Breeding Labradors: Should My Dog Have Puppies?

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labrador retriever breeders

Breeding a litter of puppies has huge appeal for many people. And indeed, absolutely anyone can breed from their Labrador. Whether or not they should is of course a different matter. And a topic on which many Labrador lovers have strong feelings.

There are pros and cons to breeding. You need to consider the age, health and attributes of your female dog, and consider how becoming a mother will affect her.  

Deciding to breed a litter is a big decision for any Lab parent. The information I have set out here will help you decide if you want to breed from your dog, and if now is the right time for you to embark on your adventure.

We’ll look at temperament checks, health tests and finding a stud dog and talk about the risks, the financial costs, and the effort involved in raising a healthy litter of puppies.

Public opinions about dog breeding

Dog breeding can be very controversial. It is quite common for Labrador owners thinking of breeding from their own dog to post up on internet forums and  groups, asking for advice and information. Unfortunately the reaction they get from regular members is often enough to send them scurrying away without further comment.

I say unfortunately, because once someone has been driven away, the opportunity to guide or influence them has been lost. This is a shame because the only thing worse than a completely unprepared person producing a litter of puppies, is a completely unprepared person producing a litter of puppies without help.

Many think that only ‘responsible breeders’ should be permitted to breed dogs, and others will predict dire consequences for any female dog unlucky enough to be mated and get pregnant. The chances are, if you are thinking of breeding, you already know of a family whose girl had a litter with no problems at all.  And the truth is that all dog breeders have to start somewhere, and most start with a female Lab that they love and share their life with.

Who should breed from their dogs?

Puppies stand the best chance of thriving if brought into this world by a responsible and knowledgeable owner that has access to help and support from someone experienced in breeding dogs.

You can gain some of that knowledge here by reading through the information below, and some from reading up on dog pregnancy and health in general, and on Labrador breeding in particular.

A mentor who has raised a few litters of puppies before, and who will be on hand to help and answer your questions as you raise your first litter of Labradors will be indispensable.

Popular reasons to begin Labrador breeding

In this section we take a look at some of the reasons why people want to breed from their dogs. And we look at the important factors which you need to consider before going ahead with breeding from yours. There are some reasons for breeding from a female Labrador which have no foundation in fact at all. Here are a couple of examples

  • A female dog should have a litter before she is spayed
  • Having a litter will calm her down

Myth: A female dog should have a litter before she is spayed

Lots of our readers want to know “should my dog have puppies to protect her future health?”

There is absolutely no reason to let your dog have a litter before she is spayed. There are reasons for and against spaying at an early age, or even at all. You may wish to consider these before committing your animal to such a major surgical intervention, but that is another subject. It is certainly not to her advantage physically, to have a litter before removing her uterus.

Myth: Having a litter will calm her down

The temperament of your female dog will depend on a variety of factors, including the genes she has inherited, the way you manage her, and how mature she is. Many dogs grow a little calmer with advancing maturity. But this has nothing to do with ‘maternity leave’ and can be observed in males as well as in females that have never had puppies.

If your dog is a bit excitable and hyperactive before having puppies, she is likely to be so afterwards. And what is more, will have produced half a dozen or more excitable and hyperactive puppies.

Reasons to breed from your Lab

Let’s look at some of the other common reasons that people decide to get involved in breeding.

  • It will be good for my children to see puppies born and raised
  • I want another female dog just like mine
  • It will make me some money

These three reasons have some foundation in fact, but there are a huge number of influencing factors which could be involved in your case. One (or more) of these might mean for you, that breeding from your dog is not such a good idea.

Reason: It will be good for my kids

There is no doubt that in an ideal world, with a perfect pregnancy and easy labour, and half a dozen or so live healthy puppies, there is some pleasure to be had for all the family in the raising of a litter of puppies. However, life is not always that straightforward, and it is important to consider the consequences of a less than happy outcome.

Although it is not common for a Lab to die in labour, it does happen. Only you can judge the effect that might have on your children. For one or more puppies to be stillborn or die in the first few days of life is more common. A midnight dash to the vets for a caesarean section, and difficulties getting the dog to feed her pups afterwards are a distinct possibility. These are not easy things for adults to cope with, let alone small children.

