Bruce H

If I were you, I would be calling breeders right now. I think you will find out that the good breeders are going to have a lot of questions about your girl and are going to want you to doa lot of testing. The good breeders usually belong to breed clubs and conform to a written code of ethics.

The not-so-good breeders won't care; I don't think you want to put your girl at risk breedingwith a not-so-good breeder. My wife and I are the rescue coordinator for Minnesota for our breed. We see the results of a lot of irresponsible breeding, especially from the puppymillers and occaisionally the BYB's.

Doc E

Bruce H,
Thank you for your intelligent resonse --- some folks just don't get it.



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mustad

bhensley,

Doc just believes very strongly in trying to get the best out of the breed. As direct as he is, his foundation is sound in my opinion (at least in this matter). Probably more so for labs than most, if not all, other breeds; overbreeding and breeding without control or purpose is widespread. You are right in one perspective in that if there is a market for a litter, why not do it. Fine. But what are the expectations that the new owners have. Are they looking for a dog that has the smallest likelihood for hip problems; are they looking for a hunting dog; etc...?

By putting measures behind the breeding, one can minimize the chances of having problems and maximize the chances of getting the dog that best meets the expectations being set by the breeder... backyard or otherwise.

These types of things have been done for over a century in other places. Not to make waves, but it takes only a quick glance at a breed like the Deutsch Drahthaar to see how consistent a breed can be if controls are put in place. Not to say the DD is the best dog by any means, but I think it would be difficult to match the consistency you see coming out on average from any breeder. I firmly believe this is due to the group of breeders having the same vision for dogs which is defined, monitored and enforced.

Without all these controls, pretty soon Doc is going to try to convince us that a lab can actually point. God forbid that ever happen.

Cheers,

RustyD02359

Breeding is something that needs a lot of thought put into it. Obviously this person has not done any home work. SOunds like you just want to put two dogs together which is all wronf and why thousands of animal are PTS every year.
1) First of all what kind of cash do you have on hand if things go WRONG? 2) Are you willing to keep all unwanted pups and afford them?
3) DO you have $15,000 on hand incase of emergancies and sic dogs?
4) DO you have the time to care for every puppy 24hrs a day if mom doesn't want anything to do with YOUR puppies? They need to be fed every 2-3 hours all night long and it will take 2-3 to feed them.
I selectively breed and have done it all and was ready. Of course I really didn't expect to take 2 months off of work to give pups 24 hr care but did and was happy to as mom healed from her infections.
5) are you willing to loose the mother for the sake of having pups?
I too get angry at people who think its such a nice idea but have NO IDEA of what CAN HAPPEN. They only think of cute pups and $$. You have to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Good luck in your decision. I try to talk anyone out of breeding unless they can answer YES to ALL of my questions.

jake smith09

k

BlueRidgeRetrievers

A quality litter of puppies is not just advertising for -anyone- to breed to your dog. ALOT goes into the entire process. Doc covered pretty much all of it. Like it or not! Even when you've done everything correctly the market for lab pups is so down right now you'll be lucky to find them homes... "Free to a good home" comes to mind when seeing postings like this.


Another FYI, Most people (that are seriously looking to buy) are not ignorant to OFA & CERF. Just because your female was "guaranteed to pass" (which I've never heard of! only a guarantee to make things right IF the dog doesn't pass) doesn't mean she will.

Please put more thought into your potential litter. Please put more thought into what type of puppies you're putting out there. Without doing your health certifications you risk the pups/dogs ending up BLIND or having to be put down because their owners don't want to put 5,000.00 into a 20.00 or FREE dog to have it's hips replaced.

You might also want to think if you want to tie up upwards of 1,200.00 for an Emergency C-Section. It happens. Do you have enough money saved back to cover it? Most vet's want their money RIGHT NOW. What if you don't know when the bitch is having problems. She could die. Is it really worth it?


Just think about what you're doing and from "up North" or not.... Doc knows.


From a full time breeder of champion, quality labs.

HikeNHunter

TN lady: if you want to do these things right than research the certifications. have her tested and certifiedfor her hips, her eyes, etc. etc. then choose a stud who is tested and certified as well. Strive to produce the best litter possible. Buy yourself a breeders manual and read it like you should be reading your bible.when you know that you sold a litter of pups that are the best representtatives of their breed that you could produce then you will know that you are a special kind of person--the kind who truly cares after doing all this in preparation for the breeding then taking on the task of raising this litter to a healthy size, and finally sending them to good homes where they will be loved and well taken care of then we will all know just how special you are. Or you can take advice from some one like swamp rooster, breed her in leiu of all the testing and certifications and produce inferior dogs who end up down the road because they have genetic faults that will shorten their active years tremedously and probably their lives will be shortened as well............
GOOD LUCK IN WHATEVER PATH YOU COOSE TO FOLLOW.

Are you sure you're not the TN lady who is looking for love????

NEBHNTR

I WOULD BET IF IT WEREN'T FOR BACKYARD BREEDERS THAN 90% OF DOGS PROBALLY WOULDN'T EVEN EXIST RIGHT NOW! ???

RUSTY YOU MAKE VERY GOOD POINTS, BUT THAT IS ONLY WHAT IFS. WHAT IF YOU LEAVE 5 MIN LATER THAT USUAL AND THEN YOU HAVE A ACCIDENT, WHAT IF YOU TAKE A RIGHT TURN AND GET SIDE SWIPED ON WAY TO WORK, WE COULD ALL THINK OF A LOT OF BAD WHAT IFS!!!

WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BREED YOUR DOG?

RustyD02359

Well I have experienced the what ifs and was thankful I had the money, time, and resources that I thought I would never have to call on. One just has to be aware and ready for the problems. Thats why you have spare tires. WHat do you do if you don't have the cash for the stuff that happens usually at 2:00 AM in the morning. Or the time to feed pups every 3 hours 24 hours a day. I have taken two months off of workwith VERY little sleep and spent $12k on a litter and B***h because of an infection & complications. Mom couldn't be near the pups and I became their mother as the b***h could only watch and offer licks. Most don't think about that because its all suppose to take care of itself.

I am sure TN Lady didn't want to hear all this, she was just hopingfor a good hunting stud but its best to be awakened to reality and to be prepared and do things right and the best that we can.
WE OWE IT TO THE DOGS.

BlueRidgeRetrievers

I would bet that if you knew how many pure bred dogs were put down in shelters every year because of health problems that could have been prevented by proper prebreeding testing, temperment problems that could have been stopped by NOT breeding aggressive dogs and poor placements for the sake of money you'd not be spouting that battle cry in support of backyard breeders...

Go to the shelter and talk to some of the workers for some enlightenment.



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