Advice about Labrador hip scores

[Hipscoreunsure]

hello, I wonder if anyone can advise me re: Lab hip scores.

We're supposed to be bringing home our lab puppy tomorrow.

His mum is a lovely looking black lab but she hasn't been hip/elbow scored or eye tested and isn't KC registered. She is a family pet.

His father is a KC registered chocolate Lab from a good breeder and his hip scores are 7:6 and he has clear eyes. We don't have an elbow score for him though.

Does this sound okay? Today I've been reading a lot about bringing your puppy home etc and labs in general and I've come across a lot of people who say that you shouldn't get a lab pup unless both parents are tested and have good results. Now I'm worried that we haven't done our research properly!

The owners seem very nice, the mum is a lovely dog and the puppies look healthy and happy. Just not sure how important it is to have scores from both parents?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thankyou hipscore, unfortunately she wouldn't agree with you as she can't fulfil the lab job description of eating everything and anything as she's not allowed!! Good luck with whatever you decide to do x

Would it be any use for the OP to google the hip scores of the mums close relatives or would that be no indication and is that even possible ?

If you do go ahead with this dog, can I recommend, most strongly, that you get the highest level of pet insurance.

We have a rescue lab cross who had surgery earlier this year for snapped cruciate ligaments, and it cost a fortune - thankfully we had the highest pet insurance for her because, like your puppy, there were a lot of unknowns about her health and, in her case, her history too.

She is off to the vet hospital tomorrow because now she has dislocated her kneecap - that's more major orthopaedic surgery, and yet more cage rest (her two previous OP's each meant cage rest - 9 weeks first time then another 6 second time). The cost of these three operations is going to be somewhere north of £9,000. If she needs rehab after this op - or more surgery (the op has a 1 in 4 failure rate), we will go well up over £10,000.

I am not telling you this because the health checks your puppy's mum hasn't had might have reduced the risk of these particular conditions, but to show you how much this sort of surgery can and does cost.

Floral It is possible to look up the scores of KC registered dogs (it can be done here on the KC site) unfortunately it's not as simple as low scoring dogs always having low scoring puppies/relatives. On average two low scoring dogs are more likely to have puppies with low scores but it's definitely not a guarantee.

I can only echo what daisydotandgertie has said. I've had two dogs (both rescues) that have had inherited health conditions and I wouldn't buy from a breeder who didn't do everything they possibly could to ensure the future health of the puppies they're breeding.

OP - how can the mum be a pedigree if she is is not KC reg? She could be anything to be honest.

i can't really come up with a reason for a Labrador puppy like this to be a good buy. There are plenty of fabulous breeders who produce puppies who are the best they possibly can be, and I can't understand why a puppy from unregistered, untested dogs would be better than that.

It is high risk, buying a pup the way you are. I absolutely wouldn't consider it.

There is no sure way to get perfect hips but hip scoring helps manage risks in breed. An uneven score or high score is not a good sign however that doesn't mean offspring cannot have good hips. It's a game of odds.

If the bitch is not kc registered then she is not pedigree it means if her parents are kc registered one of them has breeding endorcements all good breeders place this endorcement which can be lifted providing good health tests/sound temperament etc however some are never to be lifted due to finding health issues in the line to stop it continuing.

I would advice finding another breeder with kc puppies who health tests both parents. Try the Labrador breed society they can point you in the right directions.

The owner said that she is a pedigree in the sense that she is from pure bred lines but for some reason one of her parents wasn't KC registered (nothing to do with health issues) therefore she wasn't either.

The dam should never have been bred from if she wasn't KC reg and health-tested. You have found yourself a backyard breeder, , don't give them your money. Please step away and go elsewhere for your next dog. Backyard breeders are the cause of overflowing dog-rescues and healthy dogs being put to death.

Not being KC registered is still not an excuse for not having the health checks done though ,that's just cutting corners .

I wouldn't touch a lab puppy who's parents hadn't been health tested. There are no excuses not to health test a dog who is going to be bred from.

What did you decide to do OP ?

come late to this thread perhaps.. but for my part, I wouldn't see any need for anyone to go near lab pups that arent propertly hip/elbow scored, plus all the other routine tests, including yearly eye cert.

The average score is far higher than the median, and the median is now the measure that the KC use, and it has stood at 9 for some years now (with the average being around 16/18 i think - trying to remember back to the BVAC scheme paperwork that i don't have to hand currently).

There is absolutely no excuse to buy pups without these breed tests. Hip dysplasia is not only genetic, but environmental too and so considerable care needs to be taken of developing joints in a heavy boned doggie like a lab.

yes, i would definitely get scores done even if i wasn't breeding from a bitch/dog, purely because then you know what you are dealing with for the future of the lab and it will help you plan their exercise and future vets bills/potential pain management (purely because of the breed propensity to have hip/elbow issues).

I am also very surprised at how reputable a breeder the stud boy's owner is allowing a bitch to him without the appropriate breed tests complete even if he has had these done himself. Not someone I'd want to deal with.

this: from a good breeder

the stud boy's owner is not a 'good' breeder to have been party to this arrangement. Only a very poor breeder would do this (and probably take a sizeable fee for it). Its not in line with KC regs

also, by looking on the KC website you will find lists of breeders who are expecting/have pups of different colours/sexes and you can check the health tests etc.

I know I started this thread ages ago but I just found it again after I totally forgot to come back at the time!

In case anyone is interested and spots this thread again; we didn't have the pup in the end 😞.

Still don't have a dog but we'll be better prepared when we feel the time is right to look again.

Hello Hipscore - just to say, thank you for the update, it was brave to step away like you did. We are just looking for lab pups now, our first dog, and it’s so interesting reading this thread, and reflecting on the choices we have too. Best of luck with finding the right dog for your family one day