A litter of healthy puppies will occupy a lot of your time, for several weeks. Whilst hand-rearing puppies is exhausting, and caring for sickly puppies is gruelling and distressing. Your children will not benefit from your lack of attention or the stress levels in your home during this time.

Reason: I want another dog like mine

This is a completely understandable motive for breeding from your dog. Though it is worth considering that sometimes, we can be tempted to view our dogs through ‘rose-tinted’ spectacles. And it is important to take a really objective look at your dog and to try and see her through the eyes of others. There are two factors to take into account here

  • Replicating your dog’s characteristics:
  • The quality of your dog

Replicating your dog’s characteristics:

Many people are not aware that the best way to get a dog like yours is not through her puppies, but through her brothers and sisters. Your dog shares the most genetic information with her siblings. Buying a brother or sister, from another litter by the same parents is the best way of getting a dog like her.

Of course, it may be that her parents are no longer alive or being bred from. But another dog from the same line of close relatives bred by a knowledgeable breeder is likely to give you a very similar dog.

Breeding your girl to a dog of your choice, without any real knowledge or understanding of his genetic lines, is likely to produce uncertain results. The puppies may have all of the dog’s worst points and none of her good ones. It is something to consider.

The quality of your Labrador:

When we have a really exceptional dog of great quality, it is only natural to want to breed from her. If your female has been winning awards for her appearance and structure on the show bench, if she is doing well in agility or obedience competitions, or succeeding in field trials or working trials, you at least have some measure of her quality as judged by other people. This in turn will give you some idea of the potential for demand for her puppies.

If your dog’s role is that of family companion, it may be more difficult for you to make an objective assessment of her quality. The principle factor you will need to assess is her temperament. You will need to particularly consider her disposition towards people, especially children, and her trainability.

It is these two qualities which she must excel in order to stand a chance of producing good puppies. It would be very wise to get several unbiased opinions on these important factors.

Reason: It will make me some money

This is not always a reason that people admit to, but it is certainly a motivating factor for many people in the decision to breed a litter of puppies. Unfortunately, the costs involved in gaining health clearances for a Labrador will often outweigh any income gained from a single litter. So unless you wish to breed on a regular basis, you are most unlikely to gain any financial benefit at all from breeding from your dog.

On the contrary, you stand a good chance of ending up considerably out of pocket as we shall see below.

The betterment of the breed

It is very common for established breeders of show dogs, to state that no-one should breed from a dog unless it is for the ‘betterment of the breed’. This is an interesting argument and though in principle a fine ethical stance, it is a difficult one to define precisely. What is and is not ‘betterment’?

Most of us would agree that you should not breed from a substandard animal, but what exactly constitutes a better dog is a very subjective matter. Indeed the breeding of pedigree dogs by so-called experts has come under a great deal of scrutiny lately. And it is not always easy to know what is ‘better’ even when we are very clear on what is ‘worse’.

If your dog is just exactly as you like her, and if your friends and relative also like her and are clamouring for puppies from her, it may not be so important to worry about making a ‘better’ dog. But most people would agree that you have a moral obligation to do your best to ensure that the puppies you produce will be healthy happy puppies that grow into healthy, happy, good-tempered, trainable dogs. Fulfilling this obligation can be a time and money consuming responsibility.

Making healthy Labrador puppies

There are a number of inherited conditions to which Labradors are susceptible.  It is vital that anyone breeding Labradors ensures that both parents of any puppies they produce, have been checked for these conditions before getting their dog pregnant. This means you need to have your female Labrador thoroughly health screened before she is mated.

The scientific community is clear and increasingly urgent: generations of breeding to standards based on solely on appearance has allowed bad welfare choices to be made. And now we need to breed for health as well as good looks.

Apart from your moral obligation to do so, the consequences of failing in this duty can be serious. Without these clearances, you stand an increased chance of producing unhealthy puppies, of failing to sell your puppies (most new owners know to ask for health clearances), of being sued by angry owners of unhealthy puppies that you have sold them, and of having unhealthy puppies being returned to you and the cost of their veterinary treatment being laid at your door.

