Puppy decisions. :-)

Clodagh

Clodagh

Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.
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Well my long awaited puppy was born on Saturday. And I don't think I now want it!
Lots of reasons...as you know (Gosh, I tell you people so much!) I really wanted a yellow and yes they are all black.
I have been sent more photos of the sire (finally - got them last night) and he is not my cup of tea. He is a proper old fashioned labrador and my OH thinks he is perfect, but he is too heavy for my taste.
They are £1000. I sort of expected that, but it is top dollar.

I have found a gorgeous litter of yellows that have 2 bitches unreserved. Geographically they are not very convenient. BUT
They are the right colour!
The parents both have very pretty heads. (Shallow, me).
The pedigrees are excellent.
They are £750.
Them's the positives.
Negatives - the bitch isn't elbow scored, nor is her mother. Sire has 0/0 as do his parents.
The bitch is very young, only 2, so has actually only worked a half season.

I know there arelots of puppies out there, but I have dilly dallied so long that I now need to hop to it a bit. We need a pup to be a reasonable age by the time the poults come in, or it is just left too long while we are out.

Thoughts?
 
If you don't like the pups then walk away. As you know I bought Toast from unscored parents BUT I knew them and also knew the next generation back, all healthy working into old age. I also did some research on the KC website looking at hip and elbow scores of closely related dogs and decided to go with it. My hunch was correct, he was from good stock, have had him scored and elbows 0/0, hips 4/4, eyes clear.

Does the bitch or her mother have any litter brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles etc who have been scored. The KC site will tell you if they have. Have a play with the tools on the mykc page, you can look up litters etc.

I've found that most of the females related to Toast are the smaller type, fairly traditional but slim and quite fast. The dogs are generally a bit bigger, broader heads etc. Same applies to a few other lines I know too.

Ultimately whatever dog you get you'll love it, train it and work it just thensame.
 
Thistle said:
Ultimately whatever dog you get you'll love it, train it and work it just thensame.
Click to expand...

I agree with tihs, but would like it to stay sound! :-) .
I spoke to him and he said she is tested, at 0, and he is going to phone the KC and see why she isn't on there. I looked up lots of relations and all are 0 bar one great grandsire (a well known FTCh) who was a 1. So, wagons roll, off to see the puppies! :-)
 
Might just be a miss-spelling issue as the KC website requires utter accuracy (unless you mean the hip score is recorded and the elbow score isn't). If in doubt he should be able to send you a picture of the certificate from the vet, it's the yellow one I think, isn't it?
I was looking at a dog yesterday on a different system, with a breeding ban due to 'medium' ED. If you look at the pedigree, it was in the post IMO, as a lot of the dogs on the father's side have the borderline 'still permitted' score. Better to be safe than sorry!
 
CorvusCorax said:
Might just be a miss-spelling issue as the KC website requires utter accuracy (unless you mean the hip score is recorded and the elbow score isn't). If in doubt he should be able to send you a picture of the certificate from the vet, it's the yellow one I think, isn't it?
I was looking at a dog yesterday on a different system, with a breeding ban due to 'medium' ED. If you look at the pedigree, it was in the post IMO, as a lot of the dogs on the father's side have the borderline 'still permitted' score. Better to be safe than sorry!
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Hip score is recorded. I hasve asked for a copy of the certificate, he said he has it there to show me. :-) Thank you.
 
Definitely don’t have the black one.
There are plenty of reasons these yellow bitches will be more what you want. I would be feeling the same if I wanted a lab.
I had a flatcoat pup from a mum who was no yet three and flatcoats are later to mature than labs. My pup was great, healthy and strong.
Good luck .
 
I've been in a very similar situation recently. Ultimately the first litter are not what you are looking for. You may love whatever dog you get, but deep down would you harbour a grudge & wonder "What if?". Re the second litter, & the dam having missing health tests, could you look back her lines & historic results to give you some idea of likelyhood of risk? Is she from proven working lines herself? I've been offered several pups since the litter i'd set my heart on didn't happen, & although i could have made do & loved any pup, i'm just not compromising. Good luck whatever you decide!
 
This is actually the first ever dog I have chosen, for me and 'bugger the others' (if HHO allows that saying...). Before the workers we had rescue/rehomes, and the three we have now have all be chosen by members of the family, albeit I picked out the litters - so it really does have to tick all the boxes. I have a specific type of head that I like for instance. I know I will love the pup whwen it grows up, even if it is a snipey muzzled rat face, but if both parents are to my taste I stand a better chance. I am even petty enough to like a particular shade of yellow! Not white and not red. Sort of palomino. :)
Also, no more pups from timid mothers, I need a robustly natured dog. I love Pen but she is much better with my OH, who puts less pressure on and is much calmer! Again, no guarantees but I can try. I like fairly leggy athletic ones, but not whippets (don't listen Pen, she is so pretty she gets away with it!).
 
I absolutely understand. Brig and his brother were chosen for us, mixed litter because I wanted a brown one but the OH wanted black having grown up with one. When we chose the current two, I wanted a specific head/colouring (big white stripe) and temperament, so I really empathise.

When are you going to see the litter? And 2 unreserved bitches? You’re very lucky there.
 
Cinnamontoast said:
I absolutely understand. Brig and his brother were chosen for us, mixed litter because I wanted a brown one but the OH wanted black having grown up with one. When we chose the current two, I wanted a specific head/colouring (big white stripe) and temperament, so I really empathise.

When are you going to see the litter? And 2 unreserved bitches? You’re very lucky there.
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Ummm... Wales! No chance of any unreserved bitches in the home counties. :-)
 
Brig and his brother were from near Wales. The OH is from Hereford. He wanted a particular type/size. They were from a hill top farm, middle of nowhere.

Beware puppy farms, Clodagh, there are a sad amount in Wales, especially Carmarthenshire.
 
Beware puppy farms, Clodagh, there are a sad amount in Wales, especially Carmarthenshire.[/QUOTE]

Whilst I absolutely agree with you on this, there are also many good breeders in Wales who wrongly get tarred with the puppy farm thing. I don't think many puppy farmers hip and elbow score !
Bit late to this Clodagh but good luck with the puppy viewing, fwiw I would have said as others re elbows, check back on grand parents etc, but if she is scored that is great. My kc can be a bit precious about spelling of names etc so it could well be that is why her score isn't showing.
 
We're on the hunt for a nice small, Red bitch and really struggling! got a couple in the pipeline fingers crossed they're in pup. if not i think we're going to look for another black bitch.

I can only seem to find big broad dogs?

Pleased to see you're going to see the yellows :)
 
BallyJ said:
We're on the hunt for a nice small, Red bitch and really struggling! got a couple in the pipeline fingers crossed they're in pup. if not i think we're going to look for another black bitch.

I can only seem to find big broad dogs?

Pleased to see you're going to see the yellows :)
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You should be ok, every lab going seems to be fox r ed! My girl now is yellow.☺
 
Wales is nothing! My friends flew to Scotland with a crate and hired a car back to Essex to collect their black lab pup last year! Hope it goes well.
 
BallyJ said:
We're on the hunt for a nice small, Red bitch and really struggling! got a couple in the pipeline fingers crossed they're in pup. if not i think we're going to look for another black bitch.

I can only seem to find big broad dogs?

Pleased to see you're going to see the yellows :)
Click to expand...
Are you on fb?
 
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