14 years of showing and breeding with no more than one litter per year. I have had puppies with, puppy strangles. swimmers, a TVD pup who lived until he was 4, 4 with bad hocks, one with terrible hips that had to be put down at less than 2 years old, 3 with seizures, 5 with terrible allergies. That is quite enough. My girls are from top lines which you would all recognize with all sires being in the top 5-10 Labradors in the particular year that the litter was sired.

I hope you have sent blood to the researchers. If not, it is never too late. Since you have only been at it for 14 years, you must have dogs that could help epilepsy research. Check the link below for more information.

Breeding isn't for everyone and to admit you aren't cut out for it takes courage.
As for breeding to "top" dogs, that would be my first clue as to what your problem may have been. "Top" dogs aren't always the best choices. People that breed flavor of the month are asking for trouble IMO.

Top lines mean nothing if there is not soundness in those lines. The phrase, "you live and learn" comes to mind here.

Being in the breed over 30 years myself, I was once told that if you are in this long enough, you will see everything at least once. In my time as a breeder who breeds only about once or twice a year, I've produced or owned dogs that had hip/elbow dysplasia, TVD, entropion and epilepsy. I was fortunate enough not to have PRA, RD, dwarfism, EIC or other afflictions. My epileptic dogs were years ago from lines known at the time and none of these dogs are alive today for testing.

I talked about it. I learned about it. Some breeders are more willing to talk about than others, but again, you live and learn.

Breeding is not called the heart break hobby for nothing. Losing puppies during whelping or shortly there after is hard. Losing a bitch during a c-section is unthinkable. It happens and no matter how much we lose and how much we cry, those who have a passion for breeding and the love of bringing new life into the world, taking the risk of disease or illness, we do it because it's who we are! Those who are going through losses seek and find comfort in those who have been there and done that. It's the love of dogs that drives us all.

I'm sorry you gave up. Breeding is not for the faint of heart.

I agree with the others, top dog means nothing most of the time except who has the funds to campain the dog to reach that status, best thing is to know the pedigree and what is behind it. Furthermore you are dealing with living animals and eventually you will most likely (unless you have a angel on your shoulder) end up with almost every problem dogs get and then when you think you've seen it all something new comes along,being a breeder is not for those that expect instant success or that everything will go well, we all keep at it because it is what we love to do and keep striving to produce better each time so if your hearts not in it then yes it is best to give it up

First of all, I am sorry you had to endure this and more sorry for the puppies and their families. A lot of breeding goes on where the person breeding has no clue. I look at pedigrees of dogs and I cringe. I see issues being doubled on and even tripled at times. Why on earth would breeders do this? I seriously never want to think the combination was done on purpose. No way would a truly conscientious breeder do such a thing, right? I mean, who wants that call from the puppy family!? The fact remains today that we have breeders that simply do not know what they are breeding into. They breed to the flavor. Back in the day, we, breeders didn't have what is afforded us today. We had to study and learn pedigrees.

OK...I agree no one would double and triple up on known problems. Just show me the listing on line where you can go and find the names of these dogs with problems. NO ONE TELLS!!! After 15 years here with mine and a few of those problems listed above showing up I know where not to repeat breed. From my own breedings and what went wrong as well as what went right I can tell about those combinations but there is no way someone who has been in this 3 or 4 years is going to be privy to that sort of information. I get very tired of being told to do yo0ur homework or research on line. If you happen to hear (maybe at a show) of a puppy with TVD say and you knew who was talking and you knew who the puppy was out of and by you could secrectly make a note of those names and look later on line. Come on... I have had one, only one kind breeder who is also a judge tell about long dead famous sire and not to double up on him b/c of a risk of hock problems. Of course this was after I learned of it the hard way. And I was talking about my puppies with bad hocks. You are not often trusted with bad information and when you are it is expected that you will keep your mouth shut. They is no way to learn before it happens. If so why don't we all *right now* list on here the combinations that have resulted in puppies where we had trouble? Come on, who goes first? Share so we can all have a place to "research."

Here is another idea: If all the experienced stud owners with 30+ years behind them would ask to see the pedigreee of each girl who asks for service perhaps you you refuse a service and tell the bitch owner why. How many times does that happen? I am sure plenty would say they have refused for that reson but it never happened to me with any stud owner. Or maybe bitch owners should only go to stud owners who have enough years in Labs to maybe know of problems. Certainly a stud owner who has instant success should not be used unless they also have a mentor who has told them all they know.

Just because some people are long time experienced breeders and stud dog owners doesn't mean they are honest or ethical. Some may have more knowledge about pedigrees and problems but it doesn't mean they are willing to share. Experienced breeders are valuable but honest breeders are priceless.

Just because a stud dog owner knows a dog has produced problems does not mean the stud dog owner will volunteer that information. So you are responsible for asking the questions. When asked, most stud dog owners will answer honestly. Just be on the lookout for evasive answers. And if the answer should be yes or no and that is not what they say, be wary of that.

I really just thought these that are doubleing up and tripleling knew what they were doing and did not care. Just wanted a beautiful show dog. That is the easy part. The hard part is a healthy show dog. Have been in this for over 30 years and ask all the questions I can and listen all I can and still have mentors. Those who think they know it all are the ones getting us all in trouble. Lots of those these days. The top dog does mean nothing. The rare healthy dog mean everything.

I agree that going to the top dogs is what is getting you in trouble. Most genetic deceases are spread out in those top breeders' lines. Not every top breeder is the same, so check on the OFA website and see who does what clearances, the more the better. The breeders that say that they don't agree doing that many clearances are the ones you should run away from. I do not agree this is true with the EIC test which is not a definitive black or white test. Unfortunately you won't know who is spreading what unless you have a problem or know somebody that does.
Joint problems are a different story, they are everywhere and you can see good joint producers and bad joint producers from the same breeders or even lines. It is not that easy to breed away from them once you have it. Doing prelims at 1 year of age saves a lot of time and money. It won't save you from the heart ache.

Live and learn.

I don' want to think that breeders are deliberately doubling,etc.,on known issues for that almighty next win but I know it happens : ( And doubling on not necessarily meaning same dog just same issue. One time I was sent a pedigree of a puppy someone purchased from a well known breeder. Her pup had severe TVD. She wanted me to look at the pedigree and see if I could tell where it might be. Where it might be??? The pedigree up close had THREE known TVD producers top and bottom! Hellooooooo This pedigree combo screamed TVD for a pup or pups. This in my book is not ethical. In a breeding program, a true one, there's linebreeding always and sometimes tight. You learn what you have and what you don't have.