*Before you Buy*

. I want to remind everyone there is NO perfect dog ( don’t tell Semper ) or breeder. Mistakes can be made and what you have done in your breeding program in the past should not define who you are now. We become more knowledgeable and educated as the years go by. You can never stop learning. I was told a long time ago. If you breed long enough you will eventually see it happen to you or one of your best breeder friends. That is such a true statement. Because boy have I seen the good and the very very bad.

Many reputable breeders run boarding kennels, have day jobs, work at home. Some have a husband that can financially support his family including his wifes expensive hobby. We come from all walks of life. But be cautious when the ONLY thing a person does for income is dogs…decisions can, unfortunately, be made for financial reasons, not for the betterment of the breed. Excuses will be made as to “why we don’t do _________ health clearance “(thus, bashing the scientists who developed the clearance). Could it be they don’t want to invest/don’t have the money to do them? Just some things to consider

For those of you who don’t know me I am the proud owner of Red Diamond Labs, I would like to give you a quick glance into my thought process concerning my breeding practices.   I started out about 16 years ago with the love of the breed in my hearts and just a little bit of knowledge about breeding.   Having very sound ethics and strong moral fiber, every time I learned of a disease or condition that is genetically inherent in Labs like EIC, CNM, or PRA, HPNK, ect.. I could not do anything but thoroughly research the disease and invest into the testing for all of my breeding stock to ensure any Lab that leaves   Red Diamond Labs would be free from any symptoms of any of these diseases. I do Eye Cerfs through a Board Certified Opthalmologist. This is to be done annually sometimes I am guilty for not have all of them done yearly but they do get done before I breed and again a few years later. I also test for Dysplasia and all of our adult dogs are cleared through OFA, although offspring from parents that are clear of Hip Dysplasia sometimes develop varying degrees of dysplasia. Red Diamond Labs still guarantees these puppies and you can find information about our guarantees on our web page. Sometimes we will breed on Prelims. Every breeder has their own beliefs .

This is why I believe the way we do. Those % are high enough to convince me.

Preliminary Evaluations for Animals Under 24 Months

Frequently, breeders want early knowledge of the hip status on puppies in a given litter. Preliminary hip evaluations may be as valuable to the owner or breeder as the final OFA evaluation. This allows early selection of dogs for use as show/performance/breeding prospects and dogs best suited for pet homes.

The OFA accepts preliminary consultation radiographs on puppies as young as 4 months of age for evaluation of hip conformation. If the dog is found to be dysplastic at an early age, the economic loss from the cost of training, handling, showing and so forth can be minimized and the emotional loss reduced. These preliminary radiographs are read by the OFA staff veterinary radiologist and are not sent to the outside consulting radiologists. The regular OFA hip grading scheme (excellent, good, fair, etc) is used to report preliminary cases.

A previous OFA veterinary journal publication* compared the reliability of the preliminary evaluation hip grade phenotype with the 2 year old evaluation in dogs and there was 100% reliability for a preliminary grade of excellent being normal at 2 years of age (excellent, good, or fair). There was 97.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of good being normal at 2 years of age, and 76.9% reliability for a preliminary grade of fair being normal at 2 years of age. Reliability of preliminary evaluations increased as age at the time of preliminary evaluation increased, regardless of whether dogs received a preliminary evaluation of normal hip conformation or HD. For normal hip conformations, the reliability was 89.6% at 3-6 months, 93.8% at 7-12 months, and 95.2% at 13-18 months. These results suggest that preliminary evaluations of hip joint status in dogs are generally reliable. However, dogs that receive a preliminary evaluation of fair or mild hip joint conformation should be reevaluated at an older age (24 months).

Buyer Beware- There are some people (Breeders) out there that do not share our sense of responsibility to either the breed or for that matter any prospective puppy owner.   There are numerous responsible breeders who treat their breeding programs with the same moral and ethical fiber as we do at Red Diamond Labs, but there are more breeders that are only concerned about the potential income and have no concerns about the breed or your potential losses with veterinarian bills. These breeders knowingly breed carrier to carrier dogs and adopt out affected puppies to unknowing families.   Hips and elbows of the parents need to be certified through the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA), so dont let a breeder tell you that their veterinarian checked them and the hips are O.K.   Protect yourself, ask questions, and require that they produce the certificates that you ask for.   Make sure you ask for certificates for ALL of the lab inherent diseases because these breeders will publish good test results, but hide bad test results.   A reputable breeder may publish that results for a certain test are pending , but watch how long the status remains the same.   Test results only take a few weeks to a month to receive once they have been submitted.

In Summary….

Good Breeders should ALWAYS do the vital genetic health clearances on the parent dogs of your litter of puppies, and examine their family health histories, to ensure they will not be passing down defective genetic conditions or not breed standard.

They should be familiar with what genetic defects run in the Labrador breed. You must ask to see proof of these health clearances. If the breeder has carried out all clearances, as they should, they will be pleased to show you the proof, and will not give excuses about why they cannot show them to you (or why the test is somehow “invalid” therefore they didn’t do it!).

Some Breeders may appear blunt.( I’m guilty of this) That is okay, they are NOT looking to sell or get rid of a puppy. Trust me…breeders KNOW if your serious or your just wasting their time! They are dedicated and will offer you tons of info and help but if you’re just calling to ask “how much are your puppies”, you might get the phone hung up on you. OR a unanswered message. We do have a life, family, jobs and other hobbies. Please keep that in mind.

Their dogs are CLEAN, healthy and well cared for and are well behaved.

Reputable breeders will make sure that BEFORE any dog is bred, they are correct in temperament, conformation, trainability and have passed ALL THE REQUIRED health clearances before breeding. Any adult Labrador must be PRE-SCREENED for Hip and Elbow Dysplasia through the OFA. Eye Cerf from a Board Certified Ophthalmologist NOT just vet checked.

Each should have AT LEAST EIC, CNM, PRA, HNPK ( These are the most common but there are many other that are now available. There is absolutely no excuse to not do the genetic diseases screening of the parents that are available.

Remember, you may keep this dog for fifteen years, twice the length of the

average marriage today so chose carefully and be willing to wait months for the right baby.

Whether you adopt a Red Diamond Lab puppy or not, please be sure you ask questions from a potential breeder about what kind of testing they perform on their breeding stock.   This is for your benefit, not theirs.   If they say they test for certain diseases, ask to see the certificates for yourself and if they cant produce them, find another breeder.