Considering offering our Labrador as a stud?

[EinsteinaGogo]

Hi all,

I haven't researched this AT ALL so I've no idea is this is frowned upon on these pages or if i will get considered suggestions.

We have a 2 year old male lab. He's not been neutered and he is a lovely, very much loved member of the family. We waited 10 years to get a dog because work-wise, we couldn't be at home every day. When that changed 2 years ago, we got him from an army family whose family pet had had puppies. He is kennel club registered, all health checks passed, etc etc.

Now we are working from home permanently (plus at that stage of our lives) we would love to have add another lab. We are considering options.

One is to rehome a retired guide dog. Another is to regime a 'failed guide dog' - is, a pup that wasn't quite right after training.

The other is to offer our boy as a stud, and take a puppy from any resulting litter.

Does anyone have thoughts?

Breeding them is really frowned upon here from what I've seen!

When I was growing up we had a "reject" guide dog. She was gorgeous.
She failed because she was too friendly and didn't really concentrate on leading.
She just wanted to make friends with everyone she met.
She was the perfect family pet though.

Please please rescue instead. Of course breeding has its place but in your situation I think it would be adding puppies to the world for no good reason other than you want another pet. I think it's different when they're bred for work etc. But in this case I do think it would be wrong, sorry OP.

You will need to get hips scored (which means sedation I believe) and find out more about his pedigree. Is his progeny blocked? Has he won any field trials etc?

A decent breeder will normally put endorsements on the KC reg to stop you doing this without speaking to them.
You need proper (not cheap) health testing like hips etc.
How would you choose a suitable bitch? How much do you know about pedigrees and confirmations etc?
Do you know enough to supervise mating? Help with whelping? Can you offer to take puppies back if things don’t work out? Can you support owners for life?
I believe it can change their behaviour.
I wouldn’t
Lots of people like the idea of failed pups or retired guide dogs. They tend to have a long list.
Why not buy a pup or look into rescue? There are specific lab rescues.

You’re looking at coming up for 1k on health tests for a Labrador - plus you’re the one responsible for making mating happen, including intervening if either are reluctant and it quite often changes a dog’s temperament.

Not to mention, as he isn’t shown or working, you’d not be breeding with any real quality of bitches either... which will impact the puppies if you’re wanting one.

Thanks for the responses 😊

We are just pondering. He is really just a family pet. Very well trained and a lovely l, obedient intelligent dog but we don't compete him etc.

The breeding idea came from a chap who walks his labs in the off lead area we go to regularly. We bump into them a lot and chat - he simply said 'have you ever considered breeding him' which got us thinking.

People often say that to me OP about my dog. It’s normally people who don’t have a clue what it takes to do it properly!

You would need him hip and elbow scored at the very least.
Then look up the DNA tests your breed requires. Do they need eye tests etc?
After that you would need to ask the breeder to lift the endorsements based on the results, if he isn’t endorsed ask why.
By the time you’ve done the above I expect you’ll be looking at the price of a quality puppy.
If he is not health tested I can’t imagine breeders of quality bitches would use him so you would end up using another untested dog. There are so many labs out there to choose from.

Finally and probably an unpopular opinion, I firmly believe in only breeding dogs that have something to offer to improve or maintain the breed, dogs that have proven themselves either in the ring as a quality dog or that excel in a job. There are plenty of good examples of breeds out there that make excellent pets, I don’t see the excuse in breeding substandard animals because they are ‘only’ pets. Surely pets can also be health tested and proven etc. If you can’t commit to doing it properly don’t do it at all.

Most people are looking for family pets so I don’t see anything wrong with breeding for that market IF he has satisfactory hip/elbow scores etc and is of a nice temperament.

But.

There is a major, major concern here that as far as I can see has not been mentioned and that, is that sometimes studding changes the personality of the dog for the worse.

He is a much loved family pet, his would you cope if studding caused his lovely personality to change?
If he started to become combative with other entire males for example?

Everyone asks us to stud our dog because he is a perfect example of the breed. Whilst I would love to have one of his puppies I will never do it just because of the chance of his personality changing.

He is just such a good dog and part of the family, I don't want him to change.

We will be neutering him at 18 months when he is fully grown and enjoying him for who he is.

Even if you had a champion and all the tests done. When it comes to him mating bitches you are the one who will have to guide his penis in, make sure it stays in and calm the bitch down once he finished and until they've released each other. Rather you than me.

Thanks for all the info, everyone.

The key reason we haven't had him neutered is that he is a very happy, non-aggressive and reasonably non-humpy dog, so we haven't wanted to upset the status quo with regard to personality and temperament.

We would never take a frivolous risk to chance that.

If you are to breed responsibly, there is a lot of effort and expense. As an absolute minimum, you must hip score, elbow score, and eye test.

There are important DNA tests that are important for labs, to check they are clear of certain breed issues.

You should also calculate the inbreeding coefficient and ensure it is within safe levels.

This should all be done, regardless of whether you want pups to be able to be KC registered. You should want them to be healthy.

As far as KC registered, you would need to check that there are currently no endorsements on your dog, or the potential mother, if you want the pups to be registered.

I can imagine it’s a lovely thing to do, but it must be done responsibly

There are so many wonderful dogs in the world already, who through no fault of their own, have no family.
How about all the dog breeders decide to stop breeding their dogs for a few years so that we can catch up.

How about all the dog breeders decide to stop breeding their dogs for a few years so that we can catch up
I think that genetics account for far more than people realise and don’t see myself with a rescue for that reason.

That’s if the rescue would even give me one, I get that they of course have to be careful but some of the criteria is just ridiculous and rescues aren’t always honest either about potential issues the dog may have.

I would always choose a puppy from parents I knew had the temperament I was looking for.

Good breeders will be vetting homes and insisting on the dog returning to them if the owner can no longer cope with it.
I don’t think it’s fair to blame them for the high numbers of dogs in rescue.

Perhaps enquire whether the guide dog breeders could use him for free if you are willing.

It’s a lot of work and he would need to be hip and elbow scored, as well as eye scored (eye scores should be done annually). Ideally DNA tested for any genetic issues. The top dollar stud dogs demand high prices per mating because they have the best health scores, proven track records, excellent pedigrees and have something that makes them ‘stand out’ such as championship titles (show or working/field, whatever kind of dog you have). Ethical breeders (that is, those with bitches who will raise the puppies and make the money from any litters), will be looking for all of these boxes to be ticked because their customers want puppies with a traceable lineage and proven health history.

I’ve heard it can change their personality, after the deed.

I agree with you, @Bergerdog