Decisions, decisions

[Tink]

We're about a week from the due date for laradoodle pups. Right now the last thing on my mind was breeding again. So anyway, we got a knock at the door and there stands a man we've never met with one of the most gorgeous yellow labs I've ever seen. He introduced himself as the friend of our friend/neighbor and told us he'd been over here one day with our friend and saw Montana, and was wondering if I might possibly be willing to let him breed his dog to her on her next season.

He claims to have buyers already for several pups among people who know his dog and want one of his. He's been searching for a female and said he has some pretty strict thoughts on what he wants, so it's taken a while to choose one.

He said Montana fills the bill. He's bringing his pedigree by next weekend so we can compare and discuss details. His initial offer is that if I let him use her, he will take one of the more average looking pups for himself to let his male help him raise/train and he will bring me buyers for the rest of the litter. Other than the pup he takes, I supposedly get to keep the puppy fees. His motivation is the fact that his male is nearing 8 yrs old, (Labs have a life expectancy of only 9 yrs) so he wants another one like what he's got for when he has to put his guy down.

Our friend had told us about this guys interest in Montana, so we know that part is legit. His dog is a very nice calm fellow who listens extremely well and was very friendly to everyone here. He's willing to draw up a legal contract with us about whick pup he gets, his part in providing buyers, etc. It sounds almost too good to be true. Ya know?

So what are we missing? Is there a downside to this that isn't obvious to us yet?
What would you do?

[Janet]

First off Tink, since she's pregnant now, I wouldn't breed the next heat. Give her time to heal and get her body back into shape and breed after her next heat.

Also, you can google or search anywhere to see sample breeding contracts. I know when I was looking for a sample, I remember one with labs, but it's been awhile so don't remember where. Yyou want to have him provide Veterinary certificate of current clear Brucellosis test (done within 6 months of breeding) so your dogs don't get any STD's. You don't want to sign the contract right away. Be sure to ready it thoroughly and don't be afraid to say 'this' or 'that' needs to be added.

I'll PM you a copy of my contract just FYI.

[DianaB]

It sounds like God is blessing you! I know that when a hunter has a dog that works well and trains well he likes to stick with that line to continue with.

We had a female lab that my husband just loved and she loved to be with him and retrieve for him when he hunted but we had her fixed when we first got her because we didn't want to mess with breeding. When she got too old to hunt my husband was sorry that we didn't have any off spring to train. She was a wonderful dog and we really miss her.

I would go with the man. Obviously his friends are impressed enough with his dog to see potential in his off spring!

[Tink]

Janet, that's what I did when I was raising GSDs; bred every other heat cycle. Now I'm being told that's not the best route because it invites a couple of different types of female cancers. I had one GSD female who got a horrible mammary cancer and had to be put down, so It scares me to think of going through that again. I think it's much like many other theories... it keeps changing and you just hope like heck you follow the right study.

My vet is telling me it really depends on the condition of the individual female. If she's back to good weight, her blood looks good, etc he says breeding as many as 4 times in a row and then retiring them is a good way to go. Because these labs aren't 2 yr olds, I only plan to try once more with Montana, and maybe twice more with Canada since she's younger. After that they'll be spayed so the hormones won't be a threat.

Greg has really fallen in love with the pair of them, so he agrees with me that we need to keep them even after we spay.

Diana, I can certainly understand the guys motivation too. His dog has a reputation locally and has Kellogg pointer lab bloodlines, so if what he's telling us is true, it makes sense. I'm not real knowledgeable about lab lines, but Montanas ancestry is supposed to be very good as well... something about a college professor in the Dakotas having bred her and he's some hot shot in the hunting Lab circles. Anyway, that's the lines this guy is looking at.