Breeding my Labrador Questions

i , myself am not a novice owner, but my god i couldnt cope with breeding!

think very hard, speak to your pups breeder, work for rescue do all these and then ask yourself if you want to breed,

to do it just because is as irresponsible as you can get,

does your dog deserve that..????????

alex
xx

I do work for weimaraner rescue and the finding good homes is always an issue.. good homes are hard to come by..... and the reasons people use to get rid of dogs make me cross............we had one ( I wont call her a lady) who wanted "the dam dog out now!!" Why?..... it no longer went with her carpet........... somebody had thaught she was a good home for a puppy !!!!!! she had had the dog over 5years

Lesley

doesn't just make you so mad.

like i said before we have just rescued a setter who's owners had got him when he was 8 weeks old, he's now 6 years old and they 'just didn't want him anymore'. yet he is just the sweetest dog i've ever met! so well behaved.

it breaks my heart, it really does - still he has a good home now, for the rest of his life.

Thats rather uncalled for isn't it?

I bred from my Rough collie years ago. The reason was I wanted a puppy from her. Not any puppy, but one specifically from my lovely collie, in the hope I would get one with a similar lovely temperament, which I did. There were a lot of advantages doing this. The pup always accepted its mum as pack leader, they got on well, and were company for one another.

I had no experience of breeding, but went to a reputable breeder to get the services of the dog, and the breeder advised me to suitability of which stud dog to use.

It was hard work, but not as bad or difficult as many folk on this forum would have you believe. Most of the information came from books.

The puppies all sold very quickly. and (from a litter of eight) I had none returned.

All the pups were registered, and I agree with what was said previously, that the cost was about the selling price of two pups.

Probably, "Woofwoof" hasn't explained herself very well, as I imagine she might want to keep one of the pups, and this may be why she is thinking of breeding.

Providing she does her reseach, and ensures she knows what to expect, I cannot see any reason why she should not breed her lab. I would suggest she registers the pups, as they will sell easier.

The thing is it may well be very easy, but you can't guarantee this. As the quote below demonstrates it can be very costly when done correctly and even then things might not go to plan. The amount of health tests Labs need these days won't be cheap and I can't imagine someone wanting to breed for reasons such as the OPs would want to spend this amount of money on breeding.

(Hope you don't mind me using your quote CC!)

Another thing with Labs is there's already too many out there, a friend at work recently bought a Lab and the breeder still had 2 pups left to sell when they picked up their pup at 14 weeks.

In this instance I think it's best left to those who are breeding for a reason better than "just because".

HI and Welcome

I cant offer any "valuable" experience as a first hand breeder, but I would say take the advice offered here, do some research, cost the pregnancy, care of the mum and pups, cesarian prices, mastitis, lactol feed, puppy feeding aids, calcium injections etc.. It may not be needed but in the worse case scenario , you will have needed to consider all the options, and these are things you need to keep bitch & pups alive for the 1st 6wks, should the worse happen... You will really need to be well informed about Labs too so that you know that you are selecting the best home for them .. they are not easy puppies ;-) Every one thinks that lab pups are like the Andrex Advert, but when they have pulled the loo roll off and shredded it all over the house for the 5th time in any day it can get a bit tiresome.... you will really need to vett potential owners so that any dogs you breed don't end up in shelters or PTS.
If you decide after all your research to go ahead and breed, then I hope that it will all go well for you & your dog

Rachel

I am afraid I do too. I don't mean you to feel unwelcome on this forum or that everyone is having a go at you, but it really doesn't make any sense to breed your bitch "just because". There are far too many dogs being destroyed every day through lack of good homes.

Please think twice before going ahead with this.

But have you ever worked in rescue Ray? It is absolutely heartbreaking and soul-destroying. There are so many unwanted dogs already - dogs being put to sleep every single day in this country - why add to that problem just because you can?

Ok so you have had none returned, how do you know that none of them have been handed over to rescue kennels ?

Quite frankly I think it's appalling for anyone to breed their dog 'just because'

No, I haven't worked in rescue, although I have been to some of the rescue places to look at the dogs. Unfortunately, I know of more people who got a rescue dog which turned out to have problems, than people who have been happy with a rescue dog. I know of three people, who in the past have returned the dog to the rescue home due to the problems involved. (Battersea Dogs Home)The problems are not usually apparent untill the dogs are taken home. So many times, I have been out and the owner of a dog has said something like, I have to watch him or her, she or her is a rescue dog, and not very good with other dogs, (or children, or people. )

The reason I bred from my rough collie, was because I specifically wanted a puppy from her. She was a sweet natured, loving girl, and her puppy was too. My wife and I were delighted with her. We would have kept all the puppies if we could.

