Breeding labradors

[Bertie12]

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Hi I have a chocolate Labrador who's 15 months old. We are trying to mate him with a 4 year old bitch. Both are new to the game so to speak. Just wondering if anyone has any tips? She growls when he goes near her lady bits but he's not put off but just doesn't seem to want to mount her. Shes on her 12th day of cycle. Am wondering if she isn't ready yet?

 

[Dizzyjenni]

Hey

Have you spoken to their breeders for advice?

Best place to start for help

 

[banana]

Are they KC registered?

i thought they had to be 2 years before they had a litter?

 

[hanneroon]

gosh. Looks like everyones too polite to answer this one, is this so you can make a few quid?

I'd say if you don't know the answer to this question perhaps you shouldn't be 'trying' to 'mate' them?

I'd also say she's probably barking at him, cos she hasn't seen his hip score results... , clever things, Labs.

This kind of thing is better left to responsible breeders who know what they're doing, and have litters because they actually care about the health of their breed.

 

[Bertie12]

Oh gosh! Looks like you have an attitude! If I wanted a snotty reply I'd have stated that. No I'm not trying to make a few quid as we are not even charging anything to stud him out. Yeah breeders may be more experienced but doesn't mean its wrong to breed privately. Ha and a sense of humour to go with the attitude aswell. Yeah labs are clever things and mines a well loved family pet who isn't gonna be pulled about and put to sleep so I can get a hip score! I came on here for some helpful information not to be thrown abuse at! So if u can't help then comment elsewhere!

 

[banana]

The reason labs etc need hip scores before they are bred is that the issues of the parents go down into the puppies.

The health screenings are for the puppies benefit rather than anything else, Labs also require eye tests prior to breeding i think?

If breeding is done under a Governing body, it shows the prospective buyer that the breeders have made sure they could do everything they can to ensure the puppies are as healthy as possible.

 

[pippywhippet]

Nothing funny about a lab suffering with Hip or Elbow Dysplasia :rant: If you dont want your pet dog to have the health tests required for his breed, then just leave it to someone who cares enough to make sure these potentially crippling defects are not passed on. There are plenty of dogs in shelters needing homes as it is. :unsure:

 

[banana]

I think its important to not jump on members who do not agree with your points of view, we are in a position to educate - ostracising is only going to escalate the potential issues for the puppies.

Share your opinions, but please try to be respectful of everyone.

 

[Tigernidster]

Sorry to disagree banana, but if this person if breeding from a "well loved family pet" which hasn't been hip scored or eye tested, he deserves to be told the bare facts in no uncertain way.

My arguments against breeding are numerous - I could write pages, but suffice to say that rescue centres are chock full, dogs are being euthanaised on a daily basis and no one should be breeding indiscriminately like this.

Health of the bitch in pregnancy and whelp? Complications? Costs? Caesarian sections? Homes for puppies? Return of puppies from bad homes and a lifetime commitment to them? I know this person owns the sire, but he is contributing to the birth of puppies which should not be born.

This is the tip of the iceberg. I cannot and will not condone breeding like this - it is completely unnecessary and irresponsible.

 

[banana]

I do not want anyone to condone it, and your post is absolutely fine, but we are in a place to educate and explain why these things are important rather than attack and chase people like this away.

 

[pippywhippet]

I do not want anyone to condone it, and your post is absolutely fine, but we are in a place to educate and explain why these things are important rather than attack and chase people like this away.

I agree, but the OP's response was basically that he was under no circumstance having the healh tests done because he didnt want his dog to have them- its not about a lack of education, but a lack of responsibility if you know the risks and disregard them anyway.

 

[banana]

I think we will have to agree to disagree as I would rather try and educate than wash my hands of someone.

There is always a chance that the poster will heed our advice because of how we have explained it and do the right thing.

 

[hanneroon]

fair enough banana, thats a good point, i'm sorry that i was rude,

I just noticed everyone beating about the bush, so to speak, and figured i'd be blunt. It was a fairly daft question, especially to ask a bunch of people who care about the number of puppies in the world, feeling slightly justified tho, in that i was right, no hip score.

 

[pippywhippet]

I think we will have to agree to disagree as I would rather try and educate than wash my hands of someone.

There is always a chance that the poster will heed our advice because of how we have explained it and do the right thing.

Really hope so :ermm: Got a friend whose family have just bought a beautiful lab puppy which at 5 months has been diagnosed with severe elbow dysplasia :'( Prognosis is not good- they are devastated and the kids are heartbroken

 

[banana]

Thats so sad.. can they do anything to help him?

I guess thats a short lifetime of hideous pain?

 

[Jasp]

There still is (and probably always will be) a good market for healthy pedigree pups but that does require considerable effort and expense. Health testing is only a small, but crucial, part of it. Breeding anything other than full pedigree's with traceable bloodlines and histories is irresponsible and to be brutally honest, as long as there are unwanted dogs in rescues, cruel.

Do not misunderstand, I am not one of those people who think that all dogs should be pure and perfect, but breeding from your dog because he or she is a 'lovely family pet' or because 'it is natural' is naive beyond words. Refusing to health test because it would inconvienience your dog is irresponsible to the point of stupidity. If your lovely family pet has any of a myriad of all too common hereditary problems then who is going to suffer because of that? The answer is the next and every subsequent generation to come, that is why responsible breeders go to such lengths to screen out these problems in the first place.

My own dog came to me from a private rehoming. He was the result of a mixed breeding of a dog belonging to the owners sister and was living with another dog of a previous generation of the same family (ie his aunt). Both dogs were being rehomed because the mother was returning to work when the youngest son started school. He was 6 months old at the time. I have no doubt that my dogs parents were not health tested and that the future implications of that may have serious repurcussions on his health and quality of life. But what annoys me most is the fact that although homes may have been found for all of my dogs littermates, how many of them stayed in those homes and how many ended up in rescues or pts because 6 months later people changed their minds or because their children unexpectedly started school?

 

[banana]

I don't think that is because of the dogs breeding really though - I think thats more a sign of the times.

Everything is disposable it seems.

 

[eingana]

Sorry Bertie12, but even if you are dead set on breeding from your boy he's probably too young (and definitely too young if you read the KC rules, so any pups resulting from KC parents could not be registered).

I also know enough people with dogs that have elbow and/or hip problems that there's no way I'd breed from any large dog without knowing their hip and elbow score.

 

[Oreo]

Having a lab cross myself and seeing how hard it is for her to get up when she's been lieing down for a period of time, I have to agree to the point about testing.

Oreo was adopted however, I am convinced she was a product of some person who thought they could make a quick buck.

I have done many hours of reading on Labradors and the amount of heartbreaking stories I have read about these conditions is concerning, especially when you can minimise the risk just by the breed having a bit of common sense and having the parents tested.

Of course the blame isn't soley down to the breeder the person buying the puppy probably sees that a puppy from untested parents is cheaper than the alternative so they 'take a risk' with a person who thinks they can make a few quid quickly.

I also agree regarding adoption as there are hundreds of dogs waiting to be taken on in rescues. However I do understand the reasoning behind a puppy.

I would personally never buy from a breeder who regards testing as being 'pulled about and put to sleep'. I would much rather spend the extra money knowing that my breeder had all the dogs interests at heart.

 

[murphyrules]

Tigernidster I salute you, totally agree with your opinions regarding breeding. Its a major bug bear of mine aswell, there are enough people out there breeding dogs who know what they are doing without people like me who havent a clue increasing the unwanted dog population of the world!