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Marion, Ohio, USA
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Buyers Beware ! Does it strike you as odd that on any given web site selling Labrador Retriever puppies some sell for $50 and others for $1500…….well, it should! You might wonder why some breeders sell their pups so cheaply and yet others can ask over a thousand dollars. A puppy is a puppy – right? You couldn’t be more wrong. Our dogs are excellent examples of the Labrador Retriever breed. They look like they’re supposed to look and they have wonderful temperaments. You might say that a $50 puppy might have a good temperament too. So what makes our puppies and a lot of other breeders puppies worth more? The reason is not what you can see but what you can’t see. I think the phrase that sums it up is, “It’s all in the breeding.” Quality breeders selectively breed to improve the breed, not just to have puppies. What do I mean? Well, there are many reasons for breeding selectively. All the reasons come down to one thing – to improve! All of our dogs have tests to determine whether they are genetically sound and we won’t be passing on any defects to the next generation. Unfortunately, Labradors are in a class of dogs that can suffer from hip dysplasia. This is very common in the larger breeds, not just Labradors, but breeders can minimize the risk of this by ensuring that the parents and grandparents (and you can keep on going back through the ancestry) do not suffer from hip dysplasia. Dogs that are bred and suffer from this very painful condition generally pass this on down to their offspring. So, if your puppy’s mother or father has hip dysplasia, chances are very good that your puppy is going to have it too. It’s rather like people – if you have heart problems or diabetes running in your family, you are more likely to be predisposed to it too. Unfortunately some breeders do not care. It’s as simple as that. There are other breeders who are ignorant of these types of conditions and aren’t well informed enough to know that their dogs should be tested for these ailments. There are yet other breeders who just don’t want to spend the money to perform these essential tests. What you end up with when you buy a cheap dog is a dog, no matter how lovely to look at, and no matter what a lovely disposition he or she may have, could be plagued by dysplasia of the hips and or other joints. The reason being that the breeder doesn’t even know, or in some cases, doesn’t care, that they are passing these conditions down. Not only does Elm Hill Labradors test for hip dysplasia of the hips but also of the elbows and we also test the eyes and heart to ensure there are no issues there either. You can be assured that when you buy a puppy from Elm Hill you are buying a quality dog with no history of dysplasia, eye or heart problems. Does this guarantee that your dog will never have any of these issues? Absolutely not because again just like people, some people have a heart attack when there has never been any history of heart problems in the family. We will not breed any dog unless the hip score results are “good” or above. Some breeders are not that stringent and will breed a dog with test results of only “fair”. If you would like more detail about how we test our dogs, please click on “PennHIP 101” for much more information on this very important test. We cannot 100% guarantee your puppy to be free of these issues; however, we are confident that the possibility is so small, that we guarantee our puppies to be free of hip dysplasia, eye and heart problems until they are two years of age. As long as you can prove, via a reputable veterinarian, that your dog has been diagnosed with one of these conditions, you can return your puppy for another puppy or a refund. The fact is that an inexpensive puppy seems, at face value, to be very inviting. The unfortunate truth is that you will probably spend far more, than the initial saving, in Veterinary bills trying to keep your dog healthy, as they get older.
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