Health clearances for Labs

The minimum health clearances required for a Labrador are hip scoring and eye testing. Many breeders nowadays also test for a range of other disorders, and elbow score their dogs as well.  These tests are a crucial part of maintaining and improving the health and happiness of our Labradors.

The costs of these tests are considerable and if you decide to go ahead and breed from your dog it is a good idea to get the cheapest tests done first. That way, if your dog fails the cheaper test, you will be spared the costs of the more expensive ones. Information on health screening tests for Labradors can be found in our health screening section.

Breeding for temperament

One of the biggest and most frequent problems I see in families that are struggling with their Labrador is reactivity. This is a serious temperament fault and increasingly common in Labradors, especially those bred from working lines. It may be apparent in puppies from an early age and tends to become much worse during the course of the first year.

A reactive dog is likely to be nervous of new experiences and may spook at strangers or react aggressively towards other dogs. Contrary to popular belief, my view is that reactivity cannot be eliminated by thorough socialization but is largely a genetic problem passed down from one generation to the next.

To eradicate this problem from our lovely breed it is essential that we don’t breed from Labradors that have any trace of reactivity or whose litter mates have become reactive as they mature. If your female dog is reactive I understand that this may be disappointing to you, but reactivity causes lifelong and challenging problems in many affected dogs and can utterly disrupt the lives of the families that love them.

Protecting against inbreeding

Part betterment of the breed and part making healthy Labrador puppies, protecting against inbreeding is an important part of maintaining healthy breeding lines for all pedigree dogs. Inbreeding occurs when related dogs mate. Whilst most people will instinctively recoil at mating very closely related Labs, few people realise the damaging effect of mating dogs who share a great- or great-great-grandparent.

Every living creature is born with at least one “deleterious gene”; a faulty copy of a gene which could have a negative effect on survival. The average number could be as high as 20.

Fortunately, because our genes come in pairs, as long as one copy is correct, we never feel the disadvantages of carrying a faulty copy. But when we start to confine breeding within a limited gene pool – like the pedigree Labrador population – these faulty genes start getting “passed around”. And this passing around has been greatly increased in recent years by the “popular sires” phenomenon.

Passing on faulty genes

Put simply, the each generation of puppies is being fathered by only a fraction of the male dogs in the previous generation. This leads to homozygosity – puppies begin to be born with two copies of a faulty gene – and this time the disadvantages of that fault are expressed.

Luckily there are a lot of Labs in the world, so protecting against inbreeding is very achievable. But if your local Labrador breeding community is small, you might have to travel some distance to find a stud who isn’t in your girl’s extended family. These travel costs (you make need to make the journey several times) also need to be part of your decision making.

Your Labrador’s general health

Obviously, your Lab needs to be in excellent general health before you put her through the demands of pregnancy. You need to be objective about this, if you mate a dog that is overweight for example, you may be putting her safety at great risk.

How old should my dog be to breed from her?

A female dog needs to be physically and mentally mature before she has puppies. But she should also still be youthful.  It is not fair to put an older dog through the stress of pregnancy, whelping, and raising a litter. This means that she should be at least two years old, and probably not more than four when she has her first litter

Do you have the right support?

As you will be acting as midwife when your dog goes into labour, you will need a mentor, someone who has whelped a lot of litters, to advise you. This may be your vet, though not all vets are experienced at dealing with a normal whelping. It could be the person who bred your own dog, or just an experienced friend. But you will need someone who can advise you and who is willing to be phoned at 3 in the morning.

If you are confident about your role as midwife, you’ll also need to consider how you will feel about rehoming your new family at eight weeks old. And there could be quite a few of them!

How many puppies do Labradors have?

Many Labradors will have six to eight puppies.  Some may have as many as twelve or more. Some as few as one or two.  Litters of ten are not at all unusual. The extremes come with their own issues, but even if your girl has an average litter, that will still be half a dozen or so homes for you to find.

