INTRODUCING
Pippa And The Labrador Site Team
part of the dogsnet family
Hello and welcome! I’m Pippa, the founder and chief writer for this website. As a retriever trainer, and author, I have been privileged to share my life with dogs, and my experiences with others.
My mission, and the aim of this website is to provide high quality, objective and well researched training and care information, for Labrador Retriever parents around the world. This page tells you a bit about me and my team, as we share some great places to begin exploring this large Labrador library.
Books And Beginnings!
and a passion for labradors
I started the Labrador Site way back in 2011. I wanted to improve my website building skills and sharing my passion for Labradors seemed like a great place to begin!
As the founder of the UK Gundog Club and creator of it’s Graded Training Scheme I had also discovered a passion for helping pet dog owners experience the fun of retriever training and the joy of owning a well behaved dog. And my first mainstream book Total Recall was published the following year.
I started working with Penguin Random House in 2014 and with them have produced the Happy Puppy Handbook, and The Labrador Handbook. And there’s an exciting new title due in 2025. More of that soon…!
Let’s Make Training Fun
Many of the articles on this website are about training because I believe that a dog’s best trainer is almost always their owner. Training methods have changed immensely in the last few years and we advocate modern force free methods in all our training instructions. My articles and training tips are a great way to keep up to date with the latest dog training methods and techniques, and to discover new and fun ways to bond with your dog. Don’t forget to drop your name into the box below to receive tips and updates by email
Grab my free
Labrador Updates
News, tips, reviews, and the latest from The Labrador Site, delivered to your inbox
Learn With Us – And Get Help
the labrador site team
Nowadays the Labrador Site is a team effort. Our talented writers and editors make sure that the site is up to date and relevant. And stay in touch with our readers through our social media network and the comments and emails that you send us. We love reading them so please keep them coming!
the dogsnet training school
Dogsnet is the online dog training school that I launched in 2019. You’ll find we sometimes recommend training courses to our readers, and those are Dogsnet courses. The course material is written by me, Pippa Mattinson, and the videos are of me and my dogs. I hope you find them helpful.
Resources for pet Parents
Dogs can be very challenging at times. Even Labradors! Over the years we have developed several ways for you to get advice from experts and support from other Labrador fans. These include our busy Facebook page, the Dogsnet Facebook Group, the Labrador Forum, and the Dogsnet Youtube Channel
Hi Pippa,
We lost our Chocolate Lab (Gypsy) last year and are ready to start searching for another one. I would love to have your words-of-wisdom and direction on where and how to find a special new female Chocolate Lab puppy. I’m open to traveling out of state to get her.
Thanks a million,
Dan Holladay
Hi Dan, I’m sorry for your loss. This article is a good place to begin when you start looking for your next puppy. Good luck with your search. Pippa
Hi my name is Carrie Dobbin and I have a King Charles Cavalier I call her Prya.
How do you stop the dog from growling for food while people are eating dinner.
And what kind of command should I use.
I am in the process of adopting a black Labrador puppy whose mother is American and father is English. What would you expect the size of a mix like that to be? Also, this may be a stupid question but they are both AKC certified, what does this make the litter now they are no longer purebreds but pure Labs? Thank you
Hi Pippa
Just finished re-reading “Happy Puppy”. Although we’ve had labs since my days in college back in the late 60’s, and have trained some to be therapy/touch dogs assisting me with my Make A Wish visits, we lost the last of our most recent pair about a year ago. Having been almost 20 years since we last had a lab pup, I needed to go back to school. I have a couple of quick questions for you.
The first of our next duo arrived in California last Saturday (3/14/2020). He’s a fox red who will be ready for us to bring home the week of May 10. Here’s the issue: We live in St. Louis. That’s about 31 hours by car or 4 hours by direct nonstop (Southwest) flight. I’m familiar with the various transitional stages for a young pup, particularly a Lab. Weeks 8-10 is a fear/avoidance stage and I’m concerned about introducing a highly stressful situation. In the age of coronavirus, flying may not be an option anyway. If it is, would you recommend the 4 hours flight in a soft carrier under the seat (and the 2 hours waiting at the airport prior) to a multi day drive from CA to St Louis? Does the introduction of so may new locations along the way cause confusion and stress?
