Look at pictures of the pups parents and grandparents as well as siblings from other litters, this will be very indicative. Spend time with them if you can.
Some traits like size and general temperament are indicative from 1 week old in pedigree dogs where breed genetics and other variables can be eliminated. The most important variable in who your dog becomes is YOU! A stable, calm and happy home with regular exercise and activity will produce a stable and happy dog. If you give your dog your time, training and your own companionship, love and attention you will be repaid a thousand fold with undivided and unconditional love.
All pups are born blind and deaf. Fox Reds are born with very light fur and pink faces and paws. They move very little and spend their energy nursing and sleeping which is when they grow. Growth rates in pups is remarkable. Their birth weight needs to double by eight days old!
The first change for fox red labradors is day five when their noses and toe beans or paw pads turn black. By day eight their weight doubles and around day 10 their eyes open. Ears follow a week later but sight and hearing are still developing for several weeks.
Slowly their tails start to wag and they try walking after a couple weeks but their bellies are so swollen with milk that lifting them off the ground is very hard! When they do take a few tentative steps they look drunk and topple over often! They make little sounds and slowly learn to walk and run.
Teeth start to come in at ¾ weeks and mum is less enthusiastic to nurse them with their razor sharp teeth, but this does not put them off. Weaning begins and then growth gets even faster. At 4 weeks pups are playing and very curious and by 6 weeks they are developmentally old enough to leave the den and mum, but stay with the breeder until 8 weeks when they can be vaccinated, microchipped and rehomed.
Your fox red labrador’s coat colour will darken continuously until about 18 months of age when they will have their final colour.
Females gestate for 9 weeks and like women have 3 trimesters. First trimester is weeks 1-3. Second 4-6, and final 7-9. The larger the litter the sooner the bitch will whelp. In the final trimester mums rest more and eat more. Labour begins within 24 hours of her body temperature dropping 1 degree c.
Your pup needs to learn everything about the world from its mum, siblings and human family. At 15/16 weeks old the fear chemistry enters the brain of your pup and anything they see, smell, feel, hear, or experience for the first time AFTER this point they will likely always fear. Socialisation is the process of exposing you pup to as many people, dogs, places, equipment, objects, experiences, sights, smells and sounds as possible between after rehoming (8 weeks) and before the fear impulse enters their brain 2 months later.
Bonding by using your direct and deep eye contact and a soft and loving voice direct to your pup will give them all the reassurance they need to know they are safe with you.
You are not doing your pup a service by keeping them at home until all their vaccines are complete at 10-13 weeks. Pup can’t touch the ground outside their garden until that time, but you can take pup in a papoose, backpack or sling to shops, on buses, trains, and on adventures to enable them to see hear and smell as much as possible.
Encourage other people to touch and cuddle your pup and let other dogs visit you and play and sniff too as long as they are vaccinated.
There are thousands of labrador breeders in the UK but far fewer are fully licensed and KC registered. Still fewer of that subset are fox red yellow lad breeders! Only 3 dozen in the UK. From this small group, we are the only ones that have our own website, give you lifetime membership and sell fully housetrained pups.
We allow you to visit your pup as often as you wish after 3 weeks old. Our community, reunions, annual calendar and professional photography for your pup are also completely unique aspects of our service.
Finally we are proud to offer boarding for our own progeny and have a cradle to grave policy to support all our pups in case of need.
We are proud that because we are completely fair and transparent we can let our clients meet one another, be in a group and share information. Once you join a litter you are a Honeyfitz Member and have access to the Membership area of our website. Membership brings:
· Visitation privileges to spend time with our mums and our litters in their home
· Eligibility for our intern scheme – learning care for newborns
· Eligibility for corporate mental health day “puppy litter therapy” at preferential price – within 50 miles of our location.
· Invites to all our events and advance notice of Labrador relevant books or programmes
· Access to membership area of our website with:
- Exclusive information about our dogs and litters
- Images and videos of your pups
- Discounted entry for all our events
- News stories and our private membership forum
- Access to our shop to purchase our annual charity fox red pups calendar and other exclusive Honeyfitz items
- Convenience of Supply list for your new pup “Honeyfitz Recommends” with links to buy essential items from partner suppliers at preferential prices
- Full list of Puppy start pack contents provided by Honeyfitz
- Link to our trainer and behaviourist services for special offers
In addition you are put in a closed facebook messenger chat so you can experience all pupdates and news about your litter and share comments and photos with the owners of the twins to your pup.
