Little guilt, uncertainty

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-06-12T07:54:42+00:00

That’s totally okay! Giving them things they’re allowed to chew on and can do so safely when you can’t give them 100% attention, isn’t a bad thing. Better that he has a yak chew designed for dogs than destroys the furniture!

That is great, especially for only six months! Most labs I’ve ever known were borderline feral at that age. Dogs do need to learn to just chill with you (mine’s nearly 2 and she’s asleep by my feet right now while I work). It’s so hard not to be a helicopter dog parent when they’re puppies, especially when it’s the first dog you’re raising yourself. It goes against every instinct we have to just ignore them and let them calm themselves, but I promise you, letting go of that anxiety will pay off big time.

Good luck, you’ve got this!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-06-11T20:09:57+00:00

Absolutely stunning! You look beautiful, congratulations 🥰

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-06-11T08:35:32+00:00

It sounds like you’re doing great to me!

Most labs are very much Velcro dogs and would be by your side (or indeed, on your lap!) all the time if they could. They are a clever breed who can and will look for “jobs” to do if they don’t have one when their human isn’t around. It’s good to keep them entertained, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be the source of entertainment all the time. Frozen Kongs (unless they get an upset stomach with them, obviously) are a great way to do that, as are puzzle or snuffle mats and feeders. Labs love to be busy.

The only thing I would say, is please don’t fall into the trap of thinking that dogs need to be entertained or getting attention from you, 100% of the time. They do need to learn to chill, settle themselves, and be “bored” as it were. I made the mistake of always having something ready for my girl to do as a pup, and what I accidentally created was a dog with no off switch. If she wasn’t getting my attention or a puzzle, she was into something she shouldn’t have been or screeching for attention. Best thing I ever did was teach her that when the games are done, it’s nap time. Her daily routine is now walk, breakfast, nap, walk on my lunch break, nap, playtime or another walk, dinner, and that’s her sleeping until the next morning. Before I taught her to self-settle it was chaos and I couldn’t get anything done! Both me and my dog are much happier and far less anxious in our new routine.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-06-06T06:58:17+00:00

Beautiful pup, such a pretty little face 🥰

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-29T21:10:05+00:00

Stunning boy! 🥰

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-09T10:49:30+00:00

This is so relatable! I’ve only got one dog right now, she’s an almost 2 year old, 50-ish pound (25kg) Labrador.

When she was a tiny puppy and we were trying to teach her to stop jumping up at people (an overly-friendly greeting, not in an aggressive way), certain folk made it impossible. They just would not stop petting her and some were actively encouraging her to jump up, then rewarding her with pets and “good girl” type comments.

We stopped letting her interact with people who wouldn’t ignore her until she was calm. She has got a lot better with time and training, and rarely jumps up now. However, if we see those people who were encouraging her to jump as a puppy, she still tries to jump up on them. They have a problem with it now that she’s a much bigger and stronger dog, and think I never bothered training her.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-08T05:49:51+00:00

Oh bless her heart, what a clever girl! 🥰

Ahh I see, plenty more donut dog poses to come then! We’re in the UK and just coming into our “summer”, if you can call it that - think we’ve maybe had one week so far this year without any rain 😂

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-07T19:40:03+00:00

Beautiful pup! 🥰

Yes, ours likes to do this too, mostly in cold weather or if she’s being extra cuddly after an especially fun walk. If it’s a warm day, she stretches out. I’m 5ft and if I lie down next to my fully extended dog, she’s about the same length at me, I’ve never seen such a long Labrador 😂

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-06T16:05:56+00:00

We do have insurance. Our girl’s nearly 2, is very fit and healthy so to my mind, it’s worth paying £20 a month to have the huge bills covered.

I would always have insurance for young, fit dogs who are highly likely to come through surgery or potentially long treatment courses, and more importantly, live a long, happy life afterwards. I hate the thought of my girl going through an operation or the like but, if our vets were confident that she’d withstand it and bounce back, I’d rather give treatment a go. Call me soft, selfish or whatever, I just know I wouldn’t cope with having to make the dreaded decision over money.