Any thoughts?
Phil
Hello,
Thank you so much for this information about Gabapentine. I have an 80 pound lab named Hoss. He is deaf and blind, and he does suffer from arthritis. We adopted him from a sanctuary that had to close.We are working on getting his weight down a bit. At the farm, he was taking two Gabapentine each day for his pain. I do not know if that was working for him. My vet prescribed meloxicam, a half tab every 24 hours. I give him a 100 mg gabapentine with the meloxicam in the morning (early…about 5am) and have been giving him another Gabapentine at 4pm, another at 7pm, and another at 10pm. Am I giving him too much Gabapentine? Or..not enough? At one point, my vet recommended giving him 6 each day. Just seems like a lot. Can I give two tablets at one time? Just want to get another opinion. Any insight is appreciated. Want to get it right for him.
Hi!
I was wondering why you don’t show the genetic breakdowns of the silver (and fox red) on this site. I love the “if you breed yellow with yellow” , “yellow with chocolate” etc, but I have a silver male (& a silver female) but I also have a yellow female that I want to breed with my silver male. Yes, I know he is registered as a chocolate, but having the silver gene I am curious to know if you have a table for puppy color possibilities? Both of his parents are silver. When I bred him with my Fox Red female, I got all chocolates LOL. Quick note: all my labs are healthy & genetic tested, so no negative comments needed. I am keeping my lines healthy and genetically sound with my breeding, I just am very interested in knowing what colors I might expect in breeding a yellow with a silver. THANKS!
I am starting a newsletter for our local humane society and wanted to include some of the information from your articles. I certainly can give you full credit as the source. How do I obtain your permission? Thank you!
Hi Linda, Please send an email to [email protected] Let us know which information you would like to republish, and we will see what we can do. Best wishes, Lucy
I have a 5 year-old Male English Lab; he is my service dog for seizure response. When I got him at 2 1/2 years old, he was around 71-72 lbs, and the trainers said he should remain around that weight. This was almost impossible, because this breed of dog acts like they are hungry all of the time. He started to fluctuate between 75-77 lbs. The last time he went back to re-certify as a service dog, the team of trainers said that they understood that our service dogs were still growing when we received them, so they are ok with them being within 5 lbs of their weight when we got them.
Since I got my lab, I stress constantly about his weight; more than I do my own. I feel like I am starving him. He gets 1/2 cup of 4 Health dog food (the food he’s always eaten) in the morning. He gets 1 calorie treats throughout the day which I monitor & then he gets 1/2 cup dog food for dinner mixed with green beans; maybe some chicken or whatever healthy meat we have on hand. We also dry apples for him. He is now 79 lbs & I am freaking out. I have never been able to get a vet to give me consistent answers on how many calories he should get per day. I also googled & found that most male English labs weight between 75-80. I also walk him 2-3 times/day. In the summer, I don’t walk him as long, because the heat really bothers him & me. Anyways….I am so confused & stressed & tired of trying to monitor his weight & figure out what he should be eating…how much…how many calories….Help!
I have a 8 month old chocolate Labrador and he is jumping up on me and nipping hard at me and having a firm hold on my arm which is hurting. Then he goes in to the humping action. Ignoring him is very difficult as I am trying to defend myself as it hurts. He only does this to me. This comes on when he’s very excited, which is almost always. I walk him often and try to play with in backyard but almost always have to come back inside because of this behaviour. Most of the time I take 2 steps outside soon and he’s trying to attract me. He does not do it when inside. We are thinking of getting professional to train him. What can I do.?
We have a three year old chocolate male that is very mellow. We recently got a new female pup from same breeder who loves to play and bite older dog on cheeks. I noticed a scab on older dogs face. We have had new pup for three months. How do Icontrol play so older dog dosent get hurt. They love to hang together but puppy is rough. Thank you.
The older dog, unless he is somehow impaired, should be able to put the puppy in it’s place if she is playing too rough. A small scab will heal just fine.
i am about to get a three mounth old lab mix puppie can i feed it purina kibble?
Hello,
My family and I are interested in buying a Silver/Charcoal Lab puppy in the UK and would appreciate if anyone can guide us to KC breeders with pedigree.
