Hi our family are ready into having a lab puppy but have concerns about over breeding and hip scores our previous dog was mongrel and lived to a old age. Are cross breeds more likely to have less complicated health issues, we have meet some black lab owners with an 8 year old with hip problems which sound very young to me ? Looking forward to any help or reply.
Hi Paul, and welcome to the forum. I think breeding and inherited disorder are a real concern for breeders and owners. My own lab who is now 7 years old had severe bilateral hip dysplasia diagnosed under the age of one. Accredited breeders who register their dogs and get their dam and sire health tested will be able to give you some indication of risk, where as with untested pairings you get what you get. Hip problems are multifactorial however - some genetics, some environmental, maybe related to growth patters/neutering etc Trouble with mongrels and crosses (which I prefer to call mixed breed dogs personally) is that you really don't know what the progeny are going to look like, and there is no formal health testing schemes as they as not Kennel Club registered. Which is a shame. Pippa's newest book "Choosing the right puppy" discusses quite a lot of these issues and is really interesting. I am sure you will be getting more contributors. jac
Welcome to the forum from me Helen, Hattie 9 years and our rescue Charlie 6 years. Both of my dogs are Labrador crosses (mixed breeds as Jac @drjs@5 prefers ) and they don't have any health issues at all, are fit and healthy living life to the full Whether you opt for a 'pure' breed or cross breed the outcome can be the same, there is no guarantee so the best thing you can do if going for a 'pure' breed Labrador is check with the breeder that all the health checks are in place, make sure you see all the certificates and all necessary paperwork. Not too sure that a breeder that is registered with the Kennel Club actually means anything. x
Absolutely. Lilly is KC registered, yet parents had no health tests. I do love labradors, but worry about the health generally of "Pure breeds". "Crosses" is my preferred term Helen . Labradoodle is a more established cross name, but things like Goldador and Pugalier and Schnoodle is all just nonsense to me I'm afraid.
It's strange really, I so dislike the name Labradoodle even though Hattie is one, I prefer the term cross breed x
Many thanks for your comments, a Goldador is cross with a retriever and a Labaodor. And thought would be appropriate mix of breeds for us? Are there any recommended breeders I could possibly contact, I live in the midlands but willing to travel if needed. Regards Paul
A puppy is only as good as its parents (and nutrition, environment etc). You can start with parents from two different breeds but if they have dodgy genes then you'll still end up with dodgy hips, elbows, eyes, hearts etc. Being a cross bred isn't enough, unfortunately - you still need good genes to start with. Choosing parents from very different breeds that do not suffer from the same kinds of inherited disorders might reduce the chances that the pup will inherit a problem (as a lot of the inherited nasties need matching genes from both parents in order to actually affect the pup). But breeders of cross bred pups are not choosing their breeding dogs with this in mind. They're breeding what will sell. Golden Retrievers and Labradors suffer from similar health issues and I suspect that a cross bred pup from these breeds isn't especially likely to be free of problems. There's no substitute for health testing. I'd say it'll be hard to find a breeder of cross bred dogs who does all the testing needed to cover the range of ailments that might potentially affect the parent breeds. But they might be out there. Mostly it's breeders of pure breeds that are doing testing. Another option is to get an adult dog that has made it to 1 or 2 years of age with all joints intact and no major health issues evident.
Welcome from me & Coco. Coco is a German Shepherd x Labrador. Both breeds with potential health problems, and I wouldn't think his breeder made any health checks before mating (he's a rescue). But they could have done. If you're going for a purposely bred cross breed (I like cross breed. Belle was a mongrel - unknown mix ) - still check the parents health scores.
Agree with the above. Not all Labradors have joint problems, and some of those that do will be caused by environmental factors rather than simple genetics. Labs and Goldies (the correct name is "Golden Retriever", not just "retriever", as there are Labrador Retrievers, Curly-coated Retrievers, Flat-coated Retrievers etc etc) do share lots of health issues, so you would really need to look for a breeder who is committed to proper and full health screening of both parents to try to mitigate the risk. Still, there will always be a risk of joint issues, whatever the health score says. All they do it reduce that risk. Other genetic tests can tell you that there is no chance of other diseases occurring, but you'd have to do you research and see what diseases are common between the two breeds (CRM? HPNK? EIC? SD2? etc) and then find out is the breeder is testing for these.
