11/03/2022
Learning Experiences
What are we taking away from our first few years of Ramblin River Retriever’s (RRR) kennel? Simply that it’s definitely been a learning experience.
For years, my husband has had a dream of both training and breeding Labrador retrievers of the highest caliber. He wanted sporting dogs from excellent blood lines, to have his dogs certified as healthy, be able to hunt proficiently, and be happy family dogs.
A few years ago, he finally pulled the trigger and began the great task of finding the dog that would be the “star” in a breeding, hunting, and dog trial capacity. For months, he studied bloodlines and looked at litters of puppies. He was placed on waiting lists for pups that he really wanted. He spoke of our Bailey’s sire as if he were a well-known superstar although I had never heard of Snapper (sire’s call name) or had any idea what kind of champion he was.
My husband dutifully checked the genealogy, health certificates, and health guarantees (the agreement from the pup’s kennel to stand behind and guarantee their pups, as most health testing isn’t done until the age of two because of elbow and hip test requirements). At this point, I will stop to say that we here at RRR have since changed our stance on DNA testing and will be sure to obtain it at the receipt of any future pup.
We used our savings to fly my husband and a family friend to the kennel to pick up our prize pup. We were beyond excited to welcome Bailey’s Snap Decision into both our family and program. Because she was just a baby, they opted to driver her home rather than fly and spent the next 24 hours driving back to RRR.
Our Bailey is an incredible dog. She has more than met all of our expectations for testing and earned her junior hunt title very young. She was also on track to be the star of the RRR breeding program. We had a waiting list of customers that wanted her pups before she was even old enough to breed.
When Bailey turned two, we ordered her DNA panel, color coat testing, and made an appointment to have her hips and elbows certified. Sadly, the results of her DNA panel would be the beginning to a nightmare that we just can’t seem to wake up from.
Imagine our complete surprise when the Exercised Induced Collapse (EIC) DNA test came back as positive. We were in absolute shock. We immediately contacted the kennel that we purchased her from and were reassured that both of Bailey’s parents had negative EIC. The kennel encouraged us to get another test from a competing company.
After we received the results of the second test that confirmed Bailey as an EIC carrier, we contacted the kennel again and forwarded the testing information. The kennel assured us that they would be contacting the sire’s owner and notifying them of the problem. It was agreed that we would receive a replacement pup at no cost and that Bailey would be spayed to prevent the passage of the EIC carrier gene to future litters.
Fast forward: the kennel has chosen not to honor their commitments. This entire situation has caused both heartache and financial stress for RRR. Please don’t get us wrong, we absolutely love Bailey, but we have lost so much. We have lost income at a time when it was needed the most, at the startup of a new business. We have lost confidence in the industry we love as we have been treated so poorly.
The next devastating blow that was dealt to RRR was the notice that we would not be receiving a replacement pup or any financial compensation. They have stopped responding to our communications and we have no choice but to assume that they have chosen not to honor the “warranty” offered by their kennel. It’s been nothing short of sad and disheartening to see them go back on their word. They have had their friends respond to us to explain that their personal lives are just “ too stressful” to deal with kennel issues. To say that we are devastated would be an understatement. We have been caught completely off guard by how this situation has been handled, the comments that have been made by the kennel (in writing), and how we have been treated.
RRR was recently contacted by the company that provided Bailey’s initial DNA testing, they asked us to provide a copy of the testing certificate that we received from Bailey’s parents. It had been provided to us by Bailey’s breeding kennel and we were happy to provide it to the testing company. After doing so, we were notified that other pups were receiving positive results with regards to their EIC carrier tests. Strangely, the only thing that these pups all have in common was their famous father... “Snapper”. The pups were from different kennels and from different mothers, but they could all be linked back to “Snapper” as their sire.
I asked how something like this could possibly happen? How could a championed (FC AFC), certified stud be listed as a cleared dog when he is clearly an EIC carrier? The answer was that “Snapper” was tested in 2009 and the testing at that time is not nearly as advanced as it is today. The university that provided the testing for “Snapper” has been contacted, but they were unable to provide more information. Their contact information has since been provided to the DNA testing company.
This ordeal has taken more than four years, and to be honest, RRR has never fully recovered. There are only so many spaces available in our facility and only so much time in my husband’s day. His lifelong dream has always been to have two breeding females to partner with our stud, Luke Training and hunting three dogs keeps his plate overflowing on a daily basis. He loves all of his dogs but it has been very disheartening to see his dream turn into a nightmare due to circumstances beyond our control.
You may be asking why I felt compelled to share our story. We have been asked multiple to times to allow Luke to sire pups with EIC carrier females. We have declined each request and want to offer an explanation as to why. We have suffered heartache and financial loss and have vowed to do our part to stop the spread of this disease. RRR made the difficult decision to spay Bailey as we felt that it was the best choice for the Labrador breed as a whole. We strongly encourage everyone to change their procedures to include DNA testing early in the life of the pup and to be prepared to make the hard decision to spay or neuter EIC carrier pups.
RRR also chose to share our story because FC AFC “Snapper” still has information stating that he is clear. He has not been removed from registry pages for breeders. “Snapper” was whelped in 2008 and his information still has not been updated. RRR is not saying anything out of line or out of scope. We have communications from Bailey’s breeding kennel (we have chosen not to publicly name this kennel), the documentation from both DNA testing facilities, as well as the emails from the university that was involved in the testing of “Snapper”.
We love our Labradors. We love this breed. We also feel honor bound to protect this breed from being further degraded by a disease and we encourage other owners/kennels to do the same. My husband has decided to keep Ramblin River Retrievers open although will be operating it on a much smaller scale than originally planned. He intends to focus primarily on providing the best quality/healthy pups that he can and to find amazing homes for them to become a part of.
