thomas_z71
Light Foot
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 46
Loc: Dallas, TX
|
|
Hello,
I have found a chocolate lab puppy w/ no paperwork for next to nothing. I remember as a kid my labs had puppies w/ no papers and some turned into good hunting dogs per the owners we gave them to. My question is, what kind of questions do I ask the owner about the parents/puppies to see if this pup would even have a chance to hunt? I don't have enough $$ to buy a $700 champion bloodline, and even then they aren't guaranteed to be hunters. Thanks so much for any advice you guys have. This is a great site!
Thomas
|
gscheig
Woodsman
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 153
Loc: Dallas TX
|
|
It will be a roll of the dice for you. The biggest issue with a lab is the TIME that is required to train them - if you do it yourself or hire a pro, it is still expensive.
To "invest" that time on a lower-probability hunting dog may not be a good decision. That being said, I would rather have a "half-way" lab than no lab at all.
Just make sure you set realistic expectations.
|
gr_elliott
Veteran Tracker
Reged: 01/19/06
Posts: 3388
|
|
Buying a puppy is a small investment compared to the money you are going spend when it comes to training, food, vets and toys. Don’t go cheap and get a backyard breeder dog, not all dogs are created equal. At a minimum I would want the OFA certs done, labs have a bad history of hip problems because of these backyard breeders that only want to make a buck vs putting out good dogs.
You don’t have to spend $700 for a good pup, there were some listed on here the other day for around $250-300 I believe that looked good on paper.
|
thomas_z71
Light Foot
Reged: 09/02/08
Posts: 46
Loc: Dallas, TX
|
|
Thanks for the info. I saw some on here today for $250 and fairly local to me. I just don't know what you mean by "looks good on paper." What is an OFA cert? The post of the choco lab in my original post did not seem like a backyard breeder just in it for a buck. Thanks for all your help.
|
westtexaswatkins
Tracker
Reged: 05/31/07
Posts: 752
Loc: Anton, TX
|
|
I will disagree a little or maybe a lot. I haven't paid over a $150 for a lab and have and have had some great hunting dogs and pets. In my opinion, a good hunting dog comes from the time you put into it. It doesn't have to sent off to a professional trainer to have a great hunting dog. I would definately ask about the hips, and play with the pups before purchase. Find one that wants to play with you. From my experience, "most" labs have the instinct to retrieve, it just takes some fine tuning to get them to hunt. JMO
--------------------
 
|
gscheig
Woodsman
Reged: 01/24/07
Posts: 153
Loc: Dallas TX
|
|
OFA is for the hips and you also want to get their eyes tested. I have a friend that put years and thousands of $ into a lab only to have it go blind at age 5.
I agree with gr_elliot, the real "cost" is the time you put into it and you want to minimize the chance it will all be for nothing (although there are no sure things, anywhere, which I learned when I lost a 2 year old lab with all tests, etc. to lymphoma last year)
|
MrsBirddog
Bird Dog
Reged: 05/20/08
Posts: 276
Loc: Anton TX
|
|
The prob you have with all the hip and eye tests is that it is no guarantee! I have seen dogs that people have paid a lot of money for go down in hips and eyes! Like westtexas said we have never paid more than $150 for one of our labs and he has trained all of them himself and we have some AMAZING dogs. You would probably call us one of those BACKYARD breeders because I don't do field trials and dog shows but we have great dogs and have had some really great puppies. Just because you don't pay out the wazoo for a dog never means that you won't have a good hunting dog. Labs were bred to hunt and if you work with them and give them that chance they will! We haven't bred the hunting out of a lab we have trained it out of them. I would say go for it if you are willing to put some major time in to training! It is the first 15 weeks that will set the foundation for what kind of dog you will have for the next 10+ years! Good luck!
|
FETCH_UP
Tracker
Reged: 09/12/07
Posts: 616
Loc: Angleton, TX
|
|
MrsBirddog, you got a point that its no guarantee that they wont have problems but the deal is with most high end dogs the breeder offers a health guarantee for 26 months, and if the dog has eye/hip dysplasia during that time you get your money back, still sucks that you have to start over but at least it wasnt a complete loss...jmo and no disrespect intended.
--------------------
HRCH ACE MH
|
lakewaydr50
Woodsman
Reged: 07/20/07
Posts: 130
Loc: north east Texas
|
|
The lab I have that I am training now I actually got from breeder that had sold an entire litter and this one was the last puppy. She was actually given to me for free but I paid a friend of mine $50 because he went and picked her up a brought her to me. She wasn't the runt, but I'm guessing that maybe she just didn't seem like she was very motivated to be a retreiver. I think she is going to turn out to be one of the best if not the best dog of the litter. I didn't get papers for her but I was told that if I wanted them it could be done. Like someone said before, it's all the luck of the draw.
When we got her she didn't seem at all interested in retreiving and really she was just suposed to be a family pet, nothing else. My kids wanted me to teach her to fetch and at first she didn't seem interested in that at all. After a couple of weeks of being at our home we let her out to go do her business one evening and she came back carrying a kildee two days later she did it again. That seemed to have lit a fire in her that is raging like an enferno. We take her to the lake for a work out (she's working in decoys now) in the evenings and when we get back home she still wants to retreive and we usually play in the living room until bed time. Good luck on your search.
One other thing.............when you go to select a pup you might try taking a tennis or racket ball with you and throwing it in among the litter to see which one brings it back or goes and gets it. That is usually a good sign.
Edited by lakewaydr50 (09/06/08 01:23 PM)
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
Edit
Reply
Quote
