All of our puppies come with a life time of backup service, no one can guarentee a pup is going to be healthy all there lives, it is our intention to keep our lines free from these faults and defects.

Once you have made a commitment to a Kobelco puppy we have a range of information to help you on your way to raising the perfect puppy, all responsible breeders should give you a comprehensive puppy pack with your new pup and be willing to help you out for the life of the dog.....

Question: over the past few weeks I have had several calls from potential puppy purchasers telling me that certain breeders have made comments that coat colour has a bearing on temperament. My advice to you is this: coat colour is exactly that "a coat colour", there is no scientific research done to prove otherwise, so personally I would be steering clear of such breeders.

FYI: there appears to be several breeders who have appeared within Australia over the past 10 years breeding chocolate labradors, because they are popular. These breeders have one motive $$$$$. I truly believe that finding suitable homes for our puppies is a priority over $$$$. We sell our chocolate puppies for $1200-males $1400 females(Export pups POA) and do not change the prices of our puppies if people want to breed or show, (we consider this a privilege) we do ask that the animals are kept in joint names for showing/breeding until hip and elbow scores measure up to the breed standard. This is our way of protecting the almost 20 years of selective breeding we have contributed to chocolate labradors here in Australia. I have recently received an email from a NSW breeder who allows another breeder in Sydney to sell his pups for $1800 plus, one pup sold for $2500, they justify this expense because the are using imported lines....90% of chocolate labradors in Australia now have imported lines.... dont get sucked in!! Ask breeders how long they have been breeding, and do they only breed labardors, did they breed the parents, did they acquire them as pups or as adults with the sole intention of breeding (for profit). If you really love the breed you would breed your own stock as a priority.

My advice to you is to call as many breeders as you can and decide for yourself  who you are comfortable with, you will usually have to wait for a quality puppy.

All Kobelco puppies have had the best possible upbringing , from birth we use early stimulation exercises (as practiced by the New Skeete Monks in America) and we are also a big fan of the Dog Whisperer- Ceasar Millan. Our pups are also wormed, frontlined and handled by the whole family from the minute they are born, they have been socialized with our other dogs, introduced to cats and swimming, as well as heard lots of load noises (we live next to a railwayline on the beautiful Bellinger River).

We recommend that you contact your vet as soon as you order a puppy to arrange a puppy preschool class for your new family member, for their socialization and for your training on how to train .

It is advisable not to take your puppy to any public place until they have had their 12 week vaccinations, as there immunity  from the needles does not kick in until this time.

Stop Press: there is a new vaccination available called a Protec C4- ask your vet do they have it, it is given at 10 weeks and allows socialisation 2 weeks earlier than the normal 12 weeks.

Basic Training

Only one person should be responsibly for the initial training of you pup.Dogs hear syllables not sentences!!!!!

For this reason you only need to use one word per command ie Sit.  Your dogs name becomes the command Come.

In the photo to the right the word puppy is used!!

Sit

To get your pup to sit use a piece of food ie sausage , place it in front of his/her nose and run it along his/here nose toward there head, they will automatically sit, use the word sit once only each time you so this.

Drop

To get your pup to drop, from the sit position hold a piece of food infront of his nose, run the food down toward the ground vertically from his/her nose they will automatically drop to reach for the food, use the word drop. You may need to rest your hand on the shoulder ever so slightly just to make him/her move toward the ground.

Retrieving

Labradors were bred to retrieve, and so they automatically retrieve from around 6 weeks, to continue on, we train our dogs to retrieve on command only ie, make them sit, throw the ball, say leave, then when you are ready say fetch, reward them with a tid bit as soon as they come back and say give whilst placing to treat in their mouths .

Food Refusal

Food  refusal is also very important, if you have children in the family you dont want your lab thinking that what your 2 year old has is for them. The best way I have found to do this is start  when you get your puppy and have taught him/her to sit, hold them firmly and place their dinner in front of them, say leave and make them wait a few seconds at first, gradually build on the time waiting until you no longer have to hold them at all, say OK when they are allowed to eat.

Lead Training

Its now time to introduce the lead, the best way is to let them inside and attach the lead to their collar whilst eating, they then associate this with a good thing ( food). Let them walk around for 5-10minutes (supervised) for a couple of days before you even begin to lead them. Again have some food handy and place it in front of them whilst you walk slowly forward. Your pup will be an expert on the lead in no time at all.

Chewing

Puppies love to chew, its one of the ways they explore things just like us humans do, its very important from a young age to show your puppy what is and is not acceptable to chew. ie he/she must be taught that it is OK to chew thier toys but not OK to chew your hand, the minute they chew your hand verbally scold stop play immediately, tell them to sit then praise them for sitting and resume play

"The words in white become your dogs language that he understands."

HAPPY TRAINING, A WELL TRAINED DOG IS A PLEASURE TO HAVE AROUND.

