I also assume the stud dog owner has a say in such a breeding, and as the owner of an EIC carrier stud, I would never allow him to be bred to anything but a tested clear bitch. I have had breeders ask if I would make an exception, which surprised me, but I am not willing to risk producing affected dogs when it is such an easy thing to breed around.

I too have been disappointed to learn the stud I really liked was an EIC carrier (my bitches have all been carriers), but like another poster suggested, I have been able to find relatives or an equally nice pedigree on a clear dog. I also looked at dogs I otherwise might not have thought of. There are a lot of nice stud dogs out there, and more and more people are testing their boys, so finding a nice EIC clear boy is much easier now than it was a few years ago when few were testing and there were more unknowns than anything else.

I'm with "huh?", I'm definitely not part of a labrador community that you claim to be a part of.

I am more like my beloved breed, the Labrador Retriever. Generally speaking we are loyal, trustworthy, always willing to do what our Master asks of us. We are not snarky, sarcastic, or mean-spirited.

Unfortunately, there are always those wolves in sheep's (i.e. Labrador's) clothing.

That was mean of you to be sarcastic to heartbroken.

I tested my breeding Labs when the test became available and was shocked to discover three of them are affected with EIC. They have never experienced a collapse (to the best of my knowledge), nor have any of my puppy buyers ever mentioned anything -- and I try to keep in contact with them. However, now that I know, I always breed to a clear. No point perpetuating a problem -- even one that is apparently innocuous -- when it's so easy to breed around. That's not to say I haven't had moments of depression when I've discovered a male I want to use is a carrier and I can't take the risk! If my bitch were clear I would, but not when she's affected. Why saddle a poor pup with the potential for collapse if it can so easily be avoided?

One other thing for windycanyon: All of my females get the same clearances as the males.

FWIW, my affected Labs are now 9, 6 and 3 1/2. The youngest is a gorgeous male - my best home bred pup ever. On the plus side, he doesn't know or care:-) He lives a pampered life with me regardless!

I'm not sure what or why you were referencing me here, but I just wanted to add that my girls are tested for everything as well. The 2 pups I referenced as being Affected (or suspected in case 2) were born prior to the release of the test. With the test, we never should produce an EIC (or CNM, or PRA) affected pup again thankfully.

I would not provide a service with my EIC carrier dog to a carrier or affected bitch. I would definitely not breed an affected of my own to any carrier or affected. While there still seems to be a lot to learn about the various triggers and thresholds, if we believe in the test enough to send in our money and get it done, I think we need to listen to the people who are dedicated to helping us avoid problems in our breed. Surely there's a male out there that one could find that is clear that is also a compliment to the female.

If you really do not believe in the validity of the test do not waste your money, the answer is simple. Do not test your bitches.

Sorry; I should have referenced Pauline Mortier, not you. She mentioned that she only has girls now because bitch owners expect the stud dogs to have all the clearances. Mea culpa.

Gotcha, thanks! :)

EXCELLENT post Peggy - thank you! And thank you for taking ownership of your post, just as \\\'heartbroken\\\' did. (It is easy enough to just hover over his email address to see who he is, or to write to him and ask).