Fox Red Labrador?

Beebop

A point aside from colour......
Firstly congratulations on wanting a labrador. They are fantastic dogs and will be loyal and show you a lot of love (in my experience)
However, they are intelligent, boisterous and thrive on being trained. They learn super quick, so start very young - mine picked up sit at 8 weeks old, within 2 days of collecting her!
They will need oodles of exercise (although you have to limit this a bit when very young so as not to cause problems with their hips in later life) - mine is 18 months and gets walked for 1 hour in morning and 40 mins + in afternoon and still can keep going. IF YOU CANNOT EXERCISE FREQUENTLY AND FOR A GOOD SESSION AT EACH TIME THEN PLEASE GET A MORE "LAZY" DOG!!!!!!!
However, that said, I personally think your life is enriched by a labrador, so, whatever colour you choose, you will end up with a faithful friend!

UKTigerlily

I've never seen a blue stafford but they're far from rare!

foreign_correspondent

emlou2009 wrote: »

just my two penneth worth, but if none of us have ever seen them, i would have thought that would qualify them as rare?

I have never seen another dog like mine - mongrels are about as unique as you can get! Does that make dogs like mine rare? yes, of course...

UKTigerlily

Bets nobody else has a Sausage Bull Terrorist!

tomhann187_2

I'm sorry as I am new here but just had to reply to this thread with several points.

1. They are "fox red" not "red fox"
2. In neither the US or UK they are not a colour in their own right - they are classified as "yellow" across the globe and show as such on their pedigrees
3. There are only three recognised colours in the US and UK: yellow, black and liver (more commonly referred to as chocolate - not brown)
4. You WILL find reputable breeders, however they are almost all from working kennels and as such are often kept within the working circle. They do go to pet homes, but you often will have to be on a waiting list for a while.
5. A star on the chest does not mean the dog is not a lab (star = white patch). A small star is permitted according to the Kennel Club. Stars are almost always found on fox reds due to one prominent stud dog which can be found way down the line in the majority of fox reds' pedigrees

Lab pups are very hard work - more so than many other breeds. They need to be walked carefully up until a year and then a lot when fully-grown. They are one of the most 'bitey' pups and are some of the worst chewers. Having said that, my labs are the light of my life and I would never have a different breed.

They are prone to hip and elbow dysplacia and PRA (eye disorder). Therefore, you NEED to ask a breeder whether BOTH parents have been hip and elbow scored and whether they have a CURRENT clear eye certificate. You need hips and elbows to be below breed average (around 15 for hips and ideally 0-0 elbows).

Check out labradorforums for an excellent resource ...

UKTigerlily

Two red fox pups in rescue: http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=210514

UKTigerlily

tomhann187 wrote: »

I'm sorry as I am new here but just had to reply to this thread with several points.

1. They are "fox red" not "red fox"
2. In neither the US or UK they are not a colour in their own right - they are classified as "yellow" across the globe and show as such on their pedigrees
3. There are only three recognised colours in the US and UK: yellow, black and liver (more commonly referred to as chocolate - not brown)
4. You WILL find reputable breeders, however they are almost all from working kennels and as such are often kept within the working circle. They do go to pet homes, but you often will have to be on a waiting list for a while.
5. A star on the chest does not mean the dog is not a lab (star = white patch). A small star is permitted according to the Kennel Club. Stars are almost always found on fox reds due to one prominent stud dog which can be found way down the line in the majority of fox reds' pedigrees

Lab pups are very hard work - more so than many other breeds. They need to be walked carefully up until a year and then a lot when fully-grown. They are one of the most 'bitey' pups and are some of the worst chewers. Having said that, my labs are the light of my life and I would never have a different breed.

They are prone to hip and elbow dysplacia and PRA (eye disorder). Therefore, you NEED to ask a breeder whether BOTH parents have been hip and elbow scored and whether they have a CURRENT clear eye certificate. You need hips and elbows to be below breed average (around 15 for hips and ideally 0-0 elbows).

Check out labradorforums for an excellent resource ...

Does it matter which way round people say it? You'd do better telling the KC they got it wrong not us, we don't care we know what we mean!

