DuckSouth.com

When is the best time to breed a female to get her to catch? I have a two year old yellow male that I am trying to breed w/ a female yellow. She came into heat last friday and I took my male over to the guy's pen tuesday and left him. I went to pick him up tuesday night and he was pawing at her but she seemed uninterested. No-one was around for most of the day, so we don't know if they got hung up or not. Planning to leave him there every day for the rest of the week (vet says she should be on the downhill by friday). What are the do's & don'ts for breeding? This is my first "rodeo" so I don't know what the best approach is. any info would help!

[img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img]

[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: Chuckle ]

I would suggest going back about every two days and putting them together. As in most everything, when the female gets ready she will let him know. I have seen bitches bite males one night and the next just fall in love with him. So, just keep trying them until you get a good tie.

Well, usually 10-12 days after she starts showing signs, i.e. bleeding, is when most females are most receptive. As soon as she is ready, she will just stand there and let him have his way. Good luck.

OK, what is all the mixup junk about breeding certain colors to other certain colors? I have heard something but can't remember exactly what...something about double recessive genes or something???????????????????

The only rule that I know is that Yellow to Yellow will always throw 100% Yellow. Any other combo might throw different colors. For instance I bred my black male to a friends black female and she had nine puppies, 5 Blacks, 3 Chocolates, and one Yellow.

7 days coming in, 7 days to breed, and 7 days going out, rule of thumb. Try putting her in a pen (if you have one) and leave him out. I did that and let her out the next morning and it was on like a ham bone [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] .

I read something about the color genetics a while back....but it is not easy to explain. Basically, the double recessive genes can be expressed and you could have a chocolate puppy with very pale skin....which can lead to other problems. I can't remember all the details though. I'm sure someone else on here knows more about it than I do!

I don't claim to be an expert, and am not a professional breeder, but I do remember reading that a good rule of thumb is to always involve at least one black in the breeding couple, whether it be the bitch or sire.

That said, I breed my chocolate male with a couple of people I know with yellow females. One time they produced 7 blacks and two chocolates! (go figure) The owner of the yellow had wanted a yellow pup, but had to wait until the next time we bred them to get one.

Like I said, I'm no expert, but I have had several calls from satisfied owners of the puppies produced from my chocolate male bred with a yellow female.

I have also read that you should seriously debate on buying a lab from a litter without at least one black.

Thanks for the info. Put the dogs in a 10X10 kennel today and the female finally gave in to my boy; they got hung up, TWICE!!!! Hopefully she'll catch. Gonna keep 'em together for the rest of the week just to make sure.

As for the always include one black thing; I've never heard of it (must be something the black lab boys came up with!!! [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] ). My yellow came out of two yellows down by Mize and I couldn't be happier with him (by the way, all the pups from her litter were yellow). If she takes, we may have some pups down the road for any takers, I'll let ya'll know(Bo Jangles is in the male line).

If anybody has any more info to improve the outcome ya'll let me know. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[ April 11, 2002: Message edited by: Chuckle ]

Here is the scientific lowdown. I have had this book marked for about 2 years. I was semi-surprised it was still active. A very informative site.
Wing-N-Wave Labradors
I have no affiliation it just matched research I had done and was the best written I had seen.
Here is a phot sampling from the page as well.

Congratulations and good luck!
I don't know if you have a site but if you want some help showing them global I would be happy to help you share my web space.
Once I am done with my litter I don't know what to do with my insomnia. My neighbors already told me to stop the whistle
[img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Try this web site I think it is easier to understand. If anyone is looking for a Type IX Chocolate Male to stud please contact me. He is two passes away from Senior and we hope to fix that the weekend of April 20th. He should have his master title this fall. I have had his hips and eyes certified. He has already produced two litters. One litter of 12 puppies 1/2 black and 1/2 yellow with a yellow female. The second litter was all chocolate 11 puppies with a chocolate female. all puppies sold for $400.00 each very fast. puppies were retreiving pigeons at 7 weeks. My boy loves to make good puppies!

Lab DNA Breeding chart [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]