HI I HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD LABRADOR SOON  HE WILL BE 6 I AM JUST WONDERING  IF HE IS TOO OLD TO BREED HE IS IN GOOD HEALTH BUT A LITTLE BIT ON THE PLUMP SIDE

Nearly 6 and over weight, ah bless, leave him in his blissful celibate state.

You have to ask yourself what makes him better than the hundreds of successful labrador stud dogs already out there ... perfect hip-score? Genetically clear eyes? Success in the showring or in the field? If none of those then he really isn't suitable. (But get the excess weight off him for his health's sake!)

your dog is not too old. he may be too podgy to carry out the duties of a stud dog though, so it would be wise to get him fit anyway. dont worry, its common in labs, they love to eat!! just keep treats to a minimum and put him on a lower protein food for senior dogs, if he's not allready :-)

However much you would like to I really must say, Don't do it! There were over 40000 Labradors registered in the UK last year. The rescue centres are full of them. Now i'm sure you would not like the thoughts of puppies from your fella ending up in rescue and possibly being put to sleep because there is just no home for them. Breeding a litter is not about lovely fluffy Andrex puppys. In the real world they are being put down as unwanted dogs every single day.

Sorry if that sounds terrible but Labradors are my breed and I will do my absolute best to try to bring some common sense to bear on this over breeding.

Regards, John