About Labradors

About the Labrador and genetic testings found in Labradors

Labrador Retrievers are generally a very hardy durable breed with minimal coat care required and excels as a family pet. Labradors are fun loving, intelligent and athletic and need a reasonable amount of exercise to ensure you don’t have a destructive pet. However they do have some known hereditary diseases – hip and elbow dyspepsia and progressive retinal atrophy which affect the dog’s eyes.

When you are looking to buy a Labrador, you need to ensure that the parents of the puppies have been screened for these diseases as explained below and the Breeder has some form of health contract. In fact it would be good to see several generations of good scores.

Elbow and Hip Dyspepsia

The ANKC (Australian National Kennel Control Council) has recognized that Labrador Retrievers have a problem with hip and elbow dyspepsia - that is why any puppy that is to be registered must come from parents who have been x-rayed for hip and elbow dyspepsia post 1997. However, the ANKC has not embargoed a cut off score, so you could be purchasing a puppy that has parents with elbows and hips that should not be bred from. As per the ethics I will not breed from dogs whose elbows are more than 1:1 and hips equal to or higher than the current breed average (12.13). The only exception is that we may occasionally breed from slightly higher hips as long as the total combined score of both parents is less than 20. The lower the elbow score (0 - 3, with 0 best) and hips the lower the better. Labradors who have elbow scores of 2:2 or above should NEVER be bred from and you as a puppy purchaser are highly advised not to purchase one from a bitch/dog with scores above this.

PRA and other hereditary eye diseases

A genetic test is now available for Labradors to test for progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), which can be eliminated in Labradors by using PRA clear (normal) breeding stock. All our current dogs are PRA clear (normal) or clear by parentage i.e. both parents are certified PRA clear. Please note: dogs who are carriers can still be used in a breeding program as long as they are mated to a dog that is clear and subsequent progeny screened to ensure only clear dogs are bred from. Dogs that are affected must not be bred from.