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What do you guys think? Which is the better way to go? What's everyone's views and opinions on this?

Registered Dogs Hands down... I like to be able to see a pedigree and health clearances before I waste my time on a dog a with young children around washing out a dog is not an option for me.

I agree with the health clearances part. For me, that is the best benefit. But as for pedigrees and the chances of getting a "good dog", I'm not so sure. I know far too many people who believe that papers somehow guarantee less training is needed, and the dog will magic itself into a good retriever. Almost like they use the pedigree as a crutch. I know that's not a knock on the dog but on the owner, but I've seen it too much. I've also seen excellent hunting dogs made from unpapered "mutts".

Moose is a mutt and makes all the retrieves I could ask for.

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I have had an un-registered brittany, a backyard breeder lab, and Taz, highly bred from a kennel. All 3 were hunting machines. The britt my dad bred from 2 generations of our dogs, I knew what I was getting, my lab I met the parents, who hunted, and felt good about my choice. Taz I studied for a while, liked the breeder and pedigree, trusted the breeder to choose which pup was right for me. If you go that way, be honest in what you tell the beeeder what traits you are looking for, I couldn't be happier with his choice.
Great dogs don't come from pedigrees, I put shitloads of time into my dogs. But as stated before, it was nice to look on the website and health clearances and testing scores, a bit of added security. A good breeder will also stand behind his dogs if problems should persist.

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Matt Duncan wrote:Registered Dogs Hands down... I like to be able to see a pedigree and health clearances before I waste my time on a dog a with young children around washing out a dog is not an option for me.

So surprising.

I am kind of living proof about pedigree vs. non hunting dog.

My chocolate is from a line of dogs that only has one real hunter in the past 3 generations(or however far you can see back on the pedigree) He was with a trainer for three months, and the trainer would not let me pay his for the last two months. Dog was straight up retarded(not really, but does have the dog version of ADD) He will be spot on for 2, maybe 3 retrieves, then on the next you will send him and he just runs into nowhere. I have brought him out in the field and he does the same thing.
Cost: $500 with health cleared Sire/Dam

I ended up buying a dog from him with full hunting lines and she is now 7 months old. There isn't even a comparison in the training. She has been damn near perfect through what we have went through so far(formal OB and FF) She is extremely obedient, never questions me, learns very quickly, loves birds, damn near endless drive.
Cost: $550 Health cleared Sire/Dam and a 3 year guarantee.

The cost of the dog is NOTHING compared to what you are going to pay for the life of the dog. It's not about whether it has a pedigree, it's about having great hunting lines. If you can't see the parents actually work and the pedigree shows no Titles, I would stay away. Don't care if you have a $1 mutt that can hunt circles around any dog out there, if you can't show me I don't want to take the chance. Don't skimp out when buying a dog, it's not worth it. Make sure the parents at least know how to hunt.

You can cut the sarcasm with a knife... lol
It's hard enough as it is to finish a dog so I like to get the odds in my favor as much as possible when buying a dog.

Matt Duncan wrote:You can cut the sarcasm with a knife... lol
It's hard enough as it is to finish a dog so I like to get the odds in my favor as much as possible when buying a dog.

You will never convince some of the hard heads out there though. Because it worked out for them, they think all dogs are the same. I would take an unpapered dog in a heartbeat...as long as I saw the parents and liked how they worked.

I have a 1000$+ papered lab with all kinds of pretty paper and health clearances and an elbow problem....just sayin

I have a 50 dollar lab who is gonna be a hunt test hoss.

jehler wrote:I have a 1000$+ papered lab with all kinds of pretty paper and health clearances and an elbow problem....just sayin

I bet lots o money there are thousands of uncleared dog problems to every one cleared.

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jehler wrote:I have a 1000$+ papered lab with all kinds of pretty paper and health clearances and an elbow problem....just sayin

What are the elbow issues? Are they dysplastic? Hips and elbow clearances from the sire and dam aren't a guarantee that the pup won't have issues but it's not very common for it to happen although occasionally it does. What were the clearances on the elbows for the grand sire's and dam's? For me looking for the clearances of the dogs in 2 or 3 generations is the best bet. I like to see a history of sound joints. My main reason for health clearances is genetic diseases. I don't want to get 2 years into training for the dog to end up with EIC (shows itself at around 2 years) and have to turned into a couch dog. Papers don't make a good dog and I'm not implying that at all but good breeding and proper training do.

This dork has papers and his damn leg fell off

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3legged_lab wrote:This dork has papers and his damn leg fell off

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Must be CKC....

Oh boy...this topic is gunna be good. I will light the match.

The best hunting dog I had so far was a mutt named Blackie. I bought Blackie from a kid that I SWEAR was Elvis' son. Looked just like him.

Got the dog for $25. Blackie only lost two ducks out of hundreds and hundreds. He'd dive underwater to get them. Swam almost 1/2 mile in a large lake to get a Canada goose once.
I've also seen well-bred dogs that sucked due to poor handling.

So I'm going to say pedigree schmedigree.

Recall that the AKC registered a female tabby kitten as a male Black Labrador Retriever.
I would like to see that pedigree. It's somewhere in CBS's records. They did the story on 60 Minutes.

Somewhere in this collection is the story of "The 5-dollar dog".
http://www.amazon.com/TK-Complete-Eleven-Hunting-Fishing/dp/B004YCRHW4
It's about these three black guys who keep selling this dog to duck hunters for $5.

Then they bet on how long it takes for the dog to find his way back home.
TK and Mike buy the dog, take it hunting, shoot a duck, the dog fetches it all the way home....HAHAHAHAHA
FIVE-DOLLAR DOG!
The duck is rotten by the time $5dog gets home with it...the black guys pay off the bet and then say, "think we get him to come home from TWO states over next time?"