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Labs
are recognized as the number one family dog.
Why? 1.
They are specifically bred to have an even temperament.
2. They are bred to have a high pain tolerance.
3. Their desire to retrieve and drive to please
makes them easy to train for so many useful
things.
4. Though they are classified as hunting dogs -
they are not hunters, but rather retrievers. Dogs
that are specifically bred to hunt are much more likely to bite
children and become aggressive.
This is why some of the smaller breeds are less
than ideal for families with small children.
Some of the smaller breeds are bred to hunt - that
is to take down prey and kill it. Terriers
are an example of this, therefore it comes as no
surprise when a terrier attacks a child. Labs
are specifically bred to have their laid back
temperament. They are eager to please.
They are highly tolerant, which means that when
the young child is pulling on the dogs ears, it is
much less likely to snap. They make
excellent family guard type dogs as their size
alone is often enough to make strangers
wary. Yet the likely hood of them attacking
unprovoked is slim to none, though many do show
fierce loyalty when members of their own family
are threatened. What
does all this mean? It means that the Lab is
as close as possible to being the ideal dog.
What this means is that Labs are worth a
lot. And so begins the problem. In
recent years the price of a good Lab has risen
along with everything else, But what opportunists
see as "a quick way to make a buck" is
spoiling the breed. When
you start looking for a Lab to purchase you will
quickly see that the price from a reputable
breeder is between $600 - $1500 for a puppy.
What you will also see if you look in your local
paper is a lot of ads advertising "purebred
labs" for less than half of what the
reputable breeder charges. I am all for
buying cheaper when I can, BUT in the case of
Labrador Retrievers, you get what you pay
for. What is happening with the breed is
that indiscriminant people are buying two
dogs that are sold as purebreds - the parents may
or may not be papered. Then they are
breeding these two dogs for the sole purpose of
making money with them and selling them as
purebred Labs. (Which is
actually illegal, as the law declares that any dog
sold as a purebred must be sold with registration
papers to verify that fact.)
Because their ultimate goal is to make money they
are taking shortcuts to cut costs.
The first place the consumer sees this is in
registration. The pups are offered for
a cheaper price because they are unregistered.
The
second place this shows up visibly to the
purchaser is identification. Pups can be
offered at a cheaper price because they are not
tattooed or microchipped. The
third place this shows up, and the most
heartbreaking is in physical defects.
Because Labs are large breed dogs, they have a
tendency toward hip displaysia. Hip
Displaysia is a conformational defect in any large
breed dog. It comes from breeding dogs that
are not conformationally sound. To avoid
this, a reputable breeder will have the breeding
pair X-rayed at 2 years of age or older and will
only breed those with a good or excellent hip
rating. This is an expensive one time
procedure which obviously must be reflected in the
price of the pups. The more non-x-rayed dogs
that are getting bred, the more likely that this
problem will turn up in that cheap puppy you are
thinking of buying. This
is just one health problem that shows up, the
heartbreaking thing is that it usually only shows
up when the dog is about 2. At which time
the dog will often become so dehibilitated that it
must be put down. Anybody who has trained a
Lab Puppy through it's first two years (which are
lots of fun but can be VERY trying) and is then
expecting to have an excellent companion and
family pet for the next 10-12 years but then has
to go through the heartbreak of putting their
puppy down, realizes that the extra money they
would have spent for a quality pup would have been
well worth the investment. And
usually at this point, the person who sold them
the pup is long out of the Lab business so they
have no recourse but are rather just out the price
of the pup - and the time and energy spent on the
pup leaving them with a bitter taste for Labs when
in actual fact it is the breeder who is at fault. So
if you are seriously considering buying a Lab
Puppy, first realize that they do take a lot of
time and effort the first two years. Second
only buy from someone who is going to guarantee
the pup. -
Registration may not be important to you in that
you have no intention of doing anything with the
dog other than having it as a companion, but
registration papers are part of your ticket to
seeing that the dog you purchase is a true Lab,
and they are an indication that the breeder is
responsible. -
Tattooing may not be important to you - but Labs
are the #1 stolen breed also. Due to their
eager, friendly nature they are easy to entice
into vehicles by strangers. Your tattoo on
your pup is your proof of ownership as well as a
way to find your dog if it is ever lost. -
You may be willing to take the chance on buying a
cheap dog that it might not have health problems,
but if you've had a Lab pup before, you know how
much goes into it's training. Also, the more
disreputable breeders there are - the higher the
odds that you are buying a ticking health
bomb. Just check your paper and see how many
non-registered pups there are for sale. The
horror stories I've heard about Lab pups that have
had to be put down have drastically increased in
the last few years.
Whether you choose to buy a Red Dog pup or from
some one else, I urge you to look at more than
just the dollar figure when you choose. Have
you had a bad experience buying a lab puppy?
If so please email us and tell us about it.
We are interested in knowing exactly how bad the
problem is in Southern Manitoba. quickdraw@mts.net WHAT
YOU GET WHEN YOU PURCHASE
A RED DOG LAB PUPPY AVAILABLE
PUPPIES |
