Want my male Lab to have a son

[NotesOnEnvelope]

Our working lines black Lab is a bit of a stunner and from very good lines. He also has the best character ever. I'd love him to breed simply to continue his line and have a pup of his, but it seems that the 'stud' thing is very tied up professionally in terms of anyone who might want him to father a litter.

he is a kennel club boy but in order to have official offspring
you need to have the elbows/hips score xrays which means general anaesthetic, which I don't want to put him through, even though the risk is minimal.

I'm not looking at it from a money point of view and understand why people with similar female dogs might well be - it's not a cheap or effortless thing to do - so I'm really looking for someone who thinks along similar lines... is this unrealistic?

You want your dog to have a ‘son’? Why, so you can have a ‘grand-dog’?! This is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read on here!

Thinking your dog is marvellous, special and unique is not a reason to breed him untested. The potential to spread poor genes and cause suffering and heartache to the resulting animals and their owners is real. If you’re that desperate choose another puppy from your dog’s breeder.

Respectfully, what the fuck? I'm sure he is gorgeous but he'll be exactly the same as the other dogs from his litter and any other litters from the same parents - and likely 90% of black labs. The world won't be a better place if he sires a litter and I tell you now that he couldn't give a fuck. You're personifying him. Stop.

Yes.
Any responsible breeder wouldn't touch you with a barge pole. I'm sure there will be a backyard breeder out there somewhere who would love a litter (aka make money) from their terribly wonderful pet dog, and you will be responsible for contributing to the endless supply of poorly bred dogs thst are flooding the market and rescue centres.
A good stud dog needs more than to be a lovely pet, he needs to be the best in his breed. Proven in his field via working, trials, or showing, exemplary temperament and absolutely MUST have had any and all health tests relevant to the breed.
Breeding without testing is unethical, irresponsible and immoral.

I'm sure he is gorgeous but he'll be exactly the same as the other dogs from his litter and any other litters from the same parents

Whilst I think the op is ludicrous, to say pups from the same litter will have the same looks and temperament is just untrue.

The dog doesn't care about having a son. He isn't Henry VIII. Backyard breeding is irresponsible.

As for all the 'you can xray without anaesthetic comments'. Just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you should. It is irresponsible to expect veterinary staff to be in the room holding dogs for X-rays on a regular basis. However many lead aprons, gloves and thyroid protectors they wear, they are still exposed.

Sadly once your grandlab matures his father will probably despise him and want him gone. nature innit

Likewise them imagining that his son would be a carbon copy.

Say he did sire a litter.

What if all the offspring were female?

I agree black labs are often very handsome , and have wonderful personalities. The majority of them are like that.

I have an amazing lab bitch. She is from working lines and her parents were field trial champions. Pregnancy is hard work/ can be dangerous for dogs too. I wouldn’t want my darling dog to go through that.

you need to have the elbows/hips score xrays which means general anaesthetic, which I don't want to put him through

Then don’t let him sire offspring. It would be hugely irresponsible to allow pups to be born and risk them having problems because he was untested.

Seriously, thank you all for you comments. I'd forgotten how warm and loving a place this can be!

Thank you for those that mentioned hip etc scores being done under sedation - I wasn't aware of that and will look into it.

I think most have misunderstood my post though - I don't want to 'breed' my dog in a stud/breeding/official sense - (and his is far more than fourth gen proven field trails national winner stock for those who mentioned it). I'd like to have a puppy of his (the 'son' bit was meant to be funny).

Of course litters are representitive of their parents in terms of looks and temprement - that's what selective breeding is based on - so some of the comments are obviously from a point of ignorance more than have been pointed to me :)

and as for those that say there are too many dogs :(

the funniest was 'backyard breeding' ! That's pretty much what I'm looking for I suppose, the way people used to get dogs, you know, 30 years ago or something...

Of course litters are representitive of their parents in terms of looks and temprement - that's what selective breeding is based on - so some of the comments are obviously from a point of ignorance more than have been pointed to me :)

But they’re not. As someone who does breed, I can 100% tell you that you can breed two dogs who are exactly the same in terms of temperament and looks and still have puppies that have no characteristics similar to their parents - because that’s how genetics work. Often they are, but sometimes they’re not.

No good breeder would use your dog as a stud for their bitch - I certainly wouldn’t. You clearly have no idea the sort of extensive research that goes into a breeder finding the right stud.

30 years ago, people still used proper breeders. I should know, my mum was one. It’s only in the last 5-6 years that cheap, puppy farming breeding, has become acceptable - why? Because people think they have a right to have a pet and responsible breeders turn inappropriate owners down and people like you fill the void with poorly bred puppies.

