I am looking for a flatcoat as a pet/gundog. I am working overseas at the moment, and ideally would be looking for a pup this time next year. I would like some breeder advice (have found a few impressive responses on this site) on looking for the right pup, I would probably return to the Bedfordshire area, although travel is not a problem. I have a young family and the kids will be 4 and 2 by then (obviously little concern over the temperment of a flatcoat - more from baby ciara (weapon of mass destruction)).

I appreciate I have time on my side but being brought up with a goldie and having experienced flatcoats previously, I want the right dog to pick me!

Any help is appreciated.

Welcome to the forum Knick

You have certainly come to the right place for Flatcoat Info! I am sure that Jo,Polly and Briedog will be only to happy to help you with your quest.

Leigh

Hi,
Well you have made a good start! Starting to look around now with a thought to your future plans shows you do mean to do things properly, and I am pleased to help you find the right puppy for you. I live in Buckinghamshire not far from the Bedfordshire border, 20 minutes drive infact! Obviously you are looking for a pet dog as well as a working dog, so a few thoughts about having a flatcoat for a pet as well as a working dog, would be useful I hope.
Unlike many breeds of working descent, flatcoats do still work and often the dog in the show ring is the same one you would meet with it's owner on the shooting field at other times. They are quite active but many people have problems because they do not train their flatcoats. Most flatcoats which end up in rescue are either untrained or bored and often a combination of the two.
To avoid this, it is essential you find a good flatcoat friendly training club, and most importantly remember that you must occupy the flatcoat mind as well as attend to it's physical needs. I often hear people say, "My dog is destructive, so to tire it out I take it for longer walks, but it still will not stop chewing/destroying the house". If you exercise a dog physically, it gets fit, the more you exercise the fitter it gets, hence the more damage it can do. With any intelligent working dog it needs mental stimulation too. So if your flatcoat will be a pet do teach it daft games and tricks, it will be happy and you will remain sane! lol You might be lucky and get a lazy sofa dog, but don't count on it! Almost any flatcoat owner encountering any kind of problem with their flatcoat can find help from other owners, the Flatcoated Retriever Society has a number of area representatives who are there to help as well. I do work my dogs, and have a small shoot where I take young dogs and novice handlers at Dagnall in Bedfordshire, for early days out.

As to health, we have few problems, but whether you have a pet or a dog and plan to breed from it eventually it will need to get it's eyes tested for primary glaucoma at around six months of age. Primary glaucoma is the most painful way for any dog to go blind, and it helps you, the dog most importantly and the breeder to know whether your dog shows a predisposition to this condition. Glaucoma is hereditary, but is polygenic in nature, the hereditary pattern is as yet unknown, so no breeder can guarantee any puppy they breed is clear of it. It is behind every line as the breed has had a small gene pool in the past. Anyone who says it is not in my line is either a fool or a liar!
Hipscores are the lowest for any breed, as we currently average a total of 9. To arrive at this total figure, the dogs hips are x-rayed and each hip gets a score out of 53 points making a total of 103. The lower the score the better the hip. So for example a dog with a hip score of 2 for the left hip and 3 for the right hip has a total of 5. Try to find a sire and dam whose hip scores are lower than or close to the average. This will not guarantee you a good score for your dog but hopefully you will not get any problems. Again it is polygenic, and has an unknown hereditary pattern. I myself bred a 0-0 scoring bitch to a stud dog whose score was 2-2 and we got one pup who scored 14-15 score!

There is cancer in the breed, and research is on going into this, I have no details on this as it has not yet affected my dogs thankgoodness! Some people will tell you flatcoats do not live a long time, yet they can and do. None of mine have died under 11 years old other than due to having accidents. Apart from one 11 year old, all of mine have been 15 years plus and one made it to 16 years and 4 months!

Temperament in flatcoats is good, and they love children. I have found it does not make any difference between a bitch and dog as to how they behave with children, other than a bitch will always get her way if she can, and like all us ladies has her own agenda, the boys are much more uncomplicated. One of my boys is living with a family where there is a severely disabled child, and he is devoted to this child. The only problem you might encounter is that flatcoats are boisterous, and therefore may knock a toddler off it's feet, from time to time. My kids all learned to live with this and soon a grandchild will learning the very same thing!

If you would like more information about health in the breed then email: ronadixon13@btopenworld.com
as she keeps detailed records of health and pedigrees for the breed.
As to buying a flatcoat we have a litter register secretary for the breed, who can be contacted on downstream@ukonline.co.uk
Mrs Johnson keeps a register of every litter bred in the UK and will try to put you in touch with a breeder with puppies for sale, close to where you will be living.

If you want any other information please email me on:
foxpath4@yahoo.com
or telephone 01844 299508

Good luck with your search for a puppy
Polly & Foxpath Flatcoats.