Pippa Mattinson, Author at The Labrador Site All about Labrador Retrievers Sat, 25 Oct 2025 06:41:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.4 Three Primal Drives That Shape Your Dog’s Personality https://www.thelabradorsite.com/canine-instincts/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/canine-instincts/#respond Sat, 18 Oct 2025 08:01:36 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=43337 Bathed, well fed and snoozing peacefully on your couch, it’s hard to imagine your dog as an efficient and deadly predator. But beneath that well groomed exterior lies a trio of primal drives that shape almost every aspect of your modern dog’s behavior. Today I’m going to explore those primal instincts and some of the...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/canine-instincts/feed/ 0 Should You Teach Your Dog To Ring A Bell To Be Let Out? https://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-teach-your-dog-to-ring-a-bell-to-be-let-out/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-teach-your-dog-to-ring-a-bell-to-be-let-out/#respond Thu, 11 Sep 2025 11:20:50 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=43271 It sounds like a brilliant idea doesn’t it! Instead of having to remember to let your dog out at intervals throughout the day, why not teach them to ring a bell, or press a buzzer to let you know that they need the bathroom? This can be especially appealing with a new puppy or with...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/should-you-teach-your-dog-to-ring-a-bell-to-be-let-out/feed/ 0 Strategies for Managing Weight in Food-Obsessed Dogs (With Printable Progress Charts & Games) https://www.thelabradorsite.com/managing-weight-in-food-obsessed-dogs/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/managing-weight-in-food-obsessed-dogs/#respond Sat, 23 Aug 2025 14:21:20 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=43236 Weight gain is sneaky. It creeps up when we are not looking. And our dogs are no different from us in that respect.  You live with your dog every day and you probably won’t notice weight gain that happens slowly over many months.  So you mustn’t be too hard on yourself if you wake up...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/managing-weight-in-food-obsessed-dogs/feed/ 0 The Best Time To Neuter Your Dog: Different Perspectives https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-time-to-neuter-a-dog/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-time-to-neuter-a-dog/#comments Tue, 15 Jul 2025 08:34:41 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=43186 Depending on who you ask, the best time to neuter a dog could be anything from 3 months old to never.  And that’s because different people look at neutering from different perspectives.  You really need to consider what your perspective is, before you seek advice, if you want to  get an answer that works best...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-time-to-neuter-a-dog/feed/ 1 Pippa’s Top Ten Best Dog Toys For 2025 – Tested And Tough! https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-dog-toys/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-dog-toys/#comments Sun, 06 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=13111 My dogs have gotten through a lot of toys over the years, but there are some awesome,  stand out dog toys that have really stood the test of time, and these are a permanent feature in our home I review this top ten list each year, because we like to test new toys as they...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/best-dog-toys/feed/ 26 7 Awesome Reasons To Play Fetch With Your Dog https://www.thelabradorsite.com/benefits-of-fetch/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/benefits-of-fetch/#respond Fri, 20 Jun 2025 07:41:17 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=42814 A well designed fetch training program does so much more than simply teach your dog to retrieve. Here are just a few of the benefits. #1 You’ll Be More Important To Your Dog When a human is the center of their dog’s world, the possibilities for further training and teamwork are endless. The best students...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/benefits-of-fetch/feed/ 0 6 Effective Ways To Teach A Dog NOT To Jump On People https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-teach-a-dog-not-to-jump-on-people/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-teach-a-dog-not-to-jump-on-people/#respond Sun, 15 Jun 2025 16:06:52 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=42659 I have written a big guide to training a dog not to jump up. It has plenty of detailed explanation, some videos and step by step instructions for my preferred method. You can check it out when you have twenty minutes to spare. This page is a bit different. What we are going to do...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-teach-a-dog-not-to-jump-on-people/feed/ 0 Introducing ‘Fetch’ – Force-Free Retrieving for Every Dog https://www.thelabradorsite.com/fetch/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/fetch/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2025 10:10:20 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=42577 As dog owners, we all benefit from the joy and energy our beloved companions bring into our lives. Especially the joy part.  Sometimes the ‘energy’ part can be a bit much! But what if there was a way to channel that energy, without squashing the joy? And what if that way also kept our dogs...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/fetch/feed/ 2 7 Reasons People Dislike Silver Labs https://www.thelabradorsite.com/reasons-people-dislike-silver-labs/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/reasons-people-dislike-silver-labs/#comments Sun, 08 Jun 2025 16:21:10 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=42537 The first thing to say is that this is not an in-depth report on the myths and mystery that surround the history of the silver lab and its arrival in the Labrador owning community. If it’s ‘in-depth you are looking for, you’ll find that on this page, (it’s quite a long read so grab a...

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]]> https://www.thelabradorsite.com/reasons-people-dislike-silver-labs/feed/ 6 The Puppy You Pick Could Change Everything (For Better or Worse) https://www.thelabradorsite.com/choosing-the-right-dog/ https://www.thelabradorsite.com/choosing-the-right-dog/#comments Fri, 25 Apr 2025 10:59:00 +0000 https://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=380 Buying your first dog is a life changing decision, and the puppy you pick will make a huge difference to whether that change has a positive or a negative impact on your life. It’s important to take a few simple precautions when choosing the breed of dog, breeder and litter of puppies. An impulsive decision...

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