Experience of Lab Retriever cross?

[dontlookbackinangerr]

Thinking of getting a lab retriever cross and wondered if anyone has experience of this breed/combo in terms of temperament and behaviour? First time dog owner and looking at puppies currently. Any specific tips welcomed :)

Re crossbreeding, I have come across a lot of crossbred working dogs, purpose bred for specific jobs. Foxing lurchers, for example, often have a bit of mastiff or bull breed in them, for obvious reasons. A gamekeeper I know has a dog he bred who is some combo of lab/ springer/ cocker and 'the best fuckin' rabbitin' dog Oi ever had.' He got the attributes he wanted out of that breeding, and iirc most of the rest of the litter went on to useful working lives, neatly filling various slots.

Crossbreeding doesn't have guaranteed results, but if it didn't work without a fair degree of reliability, the people who breed lurchers wouldn't bother with it, and Guide Dogs wouldn't bother with it, breeds like the huntaway would never have been developed. Yes, there will be a wash-out rate, dogs who don't make the grade for the intended job either rerouted into something else or ending up as pets.

Sorry, OP, fairly off-topic.

It’s all interesting so need to apologise!

I’ve doing more research in to the health checks, in particular about hip dysplasia and it sounds horrible! What happens to all these poor dogs bred with problems?? Is it just a lifetime of issues and pain? Makes me sad.

And I appreciate that’s the point of proper breeders/breeding xxx

Yep. It’s agony for them. And as a ‘working’ breed it as good as ruins their life. Goldies and Labs were made to run - not to struggle to even walk properly.

Anything above a 0/0 in elbows and (in my very personal opinion) about a 7-10, overall, on hips is unacceptable. I’m not sure what the ‘average’ on hip scores is for labs, but on Goldies it’s 17 - far too high.