hello all, after working at a breeders of cocker spaniels, I have quickly learned alot about breeding dogs in the short time ive been there. I've spoken to my boss about studding my labrador out, but wondered everyone elses opinions. He is 8 and a half years old, but still full of energy like he is still a pup, still very agile and boisterous at times. He has the best temperament around kids, cats and visitors. Yet he still knows he must protect the house, although I am sure he would never attack a person at all. He is KC registered and we paid quite a lot of money for him and it would be a shame not to see what he could produce. His mother was a beautiful golden bitch and his father was a chunky black stud dog. However my Buddy is almost pure white, with golden ears and a strip along his back, one of the most gorgeous labradors I've seen. I am assuming because of the colour of his parents, he has their genes so may produce their colours too? I've googled information about studding and am looking to get him hip and elbow scored if I choose to go ahead with the studding. He is very much a ladies man and I feel as though this may be a good thing for him, however I'm worried about his age and whether he would be able to perform to he best of his ability. I would love to hear your opinions, Many thanks Abbie.
It is good that you are researching the pros and cons of studding a dog. I am glad to hear you have a healthy and vigorous lad at 8 years old. Saying that, I don't really understand this comment..does this mean he is quite noisy when people visit? Temperament would be on the top of my list when looking at stud dogs. However... This I am afraid, is not really the best reason to offer him at stud. Obviously, he would need all the health checks in place prior to even considering using him for stud, and it will be a bit tricky to get a good baseline on hips and elbows due to his age. Hip and elbows are taken around 12 months of age and then the results are then evaluated and sent through to the BVA. As dog's age, their joints naturally age too, and unless they started with naturally "00" hips this will result in a less than favourable score. That's just unfortunate, as there are a lot of excellent stud dogs out there with excellent hip scores. Personally, though, I do prefer the older boys Some more advice here so-you-want-your-labrador-to-be-a-stud-dog and health screening health-screening-for-labrador-diseases A good article on labrador colour genetics labrador-colour
I think it's great you are asking these questions. But the thing to keep in mind is... It's a tough market out there. A bitch owner will be looking for a stud who is going to help her sell puppies and add value (not just financial but in terms of titles and therefore potential for the pups) to the litter. Why would someone choose Buddy when they could choose FTCh Wee Willy Winky or SHCh Baa Baa Black Sheep JW? (I made those up, by the way.) Because it's the bitch owner who chooses the stud, the role of the stud-to-be's owner is trying to get qualifications on their dog which prove he is a worthy dog to be bred from and enable him to stand out from the bazillions of other dogs out there being marketed. At 8.5yo, he's a little old to be starting to put titles on or training in some dog sport or other. And yes, there are all the health tests you would need to do. Which really are much more than hips and elbows these days. You'll also need a BVA eye test and then many DNA tests: CNM and prcd-PRA are essential but most studs these days are also tested for EIC, SD2 and increasingly HNPK. Each DNA test will cost around £80, hip and elbows can be about £300, BVA eye test - say £40.... And all this just to OFFER him at stud - you may get nothing back for it if no one is interested. Let's say someone is interested. The stud fee for an unqualified and unproven stud, is around £300 - which isn't even going to cover your health tests. And then we get onto the fact that he is 8.5yo and has never mated before. Ideally young stud dogs should have their first 'experience' quite early, say 2yo - there is no guarantee he will know what to do, if you wait longer. He may do... He may not. If he can't mate, you won't get a stud fee at all. On the plus side, an older stud will pass on longer telomeres in their DNA, which is associated with longevity and should see increased longevity in offspring - research suggests. But that alone isn't really a reason... There is a whole lot more involved in studding out a dog than people realise. Di Stevens has an article giving some of the issues you'll be faced with... http://www.wylanbriar.com/breeding-advice/so-you-would-like-to-stand-your-dog-at-stud/
He hasn’t had any health tests or hip/elbow scores done, I was out walking with him when someone asked about him because of his Champagne colour. We have always thought about it but never done anything until we got asked so wondered everyone’s opinions...