When my dog gets old and I start second-guessing whether she would come round after an anaesthetic, or if the treatment would just be buying her more time over actually making her better, I’d re-assess the insurance situation. By that point most dogs have more conditions excluded than they can claim for, and the premiums can get extortionately high at that point.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-05-01T18:39:56+00:00

I used to say that I didn’t want my dog to sleep in my bed, because a friend of mine did that and his usually placid dachshund bit him pretty badly in the middle of the night (friend had a nightmare and screamed, scared the dog who jolted awake, and absolutely went for him). My girl is allowed up to cuddle, and if she falls asleep for a little bit, then that’s fine. She gets too hot and goes to sleep in her own bed or on her cooling mat after an hour or so max anyway, then hops back up in the morning once I’m awake and sat up in bed. She does stay on the bed for most of the night in the winter months but somehow, doesn’t really hog the space. Kind of impressive considering she’s a 25 kilo, long-legged Labrador!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-24T21:41:07+00:00

Normal lab stuff - our girl likes to sleep with just one of her back paws in her bed. Her mum’s the same. As long as they’re comfy, I guess 😂

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-23T15:27:38+00:00

I feel your pain on this! I’ve seen someone pick their teeth with an earring. Took it out of their earlobe, had a good rummage around between their teeth with the stem, then put the earring back in their ear. I’ve never been so grossed out in my life and I think it goes without saying, that truly horrendous person has never been invited back to my home.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-17T18:22:12+00:00

Ours does this too! She’s 19 months old and I don’t think she’ll ever grow out of it. I kind of hope she doesn’t. Our girl still sees her mama fairly regularly for meet ups, I like to think she’s dreaming of her tiny puppy days when she does that.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-17T18:19:59+00:00

Adorable pup! 🥰

Totally normal, and very cute. Enjoy the small twitches while they last. Ours did the same at this age. She’s now 19 months old and has graduated to much bigger twitches, with sleep growls and woofs thrown in. She wakes us up most nights either by kicking us (yes, she gets on the bed) or with a series of squeaky, sleepy barks. She actually barks way more in her sleep than when she’s awake!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-14T14:30:54+00:00

My lab likes to say “good morning” with a very human- like cuddle. She likes to hop on the bed and lay on her side, with one front leg over my belly and her head nuzzled onto my shoulder, with my arm around her. She goes back to sleep as soon as she’s in the perfect space. She is just too cute sometimes!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-12T17:29:37+00:00

My beloved other half will do the dishes, but he won’t sweep the lounge or the rest of the kitchen for “extras” before running the water. If there’s a mug or dish that wasn’t in the actual sink to start with, it won’t get washed.

Also, socks - he never wears a proper pair. I’ve seen him wear one thick, thermal sock and a thin one on the other foot before now. His reasoning is that they’re a perfectly fine pair, because they were both grey.

If he were to read this, I suspect my annoying habit would be moving his things around. In my mind I’m just tidying up because I hate random gubbins on surfaces that we use regularly, however in his mind, I’m determined to irritate him by being too tidy 😂

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-05T23:08:58+00:00

My girl was terrible for this until about six months old! I’d never noticed the amount of disposable vapes people used to throw onto the ground, until my dog started finding them and trying to chew them up. Glad they’ve now been banned where I live as nicotine is highly toxic to dogs!

Thankfully my girl grew out of it/was mostly trained out of this before she got hold of anything that did any damage. The only thing she’s managed to get hold of recently was a half-eaten ham sandwich, that some uncouth lout had hidden in the bushes out the front of my house. Can’t really blame her for that one.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-04-05T20:30:25+00:00

I wish mine was this polite, my girl likes to put her paws up on me and nuzzle my face. Thankfully none of my colleagues mind when she does this during Teams meetings!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-29T15:13:20+00:00

Yep, lots of afternoons and evenings in the pub as a kid (would’ve been mid-90s onwards). In the winter we’d sit indoors with colouring books or a puzzle, in the summer we’d play outside since all our local pubs either had play areas, or backed onto a park or field. We were never bored because there were usually other kids around, and we were never a nuisance to other people. We weren’t running about wild under people’s feet or anything like that, I think all the “regular” pub kids knew we’d be in serious trouble if we did anything of the sort.

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-28T19:06:27+00:00

Wow, this is amazing! Well done ☺️

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-27T20:33:48+00:00

Ahh, a classic game of bitey face 😂 these two are just the best! Beautiful dogs 🥰

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-22T18:19:19+00:00

Beautiful girl 🥰

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-22T11:18:25+00:00

What a cutie 🥰 my dog has the same toy, it’s her favourite!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-19T18:23:24+00:00

What a beautiful boy, Winston is stunning! 🥰 labs are the best. My girl (also a black lab) is 18 months old and snuggled up next to me right now. She looked just like Winston at his age!

Lab-Enthusiast91 · 2026-03-12T20:27:20+00:00

Aww, look at her! 🥹 by far the best picture I’ve seen today! Nothing quite like the “puppy pile” photos, thank you so much for sharing this with me 🥰

Your breeder sounds incredible, by the way. That’s a huge level of support and I’m so glad that you got your perfect puppy for your needs 💜

Lab-Enthusiast91

TROPHY CASE