We are searching for a golden Labrador stud dog, located within 45 minutes of Stratford upon Avon, to be mated with our black lab bitch in the hope of achieving both black and golden puppies.  Please contact Ally Purchon on 01789 750328, or email alisonpurchon@aol.com

Hi,

Has your bitch been hipscored (with a good score, of course!) and passed clear (by a specialist) for the various hereditary eye diseases that affect labradors? If so, then your best bet would be to contact her breeder (if reputable) to discover which labrador bloodlines would be most suitable, and which would be a disaster to combine with hers. It's not as easy as just using any old dog - unless you are happy to risk producing rubbish puppies, and I'm sure you want hers to be the best possible. This will probably mean travelling many miles to use the right dog - the closest is never the best.

I suggest you buy a copy of "The Book of the Bitch". If you do have her mated you will find the information invaluable, and save you many anxious hours.

(And a final point - "golden" is not a term used by people who have studied labradors. The colour is called "yellow". You may not be taken seriously if you ask about a 'golden' lab ;) No offence meant. )
:)

You beat me to that last point Jan.

My advice would be to study the breed first before even thinking about breeding. Be aware of why you want to breed. "Because she is lovely" is not a good reason on it's own. There were 35000 Labradors bred last year alone and really, we need more puppies like we need chocolate tea pots! Sorry if that sounds blunt. I'm not trying to stop you, just make you think carefully.

Regards, John