Timing of Litters
We have a general idea of when a female will come into season, but cannot give you exact dates; the “anticipated” season is the birth/whelping season - gestation is 63 days and puppies then go home 8 weeks after their birth.
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I.E. Litter Anticipated Summer/Fall 2024 means that one of our girls will be in season in the Spring or Summer of 2023. Gestation is 63 days from approximately the 10th day of her season so puppies will be born in the Summer or Fall of 2023 and go home 8 weeks later.
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We make every effort to plan our breedings, however, we reserve the right to choose a different Sire or to skip a breeding when circumstances warrant those changes. Our dogs health and well-being are always our first priority. Both parents are seen by our Reproductive Veterinarian for a health evaluation before each breeding; pre-breeding testing includes progesterone for the female and sperm analysis for the male; any health issue WILL require a change of Stud within a matter of hours; for a Dam, the breeding may need to be skipped.
In the event of a skipped breeding, all reservations will be transferred to the next available litter; puppies will be offered from an on-the-ground litter if available, or offered from a litter which will be born earlier when available.
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If the health issue is with the Stud, when possible, we will bring in another Stud from our network of Breeders to produce the expected color; however, this is not always possible. Once progesterone levels are in the "zone" breeding must take place within a matter of hours. In all our years of breeding, this has only happened on two occasions, however, we feel it is important to communicate this possibility to our clients. For more information on the genetics of coat color, please see:
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https://www.aislinglabradors.com/genetics-of-color
An emergency change of Stud may sometimes mean the litter may be a different color than we had planned for; in those cases, the buyer may choose to move forward with the new color or transfer their reservation to the next litter of the original color planned (or to any then available puppies from another on-the-ground litter) but no refunds of the reservation fee will be made.