Hi we have 2 labradors male & a bitch looking to use the bitch for breeding next year and looking to use my lab male for stud they both have fantastic pedigrees, great temperaments the male is 6 years old is it ok to get his hip score done at this age?
Yes. There is no upper age limit on Hip scoring for dogs that may be used in breeding. If you are going to breed him you need to have both his scores and the scores of the bitch.
Yes, advisable to get not just hip/elbow scores but eye tests too (for both dam and sire) More information available here: labrador-breeding-should-you-let-your-dog-have-puppies and thelabradorsite.com/health-screening-for-labrador-diseases
Both your dogs will need to have: Hips Elbows Eye tests DNA tests: CNM, prcd-PRA - and preferably also SD2, EIC, HNPK. You will also need to check out their COI of their pedigree to insure they are not too closely related: The breed average is 6.5% so ideally, below that. You are looking at close to £1000 in testing for the two of them together and it's also not recommended to use two first-timers together - it doesn't always go well. To be honest, you could choose a far more qualified stud if you used a stud from elsewhere. You would not need to pay for his health testing, and you could choose a stud with conformation or field qualifications - which is going to make the pups more desirable, to puppy buyers...
Thank you for your reply. I plan to stud my male out first as there is alot if interest in him as he has championship pedigree so all being well he'd be good to go next year with my bitch. That is one of the reason im looking to mate them both they have fantastic pedigrees and are also there temperment is great so would make goid workers or pets. It was always my intention to get health checks done sooner but never arranged them.
