If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to see in a community site, please feel free to comment on this post. I’ll do my best to address any requests in the initial launch. Anything that can’t be done immediately will be added to the Todo list to be tackled as time permits.

Please stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information. If you subscribe to our RSS feed you will be one of the first to know when we do go live with the new site.

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Loki and Chief (Lokis first night)

Little Man at run out

Loki at 8 weeks

The little man at 9 weeks

Now Loki is 5 months old and over 60 pounds and is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. His favorite activities involve hogging the bed and sleeping. I love him more than anything and wouldn’t trade him for anything!

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Well, that depends on who you ask I guess.  To me (and a lot of other people) “Labranard” is just a term that describes a mixed breed dog that has Labrador retriever and Saint Bernard traits. Basically, I got tired of saying “She’s a mix between a Saint Bernard and a Labrador Retriever”.  I stumbled across the term “Labranard” (actually, I found Labrenard) on another site and it just seemed so much easier.

Apparently to some people usage of the term Labranard is border-line blasphemy.  I stumbled across a post on Yahoo Answers from the past week or so and it seems that some people think it is more important to bitch about the term than to provide a simple answer to the question. The person was just looking for information on how big a Saint Bernard Labrador mix would be. Instead, the majority keyed off of the use of Labranard.

Lighten up people.

Interestingly enough, this site only came into existence in March 2008. I put it together because I was noticing the search term “labranard” was showing up way more often that any combination of “saint bernard labrador mix” in traffic to my personal website.  I had posted a few times about Roxie and had one single comment where someone used the term Labranard.

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Wikipedia has a fantastic amount of information on Hip Dysplasia including a couple X-Rays of a dog with hip dysplasia. If you search Google for hip dysplasia X-Ray image, you will find a number of additional examples.

Supplements

The “joint cocktail” consists of glucosamine hydrochloride (or sulfate but the hydrochloride is preferred), chondroitin sulfate, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and vitamin C. The four things together apparently increase the uptake of the glucosamine which is supposed to help the body rebuild the cartilage in the joints. The reason you want to rebuild cartilage is it will help reduce the pain associated with osteoarthritis.

You can buy over the counter “human” supplements that contain at least glucosamine and chondroitin.  MSM and Vitamin C may also be included.

It may also be worth considering an omega-3 supplement as well.  According to Hill’s, they add omega-3 fatty acids to their Prescription Diet j/d as it can help maintain joint function.

Again, you can buy over the counter “human” omega-3 supplements.

Treatments

One option that we may explore in the future is Cartrophen Vet. This is an injection that the vet would perform and it will provide pain relief as well as help rebuild cartilage in and joint with osteoarthritis. There are also a couple pain management drugs available for dogs with osteoarthritis. Talk to your vet for more information.

Another option is full hip replacement. This is a major surgery and, from my investigation, has a price tag in the $12,000 range. It can definitely correct a severe case of hip dysplasia but the cost alone can be very prohibitive. Since it’s major surgery there is also the chance your pet won’t survive to test out those new hips.

Pain Management

We had our Labranard on powerful pain medication for a few months after we found out about her hip dysplasia. This was at the recommendation of our vet and looking back, it seems to have made a huge difference. We theorize that she was able to build stronger muscle joints where her hips should have been due to her lack of pain for that period. She has a noticeable muscle structure in her rear end that I’ve never seen on another “healthy” dog.

One thing to remember is never give your dog over the counter (OTC) pain remedies. Most of these contain ingredients that are toxic to dogs. If you want a pain management medication, talk to your veterinarian.

Personal Experiences

We discovered our Labranard Roxie had severe hip dysplasia at 6 months of age when we had an X-Ray taken prior to hey spay operation. Basically, her right hip socket is more like a dinner plate instead of being like a teacup. Her left hip socket isn’t much better but there is a small amount of bone there to create a “real” joint.

The vet recommended we put her down once she saw the X-Rays as she wouldn’t be able to walk within the year.

Roxie is now 3.5 years old and still going strong.

We often notice in damp weather that Roxie will have a harder time getting around. She also has a hard time in the fall when the temperatures are getting cooler. Interestingly, once we get into winter, she tends to do better. A good way to gauge the pain level your dog is feeling is to ask someone you know who has arthritis. If they are having a painful day, odds are your dog is too.

We’ve had her on the glucosamine “joint cocktail” since she was 6-7 months old.  We find that in the summer she doesn’t seem to need it as much but in the fall/winter/spring it definately makes a difference.  Omega-3 is a new supplement that we have found that we may also add this winter. There are a number of different brands of joint supplements in your local pharmacy.  Just read the labels and find the one that meets your requirements (and the price point you’re willing to pay).

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Lynn posted a comment a few months ago on my Apparently a Saint Bernard Labrador Mix is a Big Dog post about her labranard having serious diarrhea. I’m not sure if this is a common issue for Labranards but I do know that our Roxie also had bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. Well, that was until I changed her food.

We used to feed Roxie exclusively Nutrience large breed dry food. We chose that food originally because it had some of the highest glucosamine content (good for joint issues). We often noticed that Roxie had loose bowels while she was on that food. This was a huge pain because it’s very difficult to stoop’n’scoop diarrhea – it was more like stoop’n’smear.

When my in-laws came with their dog, Roxie often got into the other dog’s food. We always noticed an immediate improvement in Roxie’s stool and it would usually last for a day or so after the other dog left (and took it’s food with it).

So a month ago I bought a bag of Iams adult dog food. I actually goofed as I was supposed to get the Iams large breed formula but for some reason I picked up the wrong bag. We’ve had Roxie go through 40lbs of the Iams food now and she’s no longer having any diarrhea issues. I’m going to get the large breed Iams food next time and hopefully we will continue having good stool!

Now, Roxie is a sample of one (and one with some other health issues) so I can’t say that all Labranards will have the same issues or the same fix. I can suggest that you try a different food if your dog does have digestive issues.

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I posted last month about Andee having 9 Labranard Puppies that were looking for a home. Andee just sent more information on the puppies, including pictures!

Send an email to admin@labranard.com and we’ll put you in contact with Andee.

Mom, Kaytee, is a 60 lb, short haired 3/4 lab, 1/4 heeler mix, trained for pheasant and duck retrieval, LOVES to play fetch, loves to run, and swims better than she runs.

Dad, Whistle, is a 250 lb, long haired St.Bernard ranch dog. He is brown and white, with black diamonds over his eyes.

Together, Kaytee and Whistle had 9 puppies – all survived pregnancy and delivery. They were born on July 23, 2008 between 3 am and 9:30 am. There are 6 girls and 3 boys.The vet said the puppies will be around 100 to 150 lbs.when full grown.

If you are within reasonable driving distance, Andee is willing to bring the puppy to you or meet you half way. These puppies are free (well, as free as Andee can make them…when was a puppy EVER free?). Andee lives in the Panhandle of Nebraska, about 1 hour north of Colorado state line, 45 minutes from Wyoming state line, if that helps.

Andee has 1 black puppy (male weighs 6.3 lbs) with white front toes and chest, 2 St.Bernard looking puppies (1 male weighs 6.5 lbs and 1 female 6.7 lbs), 1 mostly white (female weighs 6.1 lbs) with St.Bernard face and a few spots and stripes here and there on legs and tail, and 1 back and white St.Bernard looking puppy (female weighs 6.2 lbs) left. Weights are at 4 weeks.

Send an email to admin@labranard.com and we’ll put you in contact with Andee.

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This litter of Labranard puppies is in Nebraska. Leave a comment if you want more information and I can try to put you in contact with Andee.

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Roxie was born on the farm of a co-worker of my wife. Her mom was a half Saint Bernard, half Labrador-mix breed and her father was a short stumpy Labrador mix. She had 6 other brothers and sisters in her litter. She was the biggest puppy in the litter and only one of three that has the Saint Bernard style markings.

Roxie was born with grade 4 hip dysplasia which basically means she has no hips. Her hip socket looks more like a saucer than a tea cup. We discovered this when she was X-Rayed just prior to her spay surgery. The vet had noticed some clicking in Roxie’s hip on one of her early appointments and recommended that we do X-Rays when we got her spayed. That way she would only be put under once. The vet recommended we put her down as she would “likely be immobile within weeks”. Well, every year when we go in for her shots we always like to remind the staff at the clinic that Roxie has grade 4 hip dysplasia. She’s definitely not immobile and loves to run.

We had Roxie on pain medications for a short period of time after we found out about the hip dysplasia. That combined with the glucosamine, chondroitin, methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) and vitamin C cocktail seemed to really help her build up a strong muscular backend. She was only on the medications for a couple months but we noticed a huge improvement. We kept her on the glucosamine, chondroitin, methyl sulfonyl methane (MSM) and vitamin C for longer as this combination is known to help with arthritis and joints in general.

Roxie isn’t a super active dog and that fits in well with our family. When we go on walks we have to be mindful of her as she doesn’t have a whole lot of stamina and will sometimes need to stop and rest. Since her entire back end is muscle, it’s understandable that she would get tired hauling around her 110lbs body. She runs like a rabbit – both back legs tend to move together as she hops along. Running and playing is something she loves to do but every now and then she will get carried away and over do it.

We have now had Roxie as part of our family for over 3 years. She’s a fantastic dog.

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We recently picked up a large FURminator tool to try out on Roxie. She’s started her yearly super-shed (she tends to shed all year long) and instead of picking out clumps of fur by hand, we thought that the FURminator might be useful.

Roxie is a rather large St. Bernard Labrador mix breed and has a relatively short coat. Last spring we had her shaved as we didn’t want to deal with all of the fur throughout the house. We are hoping that we will be able to use the FURminator to better control when she loses her fur. So far we have been very impressed by the amount of fur that the FURMinator removes. It really does work like they show on their website.

The instructions tell you to use the tool somewhere that allows you to control the fur that is removed. We opted to use the FURminator on Roxie on our deck outside. That was a decent enough idea except that we kept getting fur in our face because of the wind. At the same time, I don’t think I’d want to have all of that short fur floating through the house.

The FURminator site recommends 10-20 minutes of use once a week. I spent about 30 minutes the first day and about 15 minutes a week later, both times I removed a substantial amount of fur from Roxie. So far so good.

The only real downside of the FURminator is the cost. At $70 CAD, that is almost the same price as us having Roxie shaved and washed (you tend to pay by the pound around here once the dog is over 75lbs) . I guess the only other downside is the amount of time it takes to keep the shedding under control. That’s not really a downside though as this is the first brush-like tool I’ve ever used on Roxie where she actually seems to enjoy it. I didn’t have to chase her or keep her trapped in a corner to use the FURminator on her. I’ll just have to add the FURminator to our Saturday morning routine.

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Currently we have some forums setup for discussion of Labranard related stuff. Please feel free to register yourself a userid and start posting.

We hope to become a source of Labranard mixed breed specific information as well as a resource for people trying to find a Labranard to adopt.

Stay tuned and thanks for dropping by!

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