Labrador Retrievers are one of the most popular breeds in the world, Its no guessing why! They’re intelligent, gentle, kind, a reliable family pet and brilliant at doing what they’re best at, which is a super gun dog. Labradors are available in yellow, black and chocolate. You have the show type which is bigger, stockier and has more of a square head. Were as the working Labrador is slimmer, faster but slightly smaller.

 

All have their own personalities and traits. Some people say that because a puppy has been bred from working lines means they are going to be highly strung and harder to train around the house etc. It’s not true! They make brilliant family pets. We at Stagshead gun dogs have working labs which live inside and outside and are the best family dogs we could have asked for. Our aim is to produce and carry on the lines of our dog’s pedigree. We do our best to have all our dog’ s health tested, this is so that we don’t carry on any mutated genes.

 

Our breeding bitches and dogs have undergone being hip and eyes tested as a standard. Some have undergone more tests. If you look on the stud dogs or breeding bitches page it will tell you exactly what other health tests have been carried out. I am working towards having all our dogs health tested, but takes time.  Although parents have low hip/elbow score it’s down to the owner to carry out the rest of the maintenance to provide the puppy/dog with the best start of life. The reason why a dog/puppy may end up with hip/elbow dysplasia are either the dog has been over exercised when a pup, the parents have a high hip/elbow score. When the dog was a puppy it was allowed to climb or jump. That’s why we advise you to limit the puppies amount of exercise it has, not allow it to jump and to carry upstairs or into the car

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Here is a little info about the health factors which relate to the Labrador retrievers.

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HIP DYSPLASIA
Hip dysplasia in Labradors is a genetic disease that can cause crippling   lameness and severe pain. Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. A joint is the area where two bones meet. For Labradors that are genetically prone to hip dysplasia, symptoms can occur in puppies that are just a few months old or they can strike later in a dog’s life.

 

ELBOW DYSPLASIA
Elbow dysplasia. Elbow dysplasia is a condition involving multiple developmental abnormalities of the elbow-joint in the dog, specifically the growth of cartilage or the structures surrounding it.

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EYE /PRA SCREENING- (EYE SCHEME & PROGRESSIVE RETINAL ATROPHY)
Pra affects the eyes, causing reduced vision, blind spots, blindness. In extreme cases a dog might experience retinal separation, cataracts or enlarged eyes. Dogs/ bitches should be tested for these conditions. If a dog is affected then they shouldn’t be bred with.

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EIC- (EXERCISE INDUCED COLLAPSE)
Is a genetic disorder causing affected dogs to suffer from loss of muscle control following periods of extreme exercise. Typically, an affected dog begins to show symptoms between the age of 5mths – 3 yrs of age

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CNM
Centronuclear myopathy (CNM) in Labrador Retrievers is an hereditary myopathy characterised by skeletal muscle problems such as muscle weakness and exercise intolerance

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SD2
Skeletal dysplasia 2 is a genetic disease in Labrador Retrievers that causes an early halt in growth of long bones. In contrast to other forms of dwarfism (pituitary dwarfism), the result is 'disproportioned' dogs with shortened front limbs and raising dorsal line.

 

MCD
Macular corneal dystrophy (MCD) is a hereditary disease that can affect middle-aged Labrador Retrievers. Affected dogs will develop cloudy eyes, due to an abnormal accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (carbohydrates) in their corneas (the equivalent to the windscreen of the eye). The disease is progressive, and although not painful, can cause marked visual impairment in affected dogs. The only treatment for the disease in people is surgical (corneal transplant), however this has not yet been performed successfully in the dog for the treatment of canine MCD.