I did my home work and bought a gorgeous black labrador bitch puppy from 'field trial lines' I felt I could trust- researched up to great grandparents hip scores. Bought from  what I thought was a reputable breeder ( I later found out he was a bit of a scallywag- had my  research been accurately informed?) Waited with baited breath after a very careful up bringing only to find her combined hip scores were 56.
( Even I was able to tell something was wrong on the xrays!) Elbows and eyes perfect.Needless to say she was very quickly spayed.
I now am debating whether to by an older bitch from 'good lines' which will cost me more money or to buy another bitch puppy and keep my fingers crossed. Any suggestions please.

Hi Asdralridge, It's never a good idea to buy a puppy with the express intention of breeding a litter from her, because as you have discovered, anything can happen, and probably will.

You perhaps ought to decide what you reasons are for wanting to become a breeder of Labradors. It's not enough to want a litter because the mother is a great pet, has a fantastic temprament, friends and family want one from her, or even that you yourself want a puppy from her. You should know that there are in excess of 40,000 Labradors registered with the Kennel Club every year and probably at least another 40,000 that are not registered at all.

It seems you are interested in Labradors from working lines, so presumably you would want to work your bitch and to aim for the 'working home' market. So why not consentrate on training and competition, then IF and when she becomes successful, consider breeding using a successful stud dog that compliments her weaknesses.

If you are wanting to breed Labradors as family pets only, then I think you should consider the fact that the pet market is more than satisfied with the surplus of pups from breeders that are either successful in the showring or the working field.

So, If I were buying a bitch puppy right now, it would not be specifically for breeding. It has been said that only about 10% are ever good enough.

Dawn R.

Hi Asdralbridge -

Firstly well done on spaying your bitch, that was very responsible and I'm sure lots of other people would have just ignored the hip scores and gone ahead and bred anyway, so well done on that one.

Second - I'm a bit confused.  You obviously set out intending to breed, and to breed from working stock.  (Obviously you know there's a big difference between show and working labs - I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.)  But you don't say anything about working labs yourself, on shoots, in working tests or in trials.  These are usually the people who breed good quality working labs, just like the people who breed good quality show labs, are people who show. 

The reason for this is that, in order to better the breed - which is what all good breeding should aim for - breeders not only have to health test their dogs, but also to try to get some qualifications on them.  If breeders are breeding show labs, then they would show them, and try to get either a ShCM, a JW or preferably a ShCh title for them before breeding.  This tells people that not only do they not have any health defects, but they are also an outstanding example of the breed and worth being bred from.  In the same way, if breeders are breeding working labs, then they would compete with them in various ways.  Firstly in gundog working tests (for which no titles are available), and if successful at those, then in field trials, to get the coveted FTCh title.  They may also work them on their own shoot, but dogs of varying degrees of ability are worked on shoots and just working on a shoot isn't, by itself, proof that the dog has reached any standard.  Labs also work in other disciplines, like working trials (not gundog work) (title WTCh), agility (AgCh), obedience (ObCh) etc etc and a working lab would do well at any of these disciplines too, not just gundog work.

Lastly, besides the 2 groups of people I've described above, there are small time breeders who breed labs intending the whole litter to be pets.  Usually these people can be misinformed, may not undertake the right health tests, may be breeding just because they fancy a litter of puppies, may be unaware of the large number of lab pups there are available etc etc.  Usually these people breed from show stock.  Show labs are easier to manage and more laid-back than a very well bred working lab, which can be v difficult to handle for the novice pet owner. 

So, I suppose my confusion is because you don't really fit into any of these groups.  You appear to have done research on one level (health tests) yet not in another (gaining qualifications for your dogs).  Also, why do you want to breed?  If you don't intend to show or work your dogs, what are you breeding a line for? 

My advice would be - if you're serious about breeding working labs, then you need to get into a field where labs work!  This doesn't have to be gundog work, it can be agility, working trials, obedience etc.  Try to get some working qualifications on your dogs.  It's not enough just to do the health tests, not for a breed like the lab which is already overbred as it is....