None of our 3 Labs has had joint problems. Ginger was a rescue, so we don't know much about her history or pedigree, but she lived 16 years and even though she was diabetic the last 4 she was very healthy. Tilly and Cooper both came from field lines and both had parents with good hip scores. Neither have any hip issues or other joint issues. Tilly is 11 and moves a little slow but is still healthy. Cooper (2) had a hip check when she was spayed and got a clean bill. I think a Lab from a good line (good health checks) will be a better bet than a cross breed with no parent information. While I generally do not really like Labradoodles, our neighbor just got a 1 year old and she is a really nice dog. She is Cooper's soul mate. Lucy might look like a Poodle, but she acts like a Lab in all respects. I can't see any reason to cross Goldens and Labs. Their personalities are similar, but Goldens have all that hair (even more than Labs) and seem to be more prone to allergies.
Most Guide Dogs are Lab x GR crosses. But they look like Labs. They are wonderful dogs. They do this because Goldies have a stubborn streak which is needed. They have to be able to say 'no' to their owners when the owner is wanting to move forward and it's not safe. This is Gypsy - Mum GR, Dad Lab.
I come across guide dogs from time to time in my work as a district nurse, most recently this year a truly lovely GR x Lab, such a sweet wonderful dog. I didn't realise for a few weeks that she was a cross breed, she just looked like a yellow Lab, albeit with a slightly thicker coat on her back. Her owner has just died, sadly, but the family were hoping the dog could stay with them. She's 7 now.
Strictly speaking the breeds are BOTH retrievers and the breed names are Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever. Here in Canada, and in the U.S., they are among the top breeds in popularity, with Labs running first for about 20 years. In both you can find very badly bred specimens with lots of health problems, aggression ; very sad in breeds said to be so good with children. If you are lucky to find a reputable breeder who thoroughly health tests BOth breeds then a cross is more likely to be healthy and sane. If it's an F1 cross the outcome may look mostly like one or the other parent but that assumes both parents are pure and most dog breeds are not, containing a mix in the breed history. Goldens are lovely, lovely dogs, bred responsibly. We had a good breeder down the street. Gorgeous, lovely dogs. However, I have to say, I feel so sorry for most as most owners of Goldies don't allow them the freedom I allow my Lab and that's because they don't want to have to clean and groom that lush coat every day. Stickies, burrs, matts, they all just fall out of my Lab, in my car on the way home it seems. My car got it's spring cleaning yesterday. If you want to put a spin on it, all that sand I found in my car would probably stay in the Golden's coat till you got it home and inside your house.
We are overwhelmed with all of your replies and very grateful to you all for sharing your experiences. All we have to do now is find one! Our choice would be the healthiest Labrador or golden retriever x Labrador puppy we can find. If anyone can recommend any breeders we would be most grateful. Regards Paul
Your best resource for looking for a pedigree Lab would be Champdogs, probably. You'd still have to check that the health tests are to your liking, but it's one of (if not the) biggest collections of breeders in the UK. You'll have to decide how far you're willing to travel. Some of us are looking for breeders very local to us, and others are prepared to travel greater distances. I'm sorry, I have no idea where to look for crosses!
On the pets4homes site there is a litter whose owners say that both parents have been hip and elbow scored (lab and goldie parents) and that paperwork can be seen. I know nothing of this litter personally. (And why on earth am I looking at puppy ads...)
This is the problem I've found with crosses - how to find responsibly bred ones. As per @Boogie 's post, I actually think a GR/LR cross would be a little better fit than even a pure Lab, but unless you have access to the well-run guide dogs breeding program (which the public does not naturally), how to find one? Outside of the guide dog programs, most responsible breeders of Labs or GR are not going to breed crosses, or at least this has been my experience when dealing with other breeds. That leaves most cross-breed breeding to the types of people who breed to pay their rent and advertise on eBay or similar. This is not the place to find a puppy. Much better to in this case rescue a dog in need of re-homing. You get a mix with the same degree of health assurances and save a life to boot. However, this is just my own personal experience. If others have different mixed breed experiences (outside of Lab/Poodle crosses, which I've learned from @charlie that there are responsible breeders in the UK), it would be really interesting to hear about them here.
Again many thanks for response we have narrowed our findings down to a couple of Labrador retriever dogs one is fox red with a recent parent hip score of 2/2 and 2/3. The other is black hip score 3/6 and 3/6. Tempted to go for the fox red will keep you updated !
How about a withdrawn Guide Dog puppy? Here is the link - http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/supportus/rehoming-a-guide-dog#.WSxP8lTTWfA .
