I have a friend who is going to visit a breeder on Tuesday with a view to getting a lab pup. He has done some research on the breed, but are there any bits of advice anybody could give about owning a lab, or advice on breed related questions to ask when he goes to look at these pups? Thanks
I don't know a huge ammount I'm sure others know much more than me, But I'd look out for hip scores and elbow scores, I think these both apply to Labs? Might be other health checks too I don't know. Also check the puppies / parents / relatives are confident and friendly as there are a few nasty Labs around but of corse there are many lovely ones too. Sophie
Hi Sire and dam should both be hip and elbow scored and have a yearly eye certificate. At least one parent should have a 'clear' PRA and CNM certificate. Any good breeder should be more than happy to explain and show evidence of health testing. This is especially important with Labradors as they are already way over bred. Make sure your friend is fully familiar with the lines of pups. Depending on what she wants from the dog, a pup from a field trial line is going to be very different to that of a show line. For example, if she wants a laid back lazy Lab, getting a dog from a field trial breeding probably isn't the best of ideas. One of the benefits of a popular breed is that you can pick and choose very carefully when it comes to the 'type' of dog you want and a have good idea of it's future temperamant.
They like company and prefer NOT to be left for any length of time, otherwise destruction is the name of the game. Good luck to your friend.....
Provided they have all the exercise they need the are not any more distructive than any other dog. In fact my pack havent killed any part of the house since they were babies.
I agree my lab is 11 months now and has not destroyed one thing in the house, she has tore her own toys but thats fine with me. When I went to pick her up my breeder was more than helpful, we ended up there for hours as she is from show lines we were looking through all the dame and sire show win photo's, very enjoyable. Tell him to be prepared the breeder will vet you as much as you vet them, which is also i feel a sign of a good breeder, also my lab is quite excitable and needs 2 long walks a day (not at the mo as in season) but as she is from show lines she is certainly no more lazy than a dog from field/working lines(my mum has one). x
Good advice re the health tests, just to add, the breed mean standard for hip scores is currently 15 (from memory I think), so the total for hips needs to be either around this or less, and nice and even, so 3:3 is a good score, 14:0 and you may want to start questioning why one hip is so high, 10:10 and you're really pushing to give yourself a reason to buy a pup. Elbows need to be 0 or 1 at the highest, and if you only have this information for one dog, and it is a 1, then personally I'd walk away and look for a litter where both parents have been graded. I have to disagree to some extent with the generalisation about working Labs, from being a member on a breed specific forum for a number of years, there is no difference between people posting about their destructive pups as to which particular lines they've been from. My OH has working bred Labs, and they will just switch off when not working, they don't expect to be retrieving dead birds all of the time ;-) In fact a benefit about working bred Labs is that they seem to be a lot more biddable than pet or show bred, from my experience. If your friend would like any help finding a good breeder/litter then please shout, I'm more than happy to help, and I do know a few knowledgeable people to ask for the bits I know nowt about.
Just to add, get your friend to ask for all the health test results BEFORE they go to see the pups, it is much harder to walk away from a litter of cute pups than it is to say no via the phone. It's so important to ask about the health test results, and support someone who is breeding ethically, there are so many puppy farmers and irresponsible byb's out there.
Thanks, my friend has just retired from the Navy (aged 40) with no view to work for a number of years as he has left with a huge lump sum and a pension (I should have joined the Navy!). So he has a lot of time to dedicate! Thank you! Thank you for your advice!
Thanks for all your advice. I feel exactly the same about Puppy farms which is why I wanted to make sure he asked all the right questions! I will get him to ask these questions over the phone. I did worry that he was going to see them before asking questions, because in my view, it is very easy to go gaga over puppies and walk away with one regardless!
If you have the dog's kennel club name then you can go to their website and look up the results of any health tests.
Not always. Sometimes the health test results take a while to appear as current. Also, some of the genetic tests were not always automatically added to the KC database, and up to a certain point, you need to have forwarded details of results, along with a scan of any certificate, for the KC to add the details. As an example, my bitch, Tau, is CBP for PRA, but as her sire's results aren't on the KC database, even though he's tested clear, to have the status of any pups as cbp, with the dog I plan to use, I need to test Tau with optigen via their cbp test. Hope that makes sense.