Puppies learn more in the first 16 weeks than at any other time in thier lives.So this is the perfect time to teach your new puppy good behaviours that will stick with him or her for life.

Parasites

At Kobelco we believe a parasite free dog is a happy one, and also believe that a lot a problems that dogs can have are due to poor management of internal and external parasites eg, dogs can develop skin problems due to flea infestations or pass some worms onto humans that can actually send us blind if untreated.

For this reason we worm all our puppies every 2 weeks for the first 4 months of there lives, and then every 2 months for the rest of there lives.

We frontline all our dogs and puppies every 2 weeks in the summer months to control fleas and ticks and every 4 weeks in the winter months .

Vaccinations

There are currently 3 different vaccinations with the option of 8 different components within them. So which vaccine does your dog need? This should help to make your decision easier. At the initial 6 week vaccination the vet will give the puppy a full check up, eyes, ears, bite, and bones are all checked for any problems. Once the puppy is deemed fit and healthy the first vaccination will be given. This is also classed as a full health check. "A registrered breeder is not allowed to let a puppy leave their care at 8 weeks unless the pup is 100% healthy".

C3 (parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis)- this part should always be given yearly. These 3 viruses are all deadly viruses, and parvovirus especially is still seen very commonly. We consider this to be the "core" or essential vaccination for all dogs.

C5 (C3 + the 2 components of kennel cough)- kennel cough is not a fatal disease in its own right, but can lead to pneumonia if untreated and is quite debilitating. It is a very common disease and is picked up through close contact with other dogs. Our recommendation for your dog to have a C5 if your dog comes in contact with other dogs eg. on walks, at training, shows, or if your dog goes to kennels. If your dog is kept in your yard only, with no change of "meeting" other dogs through the fence etc., then a C3 is recommended.

C7 (C5 + Coronavirus and Leptospirosis)- coronavirus is a very common virus that causes very mild disease, sometimes causing short lived diarrhoea. It can be likened to a 24 or 48 hour bug. The vaccine against coronavirus is partially effective in reducing disease from this virus. Leptospirosis is a disease generally seen in northern farm regions where cattle graze. There is a variant that can be carried by rats.

Poisonous Plants

Recently, there have been several reports of dogs eating a shrub often called morning, noon and night, or yesterday, today and tomorrow which have caused severe illness and even death. This plant, whose botanical name is Brunfelsia australis, is a shrub which grows slowly to around 2-4m tall and 2m wide. The foliage is dense and medium green in colour. When the flowers first open they are a violet colour, fading to lavender blue and then white, with the three colours present on the bush at the same time. The brown berries in the plant contain alkaloids that are very toxic to dogs. Once ingested, the berries cause severe diarrhoea, vomiting, and salivation, then muscle tremors, fever, staggering, seizures then death. Only small numbers of seeds are required to cause all of these signs. There is no "antidote" for the toxin. Treatment involves hospitalisation, stomach pump and intravenous drip, and medications to control the seizures until the poison has been flushed through. This will often take days and complete recovery can take weeks. It is only the brown berries that are toxic, and it is recommended that these be removed from the plant when they appear each year.

Plants poisonings are uncommon in pets, and we don't suggest removing all toxic plants. As an example, oleander is a very common plant, and oleander poisoning is very rare. However, knowing which plants are potentially poisonous, as well as knowing the signs to look out for, is important for your pets safety.

Hip Dysplasia

Hip Dysplasia is a common problem in large breed dogs, especially in Labradors/ Retrievers, German Shepherds, and Rottweilers, although any breed or cross breed may be affected. It is caused by looseness in the hip joint, which is a ball and socket joint.

What this means is whenever the dog runs or jumps there may be an impact between the ball and the socket. This continual trauma can cause transient soreness, and will at an early stage cause severe arthritis. Once arthritis is present, there is nothing that can be done to reverse these changes.

Prevention of Hip Dysplasia

Hip Dysplasia is caused in one of three ways

         1. It is genetically inherited, there are certain lines of labradors that are known to produce HD.

         2. Diet related, being fed a diet which lacks balance

         3. Caused by environmental factors such as over exercise during growth periods, or not resting after an injury.

Kobelco labraodors has been breeding sound dogs for over 20 years. We are now into our 5th generation of healthy animals. We attribute this to our selective breeding program, and also the fact that we generally only breed from each bitch once or twice.We have good hip and elbow scores back 3 and 4 generations in our lines. Labradors current average for hip scores is 12.17 out of 106 (1/5/09) It is ideal to have no parents or grandparents carrying hip dysplasia genes.

A dog that is genetically prone to hip dysplasia may be prevented from having severe problems by controlling their diet. Equally, a dog that is not genetically prone to hip dysplasia can develop it if not fed properly in the initial months of its life. Exercise can also play an important part.