Op you seem to be coming up with every excuse in the book to justify banging out an unnecessary litter of puppies. I don’t get what you mean about him working. So does he work or not? If he’s not proven himself then his ‘working bloodlines’ mean nothing. You do not advertise a working dog as having any credentials unless they’ve earned any themselves. You could have 6 generations of champion sheepdogs and then produce a dud litter with no interest. You don’t then stud one of the pups out though with the reasoning ‘well he couldn’t work a sheep to save his life, but his parents and grandparents could, so his pups must be amazing..’🙄 we ended up with a springer from my uncle who was a breeder (and an absolute cunt). He bred for working and for looks. He spent an absolute fortune on this lovely looking bitch from working lines, unfortunately she no interest in any sort of hunting or trials, she just wanted to play fetch with stones all day. So he paired her up with a stud that should have suited her confirmation for nice pups, and ended up with a litter that were almost shaped like bloody dachshunds! They had long bodies and stumpy little legs. At that point we only took her as he was going to shoot her! Your dog is one of the most common breeds in the world. Loads of them look nice, you have to go seriously wrong to get one with a bad temperament, and from what I understand he’s achieved literally nothing to warrant ‘carrying on his bloodlines’. Just admit the simple fact that you just feel like it’ll be all cute and fun to make him have puppies with the piss poor excuse of ‘well I want to keep one’ like that’s good enough. No puppy he produces is going to be a carbon copy of him

30 years ago, I got my first working bred lab, from amazing field lines. She was a gift from a well meaning long since ex-boyfriend. She was a beautiful dog, amazing temperament. Shocking awful hips. Her parents were not properly screened. She was bred in exactly the way you are considering. Many things that used to be acceptable 30 years ago, are no longer. Backyard breeding is one of them.

Labradors have large litters. What will you do with the other 8-10 pups that you don't want and no sensible owner would either? Or are you assuming that the owner of the dam would get that problem? What if she needs a C-section? Are you going to pay up? What if the dam dies (it happens)? What about all the extra costs in vet bills and feeding? All dumped on the dam's owner?

Feckless fatherhood via your dog is not to be encouraged.

What a fucking weird post. Why do you want your male dog to have a ‘son’? You know he won’t know it’s his son? What’s going to happen to the other 9 or so in the litter, or is that not important? You’ll be hard pressed to find good homes, labs are 10 a penny like a lot of breeds nowdays. You know there’s a rehoming crisis? Especially as most pet homes won’t want a working stock lab. And a working home will want pups from a dog who can actually work, which yours don’t?

You want to breed what potentially is going to be a very large litter of pups just so you can have one of them, as your dog is friendly ‘and a bit of a stunner’ 🤦🏼‍♀️ but you don’t want your dog to get health tested because of the risks, but you’re willing to risk the bitch going through pregnancy, and all of the puppies from an untested father? What difference do you think it’ll make having a puppy from your own dog, or getting a dog from a reputable breeder?

I know what you mean. I have a terrific dog and I'd love a puppy of his. But, for many of the reasons above, I haven't done it. Plus two entire male labs in a household is not necessarily a winning formula.

And likely 90% of black labs. I didn't say they would look the same, I said they'd all be gorgeous.

wanting a descendent of your dog is a very different thing.

we had the most regal and well behaved Rottweiler ever. She was an absolute delight with our kids and, an excitement watch dig when they were playing out actually saved a neighbours kid by dragging them away from the pond in the neighbours garden. She died age 11 and we were devastated. A few years later I find her pedigree while sorting papers out and did some googling. I found the breeders of her grand parents and they had kept her sister and so had a continuous line direct from her genetic parentage. We got on the list and 8 months later were picked up the puppy . She’s our old dogs g g g grand niece and while I love her to bits, she’s an absolute wanker of a dog. She’s not at all clever, she’s not all regal and she can’t even pee without getting it on her feet 😂🤷🏼‍♀️.

getting a dog directly related to your dog doesn’t mean it will be a good one with the same traits.

Yikes. OP, you are either so ignorant you don't know what you don't know or you're having a joke with us.

It's definitely a bad idea for you to get involved in dog breeding until you've done a lot more work :/ please go and speak to a working lab breeder - who did you get yours from?

I don't want to 'breed' my dog in a stud/breeding/official sense ... I'd like to have a puppy of his.

Yeah that distinction doesn't make sense. It is 'breeding' regardless of your motives, and the outcomes for the resulting puppies aren't affected by the fact that your motives are sentimental rather than financial.

@NotesOnEnvelope "I'd like to have a puppy of his (the 'son' bit was meant to be funny)."

Out of interest, what is your plan for the rest of the litter?

I love that the OP points out that the comments in response to their ridiculous thread come "from a point of ignorance" when some of us here have been breeding and/or showing dogs for a lifetime.

(name changed)