You may meet during visits and reunions and we support one another as much as possible.
Transparency is vital, find a breeder that has a website and reviews from other owners. This is more important than their geographic proximity to you.
Always visit before joining their list. Meet Mum and their other dogs, ask to see all health tests for Sire and Dam. Ensure Mum is 8 years old or younger and has had 5 or fewer litters no more frequently than once a year.
Most important is their reputation and their accreditations. Look for a breeder that has bred more than 5 litters of the breed you want, and ideally speak to one or more of their owners, read their reviews etc. All dog breeders in the UK, without exception must be licensed by their council BY LAW. It is illegal to buy a pup from an unlicensed breeder. Council License has 1-5 stars. 5 stars is ideal. A kennel club registered and or registered breeder is ideal.
Ask about what is included in price, look for KC pedigree not just “papers”. Ask for vaccines and microchip, 5 weeks free health insurance, 2 weeks of food, a contract etc.
Ask about puppy visitation rules, the more times you can visit the better.
Both genders have advantages and disadvantages and both are wonderful companions. Of course, it is always dangerous to generalise, there are some Labs that exhibit different sizes and temperaments than the typical ones for their gender. Size outcomes can usually be determined very young as paw size in small pups is a reliable indicator to future growth potential. Your breeder will be able to help you select. Most litters have smaller boys as well as larger girls.
Most females will weigh about 25-27kg full grown, whereas males are mostly 30-40kg. This also depends on whether they are entire or castrated, as the longer a male has testosterone, the larger he will grow.
The larger adult dog is more of a challenge to walk on lead and train to heel and with very small children may accidentally or playfully jump up, not realising a small child is not strong enough to stand or dance with them! On the other hand a family that already has a large male dog and wants a companion for him, may want a large girl who can hold her own! Thus the decision of gender and size is individual for each.
It is true that adolescence (6-18 months) is more challenging for male pups as their training goes a bit out the window and they are distracted by their hormones and the scents and thoughts of female dogs. However, this passes, particularly after neutering, to be replaced by the calm and extremely affectionate and focused attention of a male dog. Assistance or therapy dogs are more often male as they are more reliably biddable and compliant once grown and trained.
Females (bitches) are much easier as adolescents. Their “seasons” are every 6 months for a couple weeks showing a small amount of blood. Spay can cause weight gain but does make them slightly more calm. The labrador bitch can be very affectionate, but sometimes they are a bit more independent and aloof and show more affection when older.
Bitches often have a very maternal nature and will nurture pups or smaller animals and children. Males and females will have a great perceptive nature and will know you are unwell or distressed even before you do. Their behaviour will quickly adapt and they will be very undemanding and sit by you as you get better showing even greater affection and care.
Male or female your lab will be loving and attentive to his owners and very keen to play and please. Labs love the companionship of other labs so many end up with two or a lab nearby as a frequent companion.
All responsible dog owners should keep their pet on lead when other people or dogs are around in uncontrolled space. This is for the safety of all. Even the best behaved lab will not react well if another dog comes running at them or behaves badly. Any dog is capable of fighting with another dog for reasons that sometimes only the dogs know. By keeping your Lab on lead unless or until you know that other dogs are friendly you keep your pet safe. If the space is enclosed and thus no unexpected elements can be introduced you lab will love running and playing off lead.
Labs love the water and all fox reds have webbed feet and thus are very strong swimmers. Take care your lab can exit the water if you let them swim as some canals have cement sides, but normally lakes, river and ocean are a huge treat.
In general dogs live according to size. The smaller the dog, the longer the life. For example a chihuahua can live to 25 years old, whereas a Great Dane or Wolf Hound will rarely live past 7 or 8 years. Labradors are medium sized and generally live 10-15 years. Dogs from accredited breeders who have had genetic diseases eliminated will tend to live to the longer and of that scale.
Hip and Elbow dysplasia are the most common health risks but using accredited breeders who have both parents tested and scored for this eliminates the genetic risk. Dysplasia can also occur from an accident, over exercise or injury but is usually addressed with surgery covered by pet insurance in the rare cases it does occur.
This is another way of identifying Show and Working varieties. The working Lab is also sometimes called “American” body shape. The Show lab is sometimes referred to as “British” body shape.
There are two body types in the labrador breed across all three colours (Black, Yellow and Chocolate) – Show labradors, such as those seen at Crufts, and Working labradors with the more streamlined athletic bodies, that take part in Field Trials.