Finding homes for puppies?

There are many, many litters of Labrador puppies born each year in the UK and USA.  For much of the year it is a ‘buyers market’. Prospective owners can pick and choose.  So you need to consider if and why they might choose you. Is your female Lab a show winner? Has she won several Field Trials?  Is she an agility champion? Working Trials?

The hard fact is, these are the qualities that puppy buyers may be looking for.  They want to know that the parents of their pup are successful in some way. They don’t need to settle for less. No matter how lovely and how beautiful your dog, there is a very good chance that you could be left with several rapidly growing puppies, long after the cutesy eight to nine week stage has passed. Could you cope with this?

Providing long term support

Once your puppies have left and gone to their new homes, in the eyes of many, your responsibility continues. New puppy owners often need help and support, and the person they are likely to turn to, is their breeder. So you need to consider how you might feel about this, and whether or not you would be prepared and willing to take a puppy back if the new owner really cannot cope.

Unless you can do this, you are simply adding to the mountain of unwanted dogs currently languishing in rescue centres throughout the land.

The financial costs of Labrador breeding

There are a range of costs to take into account when breeding from your female for the first time. These include

  • Health clearances
  • Stud fee
  • Worming and veterinary antenatal care
  • Extra food for pregnant and lactating female dog
  • A secure and appropriate whelping box(paid link) and plenty of soft washable veterinary bedding(paid link)
  • Heated pads for pups(paid link) to cuddle up to when the mother dog is not with them
  • A  fund must be available for a caesarean section and any other emergency postnatal care that may be required by your lactating dog or her puppies
  • Worming medicines for puppies
  • Kennel Club registration for each puppy
  • Food for weaning
  • Advertising costs
  • First vaccinations and vet checks
  • Costs of extra care and vaccinations for any pups unsold after eight weeks.

If you have to take unpaid leave from work to be with the puppies you will need to factor this into your costs as well.  Breeding a single litter can leave you substantially out of pocket, especially if your girl needs a caesarian section (not uncommon).

The other ‘costs’ of breeding

Obviously the cost of breeding a litter involves more than money. The greatest cost is probably the mental and physical effort that you will be putting in to the whole exercise.

During the weaning process, puppies need feeding six times a day to begin with, and this is quite a pleasant if somewhat sticky process. However, this is only a small part of your responsibilities. The two most challenging factors to take into consideration are

  • Time
  • Mess

The time factor:

A pregnant Labrador requires your absolute and undivided attention from the moment she goes into labour until several hours after her last puppy has arrived safely. This whole process can take 24 hours or more. That means no sleep for you.

After that time, your dog requires that a responsible adult is on your premises and available to see to her needs, and those of her puppies for the next seven to eight weeks. Keeping puppies clean, fed and generally well-cared for is enormously time-consuming. You will see in the section on ‘mess’ below that you cannot hold down a full-time job and breed a litter at the same time. So you either need a boss willing to give you six weeks off, or another adult available to replace you at home.

The mess factor:

Most Labs make a pretty good job of cleaning up after their pups until you start to wean them at about three weeks old. If all has gone very well, then for the first three weeks you will be able to gaze at this adorable pile of Labrador loveliness with a deep sense of pleasure. Everything changes at weaning time.

From this time onwards, cleaning up is your job. Bear in mind that all puppies have the primary objective of covering themselves in poo during their every waking moment. As fast as you clean them up, they will get messy again. This process is no fun at all. And the bigger and livelier the puppies get, the less fun and more challenging the cleaning process becomes. You will need the biggest mountain of newspaper in history, and a lot of hot soapy water and patience.

The Labrador Handbook by Pippa Mattinson(paid link)

The cleaning up process takes place every time you feed (six times daily), and in-between where necessary. This is hard and smelly work, especially with kibble fed puppies.

Is this the right time for you to breed from your Labrador?

