Is the Labrador breed heading in the wrong direction?

[Scott85]

Some have a good life and others have a good life but have to work for it.

 

[bullbugle307]

You should talk to @diamond hitch (although I get the feeling he's no longer here much), I feel like you guys could talk dogs all day...

Haven't seen much of that dude after about 8 people told him how unimpressed they were with his ways, to put it mildly. I probably have him on ignore, so I wouldn't see it either way honestly.

 

[LuketheDog]

Haven't seen much of that dude after about 8 people told him how unimpressed they were with his ways, to put it mildly. I probably have him on ignore, so I wouldn't see it either way honestly.

He was a zealot for his dog breed purity, had me on ignore too, cie la vie.

 

[thomas89]

Haven't seen much of that dude after about 8 people told him how unimpressed they were with his ways, to put it mildly. I probably have him on ignore, so I wouldn't see it either way honestly.

Was he the one who killed a dog for something trivial if memory serves?

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Not much of a hunter, but she likes fishing...and other stuff.

 

[bullbugle307]

Was he the one who killed a dog for something trivial if memory serves?

Yeah, that's what I remember.

 

[S13tsilvia]

Love this guy and no idea what this guy weighs, somewhere in the range of 30 to 35kg but he loves duck hunting and playing with my kids. His dad was a english box head and mum an American shape which he took most of his mum's good looks but got a bit of his dad's solid frame.

 

[Coop]

I won't engage in the English/American dialogue. I just know that my bias lies with this 10 month old gal.

 

[BuckRut]

I have one of each. The yellow is 110# and is an extremely powerful dog but he does deal with some mobility issues now that he is getting to be 8 years old. The black american is only 7-8 months old in this picture and I have not hunted with him at all yet.

 

[beginnerhunter]

 

[Scott85]

I can’t help post another picture of my girl that I got today.

 

[TheTone]

Another flaw mine has is that her best friend and occasional bed mate is a cat

 

[S13tsilvia]

Another flaw mine has is that her best friend and occasional bed mate is a cat

My old gwp was like that. Even made room for the bloody cat!

 

[Tussock]

The American lab is a far superior animal compared to the English type. The dog show crowd have no idea about what a real dog needs to be, at least here in Australia. The once iconic blue heeler is another example of the show dog crowd ruining a breed. Turning them into short legged, block headed, bad winded brainless pets. Nearly impossible to get hold of a good heeler these days as the show blood has infiltrated right through the good old working lines. These people have no idea about what a working dog requires to function as a working dog and have therefore bred shit dogs, based largely on their looks, with no regard to the dogs ability to perform the job for which it was initially bred. Since being here on Hunt Talk I have noticed and admired the obvious physical improvement in your labs compared to ours and the English type. Have also noticed in a few photos that the American Rottweiler looks a more agile, physically capable dog than most others I have seen in Australia and Europe. So good on you folks, keep it up I say.

 

[WalkingBird]

I'm still semi-new to Labs growing up around hounds, but this guy has me a Lab guy for life. About 90lbs of squeaker killing fury in a 50/50 American/British form. Leggy and blocky. We don't have as much waterfowl opportunity in AZ as we did in NY, but he loves chasing Gambel's quail in the desert, I just keep the hunts short and try to choose "cooler" days, easier said than done in the Sonora. My buddy has an American female that's stellar too, so I'll probably go that route when the time comes to get another

 

[jejack26]

Ok, just another excuse to post a picture of one of my best

 

[swfisher]

Breeders for hunting dogs will help keep them true for hunting. Not develop a pretty show pony!!

 

[Benfromalbuquerque]

Newfoundland's Finance Minister just won "Best of Breed" at the Westminster Dog Show with this Labrador retreiver. How long would that stumpy legged barrel chested thing last hunting in the field? Pfft! I am concerned this kind of show breeding will ruin the world's most popular and arguably best hunting dog. A few on here have lived long enough to remember how the dog show crowd ruined the Irish setter. Didn't do the German shepherd breed any favors either. But really, the Labrador retreiver? Is nothing sacred?
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Right??! Thank you for speaking out about the injustice dog shows do to the dogs. As one who showed a working dog over two years, I’ve seen my share of fatbody shitpoodles win too many times.