If a Show labrador wins a challenge certificate at a show they can put SHW after their name which will show on their KC pedigree certificate. On winning their third challenge certificate they are upgraded to champion and can put ShCh after their name which will show on their KC pedigree certificate.
If a working labrador wins a challenge certificate at a field trial they can put FTW after their name which will show on their KC pedigree certificate. On winning their third challenge certificate they are upgraded to champion and can put FtCh after their name which will show on their KC pedigree certificate.
Other types of champions such as Agility, are identified as AgCh
A Champion is shown in red letters on pedigrees and proves high performance with consistency which is an indicator of considerable intelligence in a dog. As a pet owner, intelligence is important as it makes them very easy to train and allows you to engage in a wide variety of activities with your dog should you wish to including field trials and agility.
Labradors are not guard dogs. They cannot be trained to attack or harm humans in the way that some breeds can, even by the most gifted military or police dog trainer. It is simply not in their DNA. They will defend their young to humans but otherwise will not even physically defend their territory against an aggressive person. They may bark, bare their teeth or growl but will not physically engage with a human unless they are faced with extreme injury or death.
All dogs are a wonderful addition to your life if you have the time and resources to meet their needs. However, the gun dog group, retrievers and labradors in particular, have special traits that make them ideal for almost any home or lifestyle.
Labradors have traits of friendliness, calm, tolerance, intelligence and loyalty which have made them the first choice as service dogs for the blind and hearing impaired These same traits make them a joy and easy to train to bring you great joy and fulfilment as you share your life, love and home with them.
Very tolerant of other pets including cats and young children, Labradors are gentle and have a kind and loyal temperament. Despite being medium sized dogs, they will adapt to their environment and are rarely destructive or loud. They are also very responsive to training and very keen to please their family, or human “pack”. Outside the home they are neither prey nor scent driven like some breeds, and are thus easy to train to remain close off lead.
At three weeks of age pup has enough of mum’s immunity and can see and hear enough to start bonding with you, so we arrange your visit to select your pup. After that we encourage you to visit when you can, the more you bond, the easier it is on pup to say goodbye to family at 8 weeks.
A Honeyfitz rehomes at 8 weeks to comply with council and Kennel Club guidelines. At this age they can be microchipped and start the course of vaccinations which ends at 10 or 12 weeks. Once all vaccines are done your pup can walk anywhere safely. Before then only in your garden and you can carry them in a papoose to pubs and shops to socialise them until they walk next to you.
Honeyfitz does not practice breeder placement where the breeder chooses your pup. From birth you can enjoy live feeds of the den on facebook. At three weeks old you may visit and select your pup in order of registration date.
Honeyfitz community surrounds you with support from the owners of your pups littermates, to our more experienced owners. You get a wonderful book as part of your start pack and a complete care handbook that details mealtimes, amounts, and exercise and socialisation tables. We have an in house trainer, reunions and support from our site and by phone and text.
The experience of owning a dog from birth is totally unique. The whole memory and experience of that pup starts and ends with you and those who are part of your “packâ€.
Even the most finicky kitty will be soft in the face of a young labrador puppy and the bond will form from there. Honeyfitz pups are almost completely housetrained at 8 weeks which is the hardest part of training. Obedience training and socialisation is something you do with your pet as part of your bond. Teaching your labrador pup to play with other dogs and respond to people appropriately is critical. Commands like sit, stay, come, leave, etc are not hard to teach but it takes consistant effort and some time. Labs are driven by food so a ready supply of treats and training by positive reinforcement will yield successful results.
Rescuing a dog of any breed or cross is a great thing to do and is the right choice in some situations. Many Lab homes bring a rescue as a companion a few years later because labs are so tolerant and friendly.
If your home has young kids or sensitive pets, it may be harder to find a good fit with a rescue. Pedigree dogs bred by council licensed, ethical KC Breeders are the healthiest and the best examples of good temperament for their breed. Breeding and health testing to the highest standard is costly and very time consuming, which comes with cost but then delivers you the best chance of a long life of health and happiness with your companion.
The Kennel Club recognises three colours for registration Yellow, Chocolate, and Black. The fox red coat is part of the Yellow Labrador breed. Fox red’s are all from working lines, which means their body types are slimmer and more athletic than the boxier, square look of the yellow, chocolate or black show labradors you might see at Crufts.
Fox Red coat labs are very light at birth and get darker during the first 18 months. See example below:
