Hi we've recently got a lab puppy who is 8weeks old. She has a good temperament and is very intelligent. However, whenever we take her into the garden to relieve herself she is destracted by every piece of stone, soil or plant on the floor. She has taken to eating the heads off flowers, grass, soil and even tree roots and we are worried that she will make herself seriously ill. We have tried taking her out on the lead but nothing seems to work. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Hi, just like small children, young puppies simply have to put everything in their mouths! Especially retrieving breeds, who of course have been specially bred to enjoy holding stuff in their mouths. At the moment all you can do is make sure she only has access to a safe part of the garden. (My old lab ate every single flower-head in our garden when she was a pup - daffodils, chives - anything that wasn't green!)

Yep, sounds like a normal Lab to me!
Dawn.

The joys of being owned by a Labrador! I do try to make sure that I don't have any poisonous plants in the garden, at least until the puppy has grown out of this phase. (Hopefully it will one day)

Regards, John

Welcome to the wonderful world of labradors.
Very soon you will also have deep holes in the garden to try and miss as you walk around the garden. Labs love to dig and aren't house or garden proud. But they do make up for it with the love they will give you, normally in the form of a head butt as they plant a kiss on your face!!!!!!!!!!!!
But us lab lovers wouldn't be without them