Lab question....

[MemphisStockBroker]

I had a black lab several years ago, and the wife now wants another one. I know they are prone to have problems with their hips, but is there a way to check when they are little to see if their hips will be a problem later on in life?

Is there something in the breeding process that can be corrected, or is this just something that all labs have to deal with ?

[Wildfowler]

Yes, you can check the parents hip certificates. Most responsible breeders would not breed a dog with poor hip certificates. This is no guarantee, but it's a good indicator.

Good luck.

[chance]

First, would be getting a pup from reputable breeders. Check the hip certification of the pups parents. The certification will be on te AKC registration papers. You would prefer an excellent rating on the parents. The rating is given by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.
Reputable dealers most likely will give you a written guarantee on the hips of the puppy. The drawback to this is the pup has to be two years old before you can get a hip certification of a dog from OFA.
A Penn Hip check can be done after the pup is three months old. This process allows you to check a pups hips before you get a whole lot of time and money invested. It is not widely done nor does the American Kennel Club recognize the Penn Hip certification, but it is a very dependable tool checking hip joints in young dogs.

[NOHERE]

CHANCE IS CORRECT, HERE'S ANOTHER RULE TO GO BY,SOME FOLKS WONT LIKE IT...STAY AWAY FROM BRITISH LABS, ON A PERCENTAGE BASIS, THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS, MORE THAN AMERICAN LABS.

[goosebruce]

NOHERE, me thinks you might have made an unfair comparision. Yes, brit labs have more problems than american FIELD TRIAL/ HUNT TEST stock, but certainly no more problems than american labs in general considering 90% of labs are backyard breed with no concearn other than 2 people who have labs. American performance stock has had concearns about hips and eyes a lot longer than brit stock has, therefore, has more dogs certified at a higher level to choose from. If the choice was brit dog or backyard bred american dog, I'd still choose from a repetable breeder no matter the country of orgin. The safest bet is, and always will be, american performance bred labs with the proper health clearences and knowledge of the dog's in the pedigree.

Sure wish that vets HAD to send in any xrays they took. Would be intresting to see how many "naw, I ain't never bothered wif dem xrays" dogs had their film thrown away. If they were sent in, and added to pedigrees just like the good clearences, then it would truely serve its function in trying to eliminate hip problems from well bred dogs. travis

[MemphisStockBroker]

ok, just curious.... who certifies the parents' hips? Is this something that a breeder normally does? can you recommend one?

i had a female black lab that was absolutely wonderful. at about 9 years old her hips gave her fits. she was loyal and very protective of my kids -- and never aggressive. would love to find another one like her

[NOHERE]

your 2nd sentence is correct , about 90 % are back yard dogs.
its a personal prefrence...i just dont like the looks of a squat low running dog from across the big pond.

i like an american made, hard charging,muscled up son of a bitch.

[NOHERE]

MPHSTOK BROKER

THE HIPS ARE CERTIFIED BY THE OWNERS, WHICH THE VET WILL DO.
SOME BREEDERS WILL GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK IF THEY TURN UP WITH BAD WHEELS, THESE ARE USALLY THE HIGH $$$$ DOGS. 1000 TO 2000.

MOST "HUNTING DOGS" ARE NOT FROM THAT TYPE BREEDING, MOST WOULD BE IN THE RANGE OF $500. THIS IS WHERE THE CHANCE OF BAD HIPS COMES UP. HOWEVER, IF YOU RESEARCH THE PEDIGREE ENOUGH,
YOU MY FIND A BREEDING THAT MAY POINT TO GOOD HIPS DOWN THE ROAD LATER IN HIS LIFE...BUT WITH DOGS, NOTHING IS CERTAIN.

[browndog]

I agree with most of what you have said, but I also think that most decent breeders that frequently sell dogs in the 500-800 dollar range offer hip and eye clearances with a 24-26 month guarantee on hips and eyes.. look at the classifieds at some web sites (working-retriever central etc.) and I'd say the majority of pups for sale are in the 500 -800 range and nearly all will have hips and eye guarantees.. now not saying you shouldn't/couldn't spend more, but you can get the same guarantees for less.. I would just add to do a little checking, in addition to the guarantees, ask and check with some people that have bought dogs from this person before, especially if this is a repeat breeding..

[MemphisStockBroker]

my neighbor has a small chocolate, about 10 months old, that is already having hip problems. with the cold weather, it takes her a while to get going in the mornings.

is it arthritis that sets up in their hips, or is there some other problem that develops ?

[browndog]

well Memphis someone can probably give you a better answer, but it is more to do with the hip ball and socket joint being messed up rahter than arthiritis, although I'm sure they can get arthritis also.. I did a google search on it once and there are some really good articles on the subject, but you know anymore my brain just seems to be full, I can read things but can't remember crap... anyway an internet search ought to lead you tom some good articles on the subject

[NOHERE]

MPHS STOKBRKER

WITH A DOG THAT YOUNG, IT'S THE HIP , BAD WHEELS. AND IT WONT GET BETTER FOR THE DOG.

IT'S ALL A GAMBLE , I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, BETWEEN MYSELF, GOOSEB, AND CHANCE, WE CAN GET WITH THE RIGHT FOLKS AN LOCATE A PUP FOR YOU...

[goosebruce]

The hip are certified by OFA (orthepidc foundation for animals). Just had rowdy's hips xrayed last week matter of fact. A dog must be 2 years old, a vet takes an xray, and the owner recives the film with the vets notes on the xray (to certify its the same dog) and they are sent in to ofa. A team of vets then grades these xrays, excellent, good, fair, or poor. Only good or excellents should ever be bred. The problem is hip dyplsia, which is the hip socket. No instruments are used, its a subjective grade, so there are no guarentees until you get your film back from ofa, but my vet said rowdy should score excellent. Pennhip that chance mentioned is a method of testing hips on young dogs, for their elasticty (an indicator of the likelyness of hip dyp.). A good ideal to do on a 6 or 7 month old dog, before you have a lot of time and money in it to find out it has bad hips.

LOTS of hunt test dogs have litters priced 500-800 bucks with all the guarentees. Usually, these upper end ht dogs have long field trial pedigrees, but the parents played a different game(ht's). So you get the hottest lines, with the most abilty, and the health clearences, for a fraction of the price.

Horsepower doesn't mean they can't behave in house. Looking at a hard charging, american made, hard charging sumbitch (like no here likes!) right now laying at my feet. He's all go, on command.

[Labs & Ducks]

MSB,
I know where there are some well bred black females available. They are about 3 months old out of two OFA Excellent parents. The sire of the litter is GRHRCH Chavez's Magnolia Rebel MH and an HRCH, JH female. Jesse Sheppard owns both parents and has the pups at his place. You can give him a call at 662-438-7074 or 662-423-8054. Not sure how much he is asking but this is a threepeat breeding and I'm sure goose and chance can tell you about Jesse and the two parent dogs. THe dogs from the previous two breedings are showing some super potential. Some have basic titles already. So far, the litter he has now is probably showing the most potential for their age. All his puppies come with hip and eye guarantees.

Hope this helps.

P.S. Jesse is less than two hours from Memphis.