their fastest growing months between 5 – 8 months than to be overweight when growing. Please keep in mind most Labrador breeds are not fully grown until around the 3 year mark so they have plenty of time to get to size.
Rea and Rocky Litter – Born December 2011
Rea at 4 weeks
Hawkshead Labradors “Puppies for Life”
Registered Purebred Labrador Breeder
Litter all Chosen by 19 January 2012
Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand
Breeder: Bridget Jones
Bitches: Sasha “Taprue Black Velvet”
Rea “Hawkshead Velvet Sash”
Sire : Rocky ‘’ Flagstaff Black Bear’
Member NZ Kennel Association 098324
Member Canterbury Labrador Association
Hip/Elbow Scoring and Certificates – Breeding Bitches and Sire
Eye Certification – Breeding Bitches and Sire
Registration Papers and Ancestry
Worming 2 weeks from birth
Vaccinatons at 6 weeks
Raised in kennels from 4 weeks
Socialised and disciplined from 4 weeks
Thank you so much for your desire to choose a Hawkshead Labrador and also for your patience.
Once I have notified all interested parties and they confirm their pup on a first served basis for a bitch or dog, the process begins. A $200 deposit is required in 3 working days to secure your pup and the remaining balance is due 1 week before homing. Upon receipt, I send through all the certificates for hip, elbow and eye and also pedigree papers for the dam and sire.
The pups are wormed every 2 weeks from 3 weeks old, they have their first vaccination at 6 weeks, then their second puppy vaccination at 3 months old. This is the ideal time to microchip them as well.
From 4 to 5 weeks old, the pups are in a kennel with runs, depending on weather. They have fairly much a free run for most of the day, they learn all about the garden, where to go and for how long. They can be real dogs and each week they become more adventurous!! When I bed them down in their kennel at 6pm, I can honestly say I don’t hear a peep out of them till their mum feeds them in the morning.
They are fed 3 times a day when they go onto solids at 3 weeks (a Science Diet puppy up to 1 year) and Mum will also feed them as much as she wants to through the weaning process until they leave.
I meet a very strong criteria for breeding and am also as passionate about my family dogs as I am about the pups. I put extreme care and good management into all of them and when the time comes to hand them over, I am very, very proud of them.
There will be papers to sign, so I send these off 3 weeks before homing for you to return to me signed, and your registration papers will come directly to you once I have homed all the pups.
When I hand your pup over, you will have a log book of vaccination and worming to date and I will also give you another 2 months supply of worming tablets to get you through to the next vet appointment. Worming thereafter is every 6 weeks.
I hope this is of help to you and I have every confidence you will have many years of enjoyment and loyalty from your Hawkshead Labrador.
Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year
Bridget Jones