BR,
Amine
Hi Everyone
I’m wanting to get a labrador cross breed as I don’t live in a large house. I’m aware of the health complications but hope I could find one that isn’t jeopordised.
Would anyone know of a lab cross association I could contact?
Many thanks
Hi,
I already have a yellow lab Molly, she is 8 years old. Since my husband died she is a sad dog and sleep a lot. I would like to add a younger femele lab so that she can be with her. We live in Rome, Italy. Can you advice where to get a female 6 -9 month old ? Thank you.
Anyone thinking about getting a Lab should be careful as I believe this breed could be quite prone to deafness and this can be a big issue.
My next door neighbour has a brown Lab and a black Lab and is away often for days on end with no one at home. The owner says the black one is deaf and it’s incessant barking is driving us crazy, It will bark early every morning, in evenings and often all day and most of the night, due I think to loneliness or separation anxiety or whatever !!
I think the owner is negligent to leave these dogs alone so much and to ignore the barking problem, despite my complaint to him.
What to do? I’ve tried the electronic anti barking gadget and the citronella spray which are totally useless.
Unless there’s something else that works I can only complain to the RSPCA and or the town council and hope they force the owner to fix the problem. Suggestions please !
pleace write espanish,I don´t speack inglish
o tell me some page in spanish
tank´s
I have recently bought your book, Total Recall and my black lab, Bentley, and I are really enjoying the training. Thank you for such an easy to use book – it is really interesting and it is working! We are only just half way through, but doing very nicely. I do have a problem with him chasing pheasants and deer, and wondered if you have a book to help me train him with this, or will the recall be enough to stop him chasing?
A great site too. Many thanks.
Hi Pippa,
I see above that someone has mentioned about a search box. I totally agree that this website is brilliant and so informative with so many articles, but I find it frustrating when I can’t find a page that I have previously read, and I have to go through the pages looking for the link.
A search bar would be great, or a list of every single article, in the puppy section it says there is a list of articles but it doesn’t seem to include everything. I have been on the website for weeks and I still keep discovering new and useful articles that I haven’t found before.
I’m sorry if this seems like I am moaning, I really do love the site and really value your views, I just don’t want to miss any of it!
Kind regards,
Frankie
Hi Frankie, I have put a search box under the Labrador Links in the right hand side bar. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it’s a start. I’ll be reviewing the article lists shortly and updating them but in the meantime, thank you very much for your patience and feedback. 🙂
Pippa
Thanks Pippa. I really didn’t want to sound like I was moaning because as I said I love this website, but it was just one thing that I thought could be done so that everyone can get the most out of it 🙂
No problem 🙂
Hey hello. I have a 6 month old black labrador. just need suggestion for his nutrition. What should he be given in the diet so that his weight is increased. And he also is suffering with the problem of too much of lose of hair….. What should i do ???? Please suggest……
Hi Debonita, feeding information is here Pippa
I have been searching for kibble in many dog stores but there’s no store where kibble is available. Would you plz suggest any alternates of kibble
Dear Pippa
Please can you help! We have a one year old puppy and he bitting everything in site to pieces …. except the washing from the line. We have given him toys, cow hoves etc to play with but nothing is helping. Please can you suggest what we can do to stop Josh from destroying everything in site.
Kind regards,
Liz
Hi Liz,
Here are some articles to help you
How to stop your Labrador chewing your things
Help my dog is destroying the garden
Pippa
Can I adopt one of the rescue Labs to the US?
Thx!
Hi Elizabeth, we are not a rescue organisation, you would need to contact these directly.
Pippa
Hi Pippa,
I have spent many hours reading this site in the last few weeks, in preparation for getting our first Labrador in a few days and it’s been invaluable. Is there a search box on the site anywhere? There are certain topics I’d like to see a little more on, but I can’t seem to find out how to get there… am I just missing something really obvious?
Rachael
Hi Rachael,
There isn’t a search box on the site at the moment, but I think it is a good idea. I will look into what it involves.
Glad you are finding the site helpful. Please feel free to suggest any topics you think aren’t covered.
Best wishes,
Pippa
How did you come across your knolage are you a veteriniarian?
Hi Troy,
You can read all about me here
Pippa