02
Step 02 of 05
Every clearance, explained
Four tests. For each one: what it is, who performs it, what a pass actually looks like, and what we do when one of our dogs does not pass. Then the current results for every dog we breed from, with the dates, so you can check them against the certificates yourself.
Hips
Hip dysplasia
Hip dysplasia is a badly-fitting hip joint. The ball and socket do not sit together as they should, the joint wears, and the dog develops arthritis — sometimes at three, sometimes at ten. It is partly inherited, which is the only reason testing the parents helps.
Who does it. The dog is x-rayed under sedation by a vet, and the plates go to the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, where three independent radiologists grade them. We do not grade our own dogs and neither should anyone else.
What a pass looks like. OFA grades Excellent, Good or Fair as passing, then Borderline, and then Mild, Moderate or Severe dysplasia. We breed from Excellent and Good. A Fair dog is not dysplastic and can live a completely sound life — we simply do not breed from one.
The catch worth knowing. OFA will not issue a final grade before the dog is two years old, because a young joint can still look fine. If a breeder shows you a preliminary score on a fourteen-month-old dog and calls it a clearance, it is not one.
Elbows
Elbow dysplasia
The same idea in a more complicated joint. The elbow is three bones meeting, and if they grow at slightly different rates the fit is wrong. It shows up as a front-leg limp, often after exercise, often in a young dog.
Who does it. The same x-ray session as the hips, read by the same panel at the OFA.
What a pass looks like. Elbows are simpler than hips: Normal, or Grade I, II or III dysplasia. There is no Good or Fair. Normal is the only result we will breed from.
Eyes
The annual eye examination
A veterinary ophthalmologist examines the eye itself — retina, lens, eyelids — and looks for the inherited conditions that a DNA test cannot see, including cataracts that develop with age and eyelid defects that need surgery.
Who does it. A board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, and the result is registered with the OFA as a CAER examination.
What a pass looks like. Clear, with any observations noted. The important part is the date: unlike hips, an eye examination expires. It is good for twelve months and then it is worthless. Every breeding dog here is examined every year, and the dates are in the table below so you can check them.
DNA
The DNA panel
A cheek swab, read in a laboratory, returning a result for each inherited condition known in the breed. Each one comes back Clear, Carrier or Affected.
What we test for in Chocolate Labrador Retrievers:
- EIC — exercise-induced collapse
- PRA-prcd — progressive retinal atrophy
- CNM — centronuclear myopathy
- DM — degenerative myelopathy
- HNPK — hereditary nasal parakeratosis
What a pass looks like — and why a carrier is fine. These conditions are recessive, which means a dog needs two copies of the gene to be affected. A carrier has one copy, will never develop the condition, and is a perfectly healthy dog. The danger is only breeding two carriers together, which can produce an affected puppy. So the rule is not “never breed a carrier” — it is “never breed a carrier to a carrier”, and it is a rule about the pairing rather than the dog. Any breeder who tells you a carrier is a defective animal has either misunderstood the genetics or is hoping you have.
If a dog fails
What happens when one of ours does not pass
They are spayed or neutered, and they stay here as a family dog. They are not bred from, they are not quietly sold on as breeding stock to somebody with lower standards, and they do not disappear from this website. If a dog you have seen on these pages stops appearing in litters, you are welcome to ask us why.
It has cost us litters we wanted. That is the entire point of testing — a test you would ignore the result of is not a test, it is a receipt.
Anything here you would rather we explained on the phone?
Ask before you apply, not after. We would rather spend twenty minutes talking you out of a Labrador than place one badly.