I take point you make, but why should the dogs I bred be more likely to end up in rescue than a registered breeders dog? They were probably less likely, as I was VERY careful as to who I let have them. Three people I refused, because my wife and I didn't consider them suitable, two went to people we knew, two people kept in touch for a couple of years, sending us photos etc. One chap was a lorry driver, and he brought his dog to see us, at six years old. Also my wife phoned to see how the puppies were getting on after a few weeks, and also after 6 months, (how many breeders do that) and everyone seemed delighted. A couple of people contacted us for advice, such as teething, worming, etc, and we gave what advice we could. If anyone had returned their dog, we would have been more than willing to take on the responsibilty of rehoming it (Knowing my wife, we would probably have kept it)

Please have a look at my two collies, long gone now but remembered with great affection.

From that statement, you could argue that no dogs should be bred from (licensed breeders or otherwise) until the rescue homes are empty

Just because is not a reason to breed,but breeding because you want to improve on what you have to keep something for showing,i think is different.
We bred many years ago and i still know where all our pups are and still have contact with the owners.

Well, I think you are right. You obviously acted responsibly when you bred your dog, and I hope you will agree that I did too. I entered this thread because I think the original poster "woof woof" may well have had similar reasons to myself for wanting to breed her dog, but didn't express herself very well. If this is the case, I cannot see any reason why she should not breed her dog, if she is prepared to act responsibly. If she wants to breed on a whim, then that is a different case, and I would be against it.

Beautiful dogs Ray. I love the old style of rough collie, just gorgeous.

I wasn't saying that dogs bred by you/woofwoof/joe bloggs were more likely to end up in rescue than registered breeders. You obviously cared very much about the pups you bred and the homes they went to, and that is absolutely fine by me. I have no problem at all with that. What I do have a problem with is people breeding from their bitch "just because" or "one litter will do her good" or "I want to make some money" or "I am too irresponsible and it's an accident" - these kind of scenarios.

great posts everyone although its an old post and woof woof hasn't come back ...perhaps we can put our energies into other worthwhile posts ;-)
leave this one to the archive

Interesting did you X ray & eye test your bitch before you bred from her & did you Eye screen the puppies ?

Rough Collies have terrible CEA problem & I understand that it is likely that there are no genetically CEA clear dogs or bitches in the UK

A friend of mine has had 6 Roughs from different lines & a rescue bitch & all have CEA except the old rescue. she couldn't find anyone who eye screens their puppies or DNA tests their breeding stock How sad a lovely breed is so let down by it's breeders

well there you go - thanks joedeeuk for that interesting info.
sorry if i have come accross as being 'a bit harsh', but 'just because' really does not do it for me.

My young BC was bred by a very experienced breeder his parents bloodlines were researched & it looked like a brilliant breeding. Both parents from 30 + years of non CEA/PRA/CL affected dogs & both parents hips scores well under the breed mean/average/median & both dog & bitch able to do the work they were bred to do-so not bred on a whim. Rjj is a CEA carrier & so will not be bred from so as not to spread the defect. If all the thought that was put into him & his siblings being produce can still result in a dog carriying a genetic defect what chance do dogs that are not health screening in a breed much more affected by genetic defects have

Wouldn't change him for the world BTW as at least he was bred for the right reasons ie to produce a high drive working dog physically & mentally able to do the work the breed is designed to do

No, but I bred my dog 32 years ago, and it wasnt general practice to do so at that time. Were I to breed today, I would get any neccessary tests carried out, and if woofwoof were to breed her dog I would urge her to also.

This is not the case. There is a high percentage of lassies carrying the CEA gene, but not all. I might add that in my case both mother and daughter lived to sixteen and a half years and fifteen and a half years respectively, and although the mum's eyesight did deteriorate in the last two years, she was far from blind. The daughter retained good vision all her life. Lets face it, dogs are same as people. They will in many cases develope various problems as they get older anyway. I consider my two enjoyed excellent health up until old age.

It sounds like you are suggesting no one should breed rough collies then. However, the first website I looked at did these tests
Eye tested for Collie Eye Anomaly (C.E.A.) at 7 weeks of age (KC/BVA scheme)
Eye tested for Progressive Retinal Atrophy (P.R.A.) at one year of age (KC/BVA scheme)
X-rayed for Hip Dysplasia (HD) at one year of age (KC/BVA scheme) – breeding stock only
Microchipped for permanent identification prior to sale
The site belongs to Karibuni Rough Collies. I am sure I could find more if I bothered to look

Do you realise, the fact that your friend had one that was a rescue, that was free from CEA, contradicts your second statement?????????