When
shopping for a Fox Red Labrador puppy, it is very important
to ensure that the breeder you decide to purchase from
is breeding for more than just depth of color and wonderful
family pets. Over the years with an abundance of line
breedings, the gene pool of fox reds has been kept very
small. Therefore, when a breeder decides to produce
Labradors of this color, they need to be willing to
do extensive research of pedigrees and be willing to
breed to other colors to aid in improving the overall
health and conformation of the fox red color.
When
looking for a breeder that produces fox reds in their
breeding program, it is very important that the following
questions be asked:
Do
you have an overall goal for your breeding program?
This goal should be more than just producing wonderful
pets for families. This is only a small part of the
equation. The overall goal should DEFINITELY NOT be
to produce dark fox red puppies.
Ask
to see copies of clearances. OFA Hips, OFA Elbows, Eye
CERFS, PRA and EIC. Very important that ALL of these
clearances be part of their program. Cataracts, PRA
and EIC is found often in this color. There are MANY
breeders out there breeding without these clearances.
If a breeder is breeding for the right reasons, they
should be utilizing all tools available to them to lessen
to possibility of producing puppies affected with hereditary
issues. I have found in my research that certain lines
of fox reds are prevalent PRA carriers, others are prevalent
EIC carriers, and then other lines are prevalent carriers
of cataracts.
It
is very important that your breeder is doing annual
eye CERFs to be certain that eye issues have not developed
over time. CERF exams are similar to human eye exams.
Cataracts and other hereditary eye issues develop as
dogs age and can not be DNA tested for. The only way
a breeder can attempt to ensure that their breeding
programs is not producing some hereditary eye issues
is to do annual CERFs. As with all other clearances,
there is never a 100% guarantee that you will not produce
genetic issues, but it is very important that your breeder
is taking every precaution available to us today.
Here
at Blackfork Labradors we are striving to improve the
overall standard of the fox red. I do not breed solely
for depth of color. I spend hours researching pedigrees
and calling other breeders to ask questions. I strive
to breed out to stud dogs of all colors that can add
things that are lacking in the overall standard of today's
fox red Labradors in hopes of improving overall confirmation
and health of the fox red. That means there will be
times that my fox reds will be bred to black stud dogs
and yellows of all shades.