Penny_Watcher

UKTigerlily wrote: »

Two red fox pups in rescue: http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=210514

Cute! They remind me of my own Fat Bob the Ginger Pup. She's actually a cross-breed with the same white bib/patch, two white feet and a white tip to her tail.

giantmutantbroccoli

A note about breed standards, faults etc -
A white spot on the chest is permissible, but it isn't desirable for show dogs. However, that does not mean that there is anything wrong with a dog that has a white spot, or a red coat. These are purely cosmetic features - they don't affect the health or temperament of the dog.

That said, finding a healthy well-tempered dog with such specific looks will be more difficult because they are less common in the UK than the standard yellow, black and chocolate labs - and therefore you'll have fewer dogs to choose between. I would suggest you consider broadening your search, or your search area - I think you're unlikely to find a fox red lab within an hour's drive of Surrey.

As your aunt is an experienced dog owner, I'd recommend asking her to come with you when you go to view any pups - whether rescued or from a breeder. She should be able to help you pick a good healthy pup with a good temperament. Although labs are "supposed" to have the temperament described on the KC breed standard there can be a great deal of variation between different dogs, even from the same litter. My two dogs are as different as night and day, and they're brother and sister!
I'd also recommend that, as you're new to being a dog owner yourself, you get a few good books out from the library. It's not important that you get one about labs specifically, but a few books on dog care and training will be useful. Make sure you read up on them before you get your pup! These will give you an idea of what work is involved, and what you need to do before you get the pup - things like puppy-proofing your house, how much to feed them and what etc.
I say get more than one book because different people have very different ideas on what a good way to train a dog is - just have a peek round the forums here, you'll see what I mean - and you need to decide on a method that will work for you and your dog. If you can, get books of different ages - older books may use harsher training methods, but they often have useful practical advice on things like feeding, whereas as newer books can tell you simply to follow the instructions on the packet! I have an old book on working gundogs that has proven invaluable to me for useful little practical hints and tips.
One of the most important ones for me was about training your pup to behave around other animals and livestock, but I think it's applicable to a wipe range of situations. Pups have quite a short memory, so for soemthing to "stick" it needs to be a dramatic, emotional event (I couldn't think of quite the right words, but you'll see what I mean). Praising a pup extravagantly for doing something right will help him to remember what he did, not just because he associates it with good things, but because he associates it with having a strong reaction from you. However, punishing a pup harshly for doing something wrong -either by smacking him (which you shouldn't do with a little pup who doesn't know any better anyway!), or shouting at him - will make whatever he did stick strongly in his mind as well, and may make him repeat the behaviour.

Pups are a heck of a lot of work - lots of feeding, cleaning, training, house-training, getting your furniture chewed up by sharp little teeth, having to carry the little guy if you take him out for walks. Do make sure you know what you're taking on before you decide to get a pup! They are not very entertaining either for the first month or so, depending on the age you get the pup of course - at 8 weeks they mostly just pee, poop, eat, sleep, run around or try to do all that at once, and although they do look cute asleep in their food bowl you mgiht feel a bit fed up the third time you have to bath him because he fell asleep in thee toilet area...

Finally a note about ages. Ideally pups should be rehomed between 8 and 12 weeks - do not take a pup any younger than that. I would go so far as to say that if the breeder offers the pup before the age of 8 weeks, don't buy from that breeder! Pups are generally weaned at 6 weeks, and some breeders do rehome at that age, but it isn't healthy for the pup to be separated from his mother and siblings so early on.

Ettinsmoor

Well this is an interesting thread! As a breeder of Fox Red/Yellow labradors in the UK ( KC Accredited Breeder) I can confirm that an awful lot of the information on here is incorrect. However some of it is correct. Fox Red/Dark Yellow labradors are in fact one of the oldest colours of labrador in the UK (a little like the true colour of Golden Retrievers) a dark yellow colour instead of the paler colours that have become more popular in recent years. They are mainly working labs, as the paler colours are more popular in the show ring. A lot of them do have white on there chest. I could go on naming the ancestors that the white comes from and they are still KC registered pedigree labradors. When buying a labrador you should be looking at health tests, temperament, conformation, working/show, and probably finally colour. Please ensure that you go to the "right breeder" and do not go to a puppy farm or the free ads.