MM Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Ive just been on the phone to apl who is going to see a chocolate lab pup tommorow in Chester. He mentioned that the parents were a black dog, and a chocolate bitch Does this still make the pup a full on choco? Also, i know how some of you feel about the KK, and the owners are KK this and KK that.... again, i wasnt so sure..... But the clincher for me was the price. £600. i might be a bit of the mark here, but is this a bit steep for a lab pup? Really need help with this, as i dont want him buying a turkey. (i know its not a bird, its a dog) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecooper1 Posted August 14, 2009 Report Share Posted August 14, 2009 Thats a lot of money, check out the parents and go back on there generations, if all the paper work is ok, they should provide all information you require. Cheers Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 My best mate is a veterinary surgeon and a Lab fan, but he's always quick to alert potential purchasers to the proven, high incidence of cataracts in chocolate Labs. Of course it is impossible to determine a predisposition to cataracts when staring a pup in the face, but it would be a lingering doubt for me. That is a lot of money for a dog pup, and above average for a bitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted August 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lone wolf Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 i have just had a litter with my black lab bitch and chocolate dog.she had 8 black pups and 2 chocolate bitches.kc reg good pedigree and i sold the chocolate bitches for £325,but the amount of phone calls i got for chocolate was unbelievable,i could have sold a hundred.chocolate definately harder to train,as im found out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave C Posted August 15, 2009 Report Share Posted August 15, 2009 Make sure they are off working stock MM you dont want any show lines. Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Had a caracking litter of 11 all choc pups last year from genuine working chocolate parents. The dog is mine, the bitch my father in laws. We sold the pups at 300 each KC registered and they flew out the door. Didn't really advertise them that widely either. People charging that amount are just after money as for some reason people are chocloate obsessed and the breeders know it. Tell your mate to keep looking. A genuine working breeder will be more keen to get the pups sold quickly to good homes than hanging on to them for ever just to make a buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Have to disagree with some of these posts, I think £600 for a decent dog is money well spent, you should have him for 12 years (and a well bred dog will cost less in pet bills) and you want the best you can get. A good breeder will be able to show you its lineage and you will know if it is working stock or not by the owners - they are normally gundog mad and will take part in trials etc. As to genetic diseases, committed/ ethical breeders will only breed labs from dogs with good hip scores and they will have had eye tests so that they dont carry these disorders. However you still get blaggers out there and I'd suggest your mate speaks to them on the phone, if all they are interested in is money forget about it, if their main concerns is the welfare of the dogs it might be worth considering. Hope your firend finds the dog he is looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 " A good breeder will be able to show you its lineage and you will know if it is working stock or not by the owners - you will know if it is working stock or not by the owners - they are normally gundog mad and will take part in trials etc." Don't wish to come accross as argumentative or anything but me and the father in law who bred the labs I mentioned above love our dogs and are passionate shooters / outdoorsmen and gundog owners. Despite this, neither of us have ever felt any burning desire to trial our dogs and "prove" their worth. They prove their worth to us by actually going shooting, hunting sugar beet fields, flushing, and swimming into rivers and retreiving. Not by crowd pleasing and earning medals. Your friend will know if he stumbles upon the right dog for him. He will instinctively be able to tell which dog is for him. I think they key word is breeder. I fully accept that there are some excellent breeders who are pasionate about their dogs and do whatever they can to improve the breed / lineage. But there are also breeders who are exactly that - puppy farmers gathering an easily created valuable harvest. If he wants a good worker, I would personally look around for a shooter that has had a litter from sound and genuine working parents irrespective of FTCH status, free "puppy packs" and looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted August 16, 2009 Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 Sorry Bingo, just re-read your post and mine and realised it might seem a bit twattish!! As you have quite rightly said, there are blaggers out there who know nothing about dogs but just want to earn money. What I was trying to get accross is that many genuine dog owners have good sound litters that don't need hugely successful lineage and 100% clear eye scores to throw good working pups. And also that people don't necessarily need to pay such stupid sums of money to "proven breeders" to end up with a good, sound working dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted August 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2009 good info. i appreciate the input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Shootingmike - no offence taken you are right that some good breeders dont take part in trials etc and breed dogs that are good for the field and make great pets, and you know who these people are when you meet them because they are passionate about both dogs and shooting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingmike Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 Exactly Bingo It just took some explaining last night as I'd been on the wine!!!! Seriously though, I think some breeders try blinding people with science by banging on aboiut linegae, FTCH's, puppy packs, free insurance etc. What I think I was getting at is that if you have a decent working dog (which I have) and put it over a good working bitch (owned by a relative), common sense dictates that the resulting pups should be sound enough for the average shooter that wants an honest working dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren_mc Posted August 18, 2009 Report Share Posted August 18, 2009 the price is a bit high,i got a black lab bitch out of ftch leadburn viceroy 3 months ago for £450. the dogs were £400 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonboy99 Posted August 23, 2009 Report Share Posted August 23, 2009 Hi guys. Here are my thoughts on this. If you want a capable shooting companion, then i reckon you can certainly get a suitable pup for less than £600 . Some of the trials guys are hell bent on studying pedigrees and buying- in pups sired by the latest "in " FTCH dog . If that's your thing then you will pay a premium, but £600 seems steep nonetheless. Having said that , chocolate labs are very fashionable and very sought after , especially as pets hence the price. Oddly enough though , amongst the shooting fraternity , they are generally regarded as more difficult to train and not nearly as in demand as blacks and yellows , with black dogs being the current flavour of the month. When buying any gundog , my own opinion is that you are safest to buy a KC registred dog , which will at least allow you to see that the pup is bred along field strain lines. If you choose to breed from the pup in the future , having it KC registered is going to be an obvious advantage. That is not to say that there aren't dogs out there without papers who are first class gundogs...of course there are. IMO £400 is plenty to pay for a lab pup , KC registered , with free insurance ,from a reliable member of the shooting/ trialling fraternity. Stay away from puppy farms! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delbert Posted August 25, 2009 Report Share Posted August 25, 2009 (edited) I'd be wanting to see the parents working or playing for signs of stiffness in the hips or better a hip cert. KC registration is really no guarantee of anything apart from fees being paid to an organisation that does SFA for gundog health and breeding it does however show lineage FWIW . Clare who sold us Remington has a litter of Choccies for about 1/2 that money and from working dogs actually Remy's parents tho' he's a black as the ace of spades and is fast learning his trade. Remy at Peover having a cooling dip Edited August 25, 2009 by Delbert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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