Anyone ever crossed a golden retriever with a chocolate lab?

[Bamabexchicks]

WOW rough thread.....

I myself have 3 crossbreed dogs. I met the parents. I am happy mine were not mill pups.
Could mine be called designer dogs????? Possibly.
I have a pit husky aka pitsky, a german wire hair pointer/weimaraner (german wired weimaraner??) and an Airedale/black and tan coon hound......no clever name there.

I have had other crosses over the years.

I think we do a disservice to BYC to jump all over the OP because they have intact dogs.

Are you sure that's not a Coondale?

 

[21hens-incharge]

Are you sure that's not a Coondale?

Not sure.... She is just 12 weeks old.


Miss Tilly.

 

[Bamabexchicks]

Not sure.... She is just 12 weeks old.

View attachment 1639002
Miss Tilly.

Awww! Precious baby! She is so chill! I just wanna smoosh that face and kiss it!

 

[Bunnylady]

Much less likely to have hip or elbow issues than pure labs

This is a fallacy. Hip and elbow problems are common in both breeds, so crossbred dogs are just as likely as the purebreds to have bad hips and/or elbows. Possibly even more likely, since backyard breeders probably won't have had the parents tested before allowing them to breed.

In theory, a "designer breed" is supposed to be a deliberate cross made with the intent of combining desirable traits into something that is in some way superior to both breeds. In practice, most designer dogs' parents are random, often poor-quality representatives of their respective breeds that someone put together with no plan beyond producing something "cute," with the the designer breed label slapped on as a marketing tool.

 

[Bamabexchicks]

This is a fallacy. Hip and elbow problems are common in both breeds, so crossbred dogs are just as likely as the purebreds to have bad hips and/or elbows. Possibly even more likely, since backyard breeders probably won't have had the parents tested before allowing them to breed.

In theory, a "designer breed" is supposed to be a deliberate cross made with the intent of combining desirable traits into something that is in some way superior to both breeds. In practice, most designer dogs' parents are random, often poor-quality representatives of their respective breeds that someone put together with no plan beyond producing something "cute," with the the designer breed label slapped on as a marketing tool.

Hip and elbow issues are heritable traits. If one or the other dog has them the likely hood of passing on the trait is less because it is one set of genes. The odds of both dogs having and passing on such traits is greatly diminished owing to a more varied gene pool.

 

[Bunnylady]

The odds of both dogs having and passing on such traits is greatly diminished owing to a more varied gene pool.

Sorry, but it's not that simple.

As common as these issues are in both breeds, without genetic testing, it is impossible to say whether the parents carry the genes for the traits; "they aren't related, so the babies will be fine" isn't a valid assumption (non-related humans produce babies with genetic diseases every day). When a trait is common in a population, the chances of any particular animal in that population carrying the gene(s) for the trait are much greater, whether or not it expresses the trait.

To make it even more fun, Hip dysplasia is apparently polygenetic, plus the degree to which any particular animal is affected is partly environmental; you can't just watch two dogs run across a field and say, "she has it, but he doesn't, so any puppies they produce won't." I don't know if anyone knows just how many genes are involved (I've seen sources that say 17 or 18, though that definitely isn't set in stone) or what the distribution of the various alleles is across the affected dog breeds; it may be possible to produce crossbred offspring that are actually much worse than either parent, due to the polygenetic nature of this condition.

If you deal with enough animals, sooner or later, you will deal with animals that have a problem due to the way they were bred - and that can be heartbreaking and expensive. IMO, any person who chooses to breed should be choosy about what they breed, with a minimum goal of producing healthy, sound animals. At the moment, getting hips and elbows checked in prospective breeding animals is the most basic level of dealing with this very common issue in large dog breeds. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of producing puppies that will develop hip dysplasia, but it's a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any reliable genetic tests yet; probably because there are so many genes to test for.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Sorry, but it's not that simple.

As common as these issues are in both breeds, without genetic testing, it is impossible to say whether the parents carry the genes for the traits; "they aren't related, so the babies will be fine" isn't a valid assumption (non-related humans produce babies with genetic diseases every day). When a trait is common in a population, the chances of any particular animal in that population carrying the gene(s) for the trait are much greater, whether or not it expresses the trait.

To make it even more fun, Hip dysplasia is apparently polygenetic, plus the degree to which any particular animal is affected is partly environmental; you can't just watch two dogs run across a field and say, "she has it, but he doesn't, so any puppies they produce won't." I don't know if anyone knows just how many genes are involved or what the distribution of the various alleles is across the affected dog breeds; it may be possible to produce crossbred offspring that are actually much worse than either parent, due to the polygenetic nature of these conditions.

If you deal with enough animals, sooner or later, you will deal with animals that have a problem due to the way they were bred - and that can be heartbreaking and expensive. IMO, any person who chooses to breed should be choosy about what they breed, with a minimum goal of producing healthy, sound animals. At the moment, getting hips and elbows checked in prospective breeding animals is the most basic level of dealing with this very common issue in large dog breeds. It doesn't eliminate the possibility of producing puppies that will develop hip dysplasia, but it's a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any reliable genetic tests yet; probably because there are so many genes to test for.

I see. That makes sense.

Can I add that such testing should be done by a vet that is well versed in testing?

I am still happy with my mutts. Intentional breeding or not mine have been sound dogs.
(Fence jumpers and the mating from that still happens.) << that's how the litters I got dogs from happened.

 

[OkieChickenGal]

The chocolate lab's parents were both chocolates.. My chocolate lab has some white on her, I don't know why.. Is it possible for the puppies be black with white markings?

 

[Cyprus]

I still don't think you should breed them.
If you are breeding for purebred Goldens, why do you have an intact male lab around? You should probably nueter him.

 

[OkieChickenGal]

I don't have a male lab