Lea Jayne

Thanks, Lhok

Actually I did see photos of them in the grass eating leaves :D We're going to visit those puppies on Sunday and will hopefully get answers to some of the important questions raised here!

Thanks for your comments, sandgrubber.

Thanks, ish What you say expands on what we've been reading and thinking about re. elbows

Thanks, Dogsfevr One of the sires is a carrier for EIC...

Hi Persephone Thanks for your reply and the link to Tapua breeders. What’s the best way to find out about temperament? Should we meet the sire and/or dame and spend time with the pups? Can we generally trust that the breeder will accurately describe the puppies’ and parents’ personalities? Option 1: sire is a show dog and dame, I believe, is a pet/used for breeding. Owner of the sire is registered but the owner of the dame has not been confirmed as registered (although they have a registration number on all their papers). Puppies are currently being vaccinated and won’t leave their mother until they are 8 weeks old. I believe they are being raised inside and not allowed to do any crazy jumping/sliding that could affect their skeletal development etc. Option 2: sire and dame both live on a farm with a group of other adult labs where the focus is apparently not dog breeding but raising cattle. Puppies have large grassed enclosure and go for walks when they’re “old enough”—they “come with papers, vet checked, vaccinated, wormed, microchipped and a take home puppy pack.” Haha! Dad and Mum ARE aware that shedding is ‘alarming’, but not that is occurs 26 hrs/day! Thanks again—we now have more things to consider :D

Hi, I’m looking for some advice on behalf of my parents (in their 60s) who have not had a dog before (and neither have I). After several months considering their situation and various breeds they have settled on a Chocolate Labrador Retriever puppy. There’s a possibility Dad may want to train him/her as an assistance dog in the future. Dad is very active and there are other family members who will take the dog out for exercise and play. My folks have a cat. They are attracted to the gentle temperament of labs. They are in contact with two breeders and each has supplied pedigree info, hip/elbow scores etc. We would love to get some advice on which set of parents is likely to have produced the more physically and genetically ‘robust’ puppies. Option 1: Sire is 2 years old. Hips 3/3; elbows 0/0; eyes clear. He has the same ‘great-grandfather’ on his mother’s and his father’s side. Dame is 4 years old. Hips 4/4; elbows 0/0; eyes clear. She has the same ‘great-grandfather’ and the same ‘great-grandmother’ on both the mother’s and father’s side. Option 2: Sire is 4 years old. Hips 2/4; elbows 0/2. Carrier (one copy of variant detected): exercise induced collapse. He has the same ‘great-grandfather’ on his mother’s and father’s side. Dame is 3 years old. Hips 2/2; elbows 0/0. Her parents have no ancestors in common in the past three generations. I’ve read that dogs with elbow scores of Grade 2 or 3 ideally should not be bred, so would this be the main deciding factor and a reason to go with Option 1 over Option 2? Are balanced hip and elbow scores preferable to unbalanced scores even if unbalanced scores are lower? Do the parents’ hip and elbow scores ‘compound’ so that their puppies are likely to have higher scores than their parents, or would the puppies be the same as one or other of the parents? I understand that environment is also a factor and I may be putting undue emphasis on these questions. Finally, are we focused on the most important factors for the puppies likely health or is there something else we should be looking at? The puppies from both sets of parents appear to be responsibly cared for and well loved. We’re grateful for any input. Thanks heaps in advance! Lea