Breed or buy a new lab questions

[DeltaCotton12]

My wife and I have this vision of being old and sitting on the front porch with a chocolate lab at our feet. The lab at our feet would be a decedent of the current female we own. Something about carrying her bloodline throughout or lives and dying with us seems...... special I guess. She has been an exceptional dog. She is 6 years old.

The plan above seems all good and jolly but I was not sure if breeding a pup every 5-6 years to keep the bloodline was worth the hassle or just buy a new pup.

I have collected through the board there are tests that need to be run on the dog to check Hips and other things. I know these are not "must do's" but I want to make sure we do it right. I have not been apart of a breeding before so I am not real sure how the relationship with the Male dog works and the deals made.

I may not know enough to ask the right questions so please excuse my ignorance on this subject.

[Duck Chaser]

You are asking the right questions.

Worth the hassle? Not for me, but your situation may be different. If someone in your family is primarily at home and looking for something to do, having pups may be a good fit. Cost-wise it can go from working out well, to one complication making it less expensive to buy a pup. One resource I've seen recommended is a the book- Breeding a Litter, by Beth J. Finder Harris.

I think the desire to carry on the traits of an exceptional dog is based on good intentions, and I'm glad people do it. What you have is the result of the dogs that were bred to create her. When you introduce a different dog/line, its a crap shoot. It may work out great, and may not. The best way to hedge your bet as a buyer, is a repeat breeding that has produced what you want. As a breeder, to look at results of similar breeding.

Typically you'll have a written agreement with the stud owner, including fee (proration in the case of a small live-birth litter) etc. Common to require a recent neg brucellosis test result prior to breeding. She should go to the stud for breeding. I would expect a portion to be non-refundable, with the balance due to stud owner at the time of registering the litter. Through AKC, there is an on-line form the stud owner completes. They will expect payment before completing this.

I'd say minimum health clearances would include OFA hips, CERF eyes, CNM, and EIC. If all good/clear, that would raise the bar on value and potential buyers.

If you decide to go the breeding route, I have a friend with a nice HRCH brown dog that may be one to consider. He would breed for a pup and has others interested in a pup out of his dog.

[B3]

Not much to add to DC's reply.Sounds like DC needs to get back in the game!

My opinion is its much easier to buy a new pup. Breeding can get real expensive and a lot of headache if things dont go routinely. C section,etc. Raising and placing a big litter in homes is also a lot of work.

Good luck

[DeltaCotton12]

Thank you for the replies. Somethings listed I had not thought about. I will sit down and weigh the options. She will come into heat Sept or October. Just trying to do my homework before it gets too late.

[KarenKlotthor]

Make sure that which ever stud you use also has health clearances if you breed. We only did hips/ cnm/eic . Eyes and elbows are not permanent but a lot of buyers that understand the clearances want them. I would have your female checked now before going in heat just to make sure she is not EIC or CNM Affected. If she is a carrier you can breed to clear and be good. IT is a lot of work, but if someone is home most of the time it is not as bad. Biggest huddle is getting buyers. if you girl has some titles and you stud to a dog with titles it will be easier. I only breed for the same reason you are talking about. To keep one out of my girl. But my girl is also HRCH/MH and breed to GRHCH /MH MNH4/QAA so was not much problem selling pups. Good luck

[Back!]

All of the above is excellent advise. You can breed two excellent hunting dogs and get some great pups, but your buyers wouldn't know that the parents were excellent hunters. A lot of buyers want titles and clearances.
We had a litter and the second pup got stuck in the birth canal. My regular vet had taken the day off, so I got a vet I didn't know. I picked BJ and her litter up when the vet cleared her as being ready to go home. Two and a half days later BJ expels a stillborn. Needless to say BJ becomes VERY sick. There was no excessive spotting, no pacing, nothing to tell me she still had a pup inside. My REGULAR vet put BJ on Meds and she pulled thru.
We over parented on this litter, mainly because of what we had gone thru and the fact that all the pups were sold and we didn't want to lose another one. For 4 1/2 weeks these pups and BJ had either my husband or myself watching them. We averaged 4-5 hours sleep. It is a LOT of work but we have no regrets.

[bustercat64]

I decided to breed my dog for the same reason you are thinking about twice. The first time I raised a litter for a charity group and they sold them I kept one out the litter for myself. The week before the puppies came we moved and puppies and mom came down with staff infections. That turned into a nightmare with 10 pups but I did get a HRCH/MH out of the deal. The second time I wanted another dog off of her so I looked and found a dog that I thought if I put together would make me the dog I wanted. I was thinking I sell these pups cheap so getting rid of them would be no problem. (boy was I wrong) After a c-section and some bad vet advise, I lost 7 of the 11 pups and a lot of money. I sold 2 pups one at a discounted rate, gave one away to a great home and I got the dog of my dreams. I say all of that, my advise if you are doing it to get a pup do your home work and you could wind up with something special. I would do it again but, I would go into it thinking what ever you have in mind of cost triple it.