This is becoming the "trickiest" part of the whole process. Where do you find a suitable stud dog?
Well, there are loads of websites out there and it's just a case of trawling through them to find what's available. Sorry, but there doesn't seem to be any quick answer to this one.
It helps when searching, if you can narrow down the breed type, even to the colour. For example, I was able to search for all male labradors in Derbyshire which were either black, chocolate or yellow. Once I'd done this, I then looked at the ages of the dogs and how much experience they'd had at being a stud dog. The prices reflected their experience. For example I could have had an inexperienced male only 18 months old where the stud fee was only £100. At the other end of the scale, I could see an extremely experienced dog, with very good pedigree and field trial championships under his belt for £575. To say it is a minefield is an understatement!
It is then necessary to look at the health checks that they have had. You can weigh up the commitment of the breeder, by the tests that they have had done. My view is, the more health tests the animal has had, the more reputable the breeder. The tests that most of the "serious" stud dogs had were hip and elbow scores, eye tests and quite often a DNA test. Without these tests, how does the breeder know that they aren't bring more animals into the world with a hereditary condition such as hip dysplasia? The less reputable breeders perhaps didn't want to know the results of the health tests, because if they were poor, then that would seriously undermine the quality of the dog and impact their chances of making any money from their dog. I chose to ignore all dogs that had not had at least elbows, hips and eyes tested.
In the end, we visited a couple of kennels, one of which was very small and not commerial, the other being a highly regarded commercial kennel and breeder. It was interesting to compare the two kennels, and I would actually recommend this, as you can weigh up the pros and cons of both. Each breeder was very knowledgeable about the dogs and also about training. They both scrutinised Tilly and her pedigree, and I am pleased to say, she was accepted by both breeders.
After the first visit to the smaller kennels, we applied for Tillys Pedigree certificate via the Kennel Club. This can be done online, for the sum of £8, and you have the choice of either a 3 generation or a 5 generation pedigree. We got the five generation pedigree, and it was fascinating to read this, as it showed all the field trial champions in Tilly's family tree.
The pedigree certificate was further investigated by the second kennels (the more commercial one) and the breeder appeared to know a lot of the dogs and also named some of the owners. It's a very small world!
After a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of each kennel we have made a decisision to go with the more commercial breeder. Now it's just a case of waiting for Tilly to come into season!
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