To sum up, here are the factors that you need to consider carefully before making a final decision to breed from your female Lab

  • Are your objectives realistic and is mating your dog likely to achieve these objectives?
  • Does your dog have a superb temperament with no trace of reactivity
  • Is she is tip-top condition physically?
  • Can you afford the necessary health checks, stud fee, veterinary treatment and other costs of raising a litter?
  • Do you have an experienced mentor to help and advise you throughout pregnancy and labour?
  • Can you be at home for seven to eight weeks without a break?
  • Are you prepared to interview and vet prospective new owners and to turn away unsuitable buyers? This can be a time consuming and  sometimes uncomfortable job.
  • Can you house and care for any puppies that are unsold after eight weeks?
  • Are you willing to take responsibility for any puppies that are returned to you later (it happens).
  • Are you prepared to take the risk to your dog of undergoing pregnancy and labour?

It is probably worth underlining that even the best bred litter will sometimes fail to sell, especially in times of economic hardship. It is not unheard of for rescue centres to be given an entire litter of twelve week old puppies that the owner has simply been unable to sell and does not have the resources to house now that they have outgrown their puppy pens.

Be aware that friends who expressed an interest when you first announced “I want to breed my female dog”  may melt away when the puppies actually arrive. People often back out after choosing and booking puppies, so it is well worth keeping a ‘back-up’ waiting list of interested parties.

Breeding your Labrador

If you are confident that breeding is for you, then you can probably answer ‘yes’ to all the above questions, and are willing and able to equip yourself with help and information you need. If you are still unsure about breeding do take your time with this important decision. And if you are yearning  for another dog please spare a thought for the many thousands of unwanted Labradors in rescue societies awaiting re-homing, often through no fault of their own but as a result of divorce, emigration, or the death of an owner.

Please check our health screening section for details of the current health checks now recommended for Labradors in the UK.

Has your Lab had puppies?

Whether you decided to go for it, or ultimately chose against it, we’d love to hear which factor(s) ultimately made up your mind. Share your experiences with owner dog owners having the same dilemma using the comments box below!

The Labrador Site Founder

Pippa Mattinson is the best selling author of The Happy Puppy Handbook, the Labrador Handbook, Choosing The Perfect Puppy, and Total Recall.

She is also the founder of the Gundog Trust and the Dogsnet Online Training Program 

Pippa's online training courses were launched in 2019 and you can find the latest course dates on the Dogsnet website

47 COMMENTS

  1. I’d love there to be a section about how a lab is after having had a litter or two. I recently rescued at 5 year old who had been bred earlier and found it hard to find any info on how it affects the mother in the years after having litters. Maybe it doesn’t, but I’d love to know if there’s anything different I should be aware of in her retired years.

  2. Pippa, thanks for posting this article. I read it before our first breeding Dec. 2017, and read through it again before our second (and last) breeding in September this year. While we had a successful litter of 8 (nine initially, but she fell asleep on one about 3 days in, smothering her) the first time, this time we only had one. We are about two weeks in, puppy seems to be super healthy, averaging more than 4 oz. a day of growth. I’m not keeping the whelping area as warm this time since mom is much more of a mom, wants to be with him unlike first litter and protective. Still, keeping temp around 75-80 degrees. Not sure but seems like we may even be able to go cooler since he is moving around, not staying near the corner of the box where the space heater is on the other side. Mom feeds, then stays in separate quarters of whelping box. The routine is less demanding right now, just worried about socializing so I bought some toys off Chewy.com, have been holding him some as well. Pup has a loaded pedigree on sire side, mom not as much but she (I) will title out as HRCH next year, is an excellent gun dog right now, best I’ve had hence the reason to breed. We bred simply with the intent to pass on good genes in the breed in hopes that about 10 years from now we can find a pup from her bloodline.

  3. With my dog, I have been thinking about having puppies for some time now. I know that my dog would be fully capable of having them. However, it might be best to talk to a vet first just to be safe.

  4. Julie, so so sorry for your loss however as well as the article this has helped make our decision that our beautiful baby will NOT be having pups ❤️

  5. I found this article very helpful. We have a beautiful red fox lab. As I no longer work we have considered letting her have pups however after reading your article this will not be happening. I think more people should read articles like this before breeding. We have 2 labs and both have such good natures and so well behaved. The thought of being the one where something goes wrong and we lost her terrifies me. Thanks Pippa ??

  6. I found this article very helpful. I had been considering breeding my 2 yr okd female black lab as she is one of the few breeds i am not allergic to and she is love and sweet. I have decided against it as the strain on her and myself may not be worth it. I will consider buying a pure bred instead.

  7. I want to breed my 3 years old yellow lab but im afraid due to the fact that her nipple’s wont go back to original form. maybe it will sagg. any adivce? thanks

  8. I found this article very helpful, my lab is 8yrs old now and we have always planned to breed her. The breeder who has the stud dog says she wont breed for the first time if they are a year older than 8 years old. My dog has always had good health and i want to know if it would still be okay to breed her for the first time or no?

  9. I found the article very useful. I just cant seem to find information about how to find a suitable local stud dog. Any information would be appreciated.

  10. Thankyou for this information and the respect you show those like me who are learning from scratch about labradors. I am a british trained human midwife and when i mentioned to the vet that we were thinking of letting Petal have a litter when she is old enough I was given a lecture that scared the bejesus out of me.
    The vet said she would get breast cancer as if it was a very high and near inevitable risk which made me wonder if this was true. She aslo said there were already enough puppies and that the time and work invlved was a big commitment. So she was partly speaking from an evidence base backed up by you.
    I guess for me the risk is an unwanted pregnancy ahead of time and if by age 2 all goes well and we find a nice boyfriend the next risk is real like any pregnancy human or animal and to go in eyes wide open and with the greatest concern for the wellbeing of the dear animals is very important.
    Many thanks.

  11. Pippa-
    Thank you so much for great information!!!! No worries….I have NO plans to breed at all!!! Matter of fact….I do know few people that need to read this information to understand the work involved in breeding!!!!

  12. So it is normal for labs to have 14 puppies a litter? if not is that too many? I want to train them before going to their new homes (born yesterday) any tips? I need advice mainly on play biting since it is in labs nature… thanks!

  13. BIG Problem, my dog was only 7 months old and I had a friend watch her for 2 weeks, 2 months ago and I am looking at her and her nipples are full, I think she will have pups any day

  14. Thank you for your time and honest, non-biased discussion on breeding. We had been considering the possibility of allowing her to have one litter and then spaying. After learning that she should be at least 2 years old we have reconsidered. We are not interested having to wait that long and experiencing several “seasons” before she is ready. While we considered many of the factors you mentioned there were many additional factors you mentioned that we had not considered. I am grateful to you and the “realness” of this article which allowed us to make an educated decision! We will not be breeding and will likely proceed with spaying within the next month or so. Thanks! Sincerely, Jennifer

  15. Pippa,

    Thanks for this. I have a chocolate lab that I was considering breeding with a friend who has a chocolate lab as well. But I am not sure I have the time, patience (or $$) to deal with all that breeding entails.

  16. Thank you for this information, and for your objectivity. I am at the beginning of (hopefully) becoming a breeder in a few years time. 3 weeks ago I got my first puppy. He is a beautiful yellow pedigree lab. Next week I pick up my next puppy. She is also a beautiful yellow pedigree lab. I know there will be no litters for 2 years and I know there is a lot to learn between now and then. I am keen and excited to learn and do things properly, such as not to breed with these dogs if their health test scores are not good. I have found a few (long time) breeders to be extremely rude to me about me wanting to breed as if I am somehow too stupid to do it properly. I think people forget that at one time they were beginners too. Thanks again for providing the information you do on your website.

  17. My chocolate lab had her puppies 3 wks ago. I wasn’t home when she bred. There is a 7 month old lab next door and the lab I bred her with the last two times had been missing for 2 wks according to the owners. But they live 4 miles away. I keep my dogs fenced in so I can’t image how she could have gotten pregnant or by which dog! How do I find out who the father is? The puppies looks exactly like her!

    • If your dog was not supervised when she was in season the father could be any dog. If you want to spend money on DNA tests and your neighbours are willing to give DNA samples from their dogs, you may be able to establish paternity, if it was one of them.

  18. Who ever wrote this dosent know much and i believe everything thats written is what was learned from books.i have had dogs all my life and haveing a litter absolutely calms them down alot and helps them to listen better and become more pertective as well.i say if you dont have the actual time put in with life exspereance than dont post your bullshit and misslead people..too many of these types out there.

    • I wrote this Wes, and I have been training and breeding Labradors for many years. So I do speak from experience.

      It is pretty rude to describe someone else’s opinions as bullshit and we have rules here about being polite. We are always happy to hear different opinions, but if you want people to read them you’ll need to make sure your future posts are well mannered. 🙂

  19. Hi Pippa
    Am loving the website. I have found a breeder who is supposedly reputable. She shows her dogs and has been breeding for 30 years. The reason I am emailing is that the female she is using is 8 years old and having her 5th litter. She told me the dog has been to the vet and had the all clear. For some reason makes me concerned. The puppies are on the ground but could they have defects? I feel as if 8 is too old but I am not a breeder so don´t know. THoughts?

  20. Hi.I have two yellow labs they are sisters .there name’s are macey and Lacey .macey is the one that I want to breed ‘ but I have some serious questions to ask. The? Is Lacey is our special one she is a surviver .she was born with only one eye there is no eyeball in the other socket at all’she has arthritis severely in her left ankle socket and she has seizure’s as well .I love her to pieces she is very smart and very dedicated to us what is Macy’s outcome for her puppies sorry so long macey is currently in heat and we do have a stud on stand buy I’m just not sure. Can you help me? Thanks in advance

    • Hi Wilma, you really need to talk to your vet about this. Some forms of congenital eye defects are inherited, as are some forms of arthritis. Even though she is not affected, it is possible that Macey is a carrier and will pass these problems on to her puppies. Have you had Macey’s hip’s done yet or her PRA eye tests,you really should not breed unless you have done these. Talk to the vet when he does the eye check. He will be an eye specialist and will be able to advise you.

  21. I have 2 labs. Both are very healthy and have great gentics. We use them for shed hunting, and pheasent reterviers. They both were naturale bird dogs. With out any training the started to point and retrieve birds and find and retrieve sheds. We love them so much we get asked a lot if we will be able to breed because a lot of people seem interested in their offspring. Well my question is they are both deluted labs. One is a deltued yellow lab so he is very white with green hazel eyes. Our female is a deltued chocolate lab so she has a gorgeous silver coat and blue eyes. I’m very curious on how the pups will turn out…. Will the be deluted labs will they be silver or white…

  22. Hey my Duke is approaching 11 months old and before I got him I researched and thought long and hard as to whether I should fix him or not. He has a great background of ancestors and is very well built. How old should he be in Order to be a sire? I don’t want to breed him to early, but also keep in mind I do want to get him fixed after he becomes a daddy.

  23. I have a 9 mo old lab, we did not thinks she was old enough to breed yet and has now mated with her father. We had never planned on breeding her at all. Will the puppies be defected? And will she be able to have the puppies safely?

  24. Hello,

    I have a 6 yr old female lab. I want to breed her primarily so that i dont miss her once she is gone & here gene pool continues with the family. She is currently ovulating & is in her 2nd day, by which day is it allright to introduce her to some male dogs for mating. Im confused on this bit.

  25. We are looking to buy a puppy in August 2015 and want to find and make a relationship with a reliable breeder(s) before then. Do breeders plan this far in advance?

  26. I am a little surprised nothing about cancer was mentioned in this article. My vet said there’s an increase in chance of cancer if they aren’t fixed (the female)

  27. Hi there I would love my puppy to have baby’s when she is older, I wouldn’t want to take the opportunity of being a mother away from her. Do you think this is a good idea?

  28. Hi I just want to know , they say that you must not let your labrador have puppies the first time she goes into heat because it can interfere with het growing . Is that true

    Thanks

    • There is nothing you can do to increase your one year old Labrador’s height beyond his genetic potential. Just feed him and care for him properly so that he reaches his full potential for growth. Pippa

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