So many times we are seeing Stud dogs used for breeding based on their show record. A very small portion of your stud dog decisions should be made off of the dogs show record. Why? Because 60 percent of dog shows are rigged. Yes, that’s right, I said it. They are rigged and heavy with corruption and favoritism. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a GOOD PORTION of breeder judges are point trading and favoring certain “it” exhibitors. It’s obvious, we see it every weekend at specialties across the country. I digress though. This isn’t about that, it’s about how to pick a stud dog.

I’ve got news for you folks, an exhibitor winning a big show due to favoritism with a certain dog doesn’t make your program better if you use that stud dog on your bitch. When exhibitors win based on favoritism, it’s just that. There are exhibitors that win over and over with average dogs. Those average dogs are then being used an extraordinary amount of times because the “it” gal or guy owns and shows them. This right now in 2023 is resulting in round eye Labradors with almost black eyes. Which is just as incorrect as the dreaded yellow eye. Labradors should have Almond shaped eyes with a burnt sugar color. Another example we are seeing is now just about everywhere you look we have Labradors with incorrect tail sets that connect to high up on the croup. This all follows down from one dog that has been used in 80 percent of US pedigrees. Now someone might say, well, you are fault judging the dog and he’s got many other things that can complement a bitch. here is more news for you, an incorrect correct tail set is something that will follow you down for 5 to 6 generations, if not longer. That’s unacceptable for my program here. I’ll repeat, favoritism winning by a stud dog DOES NOT make your program and the quality of your dogs better. Only better dogs make your program better.

When these types of dogs are used so much it only hurts the breed in the long run because better examples of the breed could be used but are not due to the corruption and favoritism. Stud services within the US have become monopolized by a few. Not so much overseas as they dont know of the favoritism here in the US (well a few do), they base their breedings off of great dogs not great winning dogs with known owners.

I recently had a newer younger lady that was very green ask me why every dog in her litter (now 15 months) had a gay tail. I asked her who the parents were and it was obvious by the father that the tails followed down from him. Now, the father was a well accomplished stud dog with a very well accomplished owner on its lead that won wherever he went. She proceeded to tell me “everyone” is using him and although she had never seen him in person she just assumed based off of his website photo and his owner’s reputation for winning everything that he must be a fantastic stud dog to use on her bitch. She was wrong and paid for it with a bunch of gay tails.

Which leads me to my next point, never ever and I mean never use a stud dog that you haven’t seen in person. A picture on the internet doesn’t cut it. You need to see that dog in person and see how he shows. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a dog on FB or a website and there he is, tail wagging straight off his back, confident as can be in his own backyard with no pressure on him. We have to remember that’s just a millisecond in time and the breeder and the photographer happen to catch that dog at its very best possible moment. I have seen that same dog at a dog show, tail down with no wag, no confidence, basically a dud in the ring.Then everyone wonders why the pups by him have no confidence and have their tails tucked. Be sure to see the stud dog you use in person.

Let’s now go into examining the pedigree of the stud you want to use. I recently had a young gentleman contact me about his litter of 8 pups. 6 of the 8 had bilateral entropion and he didn’t understand why. I took a look at the pedigree and it was clear to me what was going on. The grandfather was the same on both sides of the pedigree and he was known to have and throw entropion so clearly this was a mating that should have been avoided at least in order to breed away from the entropion. Entropion is just an example, it’s not the worst thing in the world but it’s an example of many other things that can manifest in the same way if you are not breeding away from a certain faults or flaws.

Another example of needing to know your pedigree is this, a well known vet/breeder kept a bitch with a parrot mouth years ago now. She bred her and wouldn’t you know that bitch went on to be an amazing producer, in fact so good that one boy she produced in particular is seen in 75 percent of the pedigrees we see today. Newer breeders that use this lineage are totally unaware of the parrot mouth as it was before their time in the game. They use the stud dog and they end up with bad bites and they wonder where it came from. I know, I personally used said stud dog, I learned the hard way. Looking back now I should have contacted long time breeders and got the knowledge I needed to make a reasonable responsible decision for my program. We live and we learn, That said, I think the take away from that situation is when you find a stud dog you might want to use, call a few long-time breeders and ask them what they know. Secrets are NOT kept very well in dogs and surely there is some information a long time breeder can give you that may be valuable to your decision.

Moving on, let’s talk about finding a stud dog that complements your bitch.

Type to type!

When breeding your Labrador you need to be breeding type to type. So many don’t know what that is or that there are even different types within the best lineages in the world. If you don’t know what type you have, my best piece of advice would be to look within the pedigree and breed to dogs with like relatives if you can’t figure out your type or ask for help from someone more experienced.

Find a reliable Stud dog owner!

This is probably the most important thing, because without the semen, you cannot do the breeding. Find Stud dog owners, who are experienced, and whose legacy is more important to them than the finances.

You need stud dog owners who are effective and efficient and reliable. You need to find a stud dog owner who will tell you that this is not the right dog for your bitch if that’s the case. While you might not use that stud at that time you need to keep in the back your head that that stud dog owner is one that you want to go back to because they were open and honest and helped you avoid a potential disaster.

Find a stud dog owner that is willing to talk to you about the pedigrees and share thoughts.

Years ago I used a beautiful fantastic stud dog that produced many champions for us and gave us beautiful sound dogs with great temperament. The stud dog owners were reliable and efficient but getting ANY information out of them was like pulling teeth.

Any question I would ask, would be a one word, yes or no answer. I’ll always remember them not for the stud service they provided (which was great) but for the unwillingness to communicate about the pedigrees and the dogs in general. They came off as BETTER THAN. I never used their dogs again and probably never would.

In closing, choose stud dogs that have owners willing to communicate and help you. Choose stud dogs that produces what you want in your kennel. And NEVER choose a stud dog based on its show record because that is truly a flawed perception of the dog.

Good luck in your search.