I have a 1 1/2 years old boy. He is all good but his chest has not dropped. Should I give up? How much can they take on filling up and doping the chest?
TIA

What?!???

It depends a lot on the ancestry/bloodline as to how long it takes dogs to mature. I am one of those with dogs that do not rally mature until age 4 and then just keep improving, peaking around age 7-8. Boy, have I learned patience.

I have a 21 month male who has not developed his chest, yet. He was stunning from 4 weeks to 4 months. So, I know I just have to wait.

You have to know the bloodlines to make a decision when to give up and probably should wait until age 2 or 3.

It is very difficult to run on slow developing dogs, believe me I understand.

Good luck

I understand what you mean. Perhaps having a mentor give you an honest eval,. of him would help. Is it a point of immaturity that will improve, or a structural fault, ie. straight or short upper arm, tied in elbows, etc... I have seen some lines that remain narrow up front for life.

Then perhaps you can explain for the rest of us dopes. What does this mean?

"How much can they take on filling up and doping the chest?"
TIA

I would say the OP meant how many years will it take to fill in and drop.

I have seen the term "tied in elbows" before and I am having a hard time understanding what it means.
Can someone please explain it?

I am certain the OP meant "dropping" not doping. But with that said, here is the picture I like to paint about a "hollow" front or as I like to call it a "cathedral" front. When viewing the dog from the front instead of having a nice width/fill and the chest dropped between the front legs (look like a lUl-the legs come down further of course) it looks like a a church cathedral (l^l-without the width).

Here is a website I found that has some photos (not Labs) illustrating what I'm trying to say here. Perhaps this will help: LINK

It all depends on what you want in your kennel and how long you want to wait. In a recent discussion about this topic, it's possible that the front legs are out in front of the ribcage. If that is the case it probably won't get better.

I wish they had a website like that for labs. As someone who is trying to learn all of the correct conformation, it would be great to see several lab pictures comparing good and bad fronts and topline and so on.

There is a difference between improper angulation of the front and lack of depth or brisket.
There is a very popular stud dog who seems to throw very hollow fronts (beautiful from the sides but almost no space between the front legs from the front). The dogs all paddle out to the side coming at you and it's not a pretty thing to watch.

Most judges only care about the picture the dogs make from a side view. There are very few that care about movement. I know the exact movement you are talking about, and will avoid it like the plague.

Hollow front: Seen from the front is a wide front with a narrow chest cavity. The chest is narrow and leaves a space between the chest wall and the upper arm. It might be deep or not. In my dog the brisket is above the elbows.
Yes it was dropping and not dopping.

An incorrect front is a deal breaker. [thats a period] Once you give an inch on a front assembly you will spend a decade trying to fix it.

It's a shame that many judges don't care about movement. There is nothing uglier than a dog coming towards you on the down and back that isn't moving clean. Nothing.
It's a complete turn off for me and I won't take a second look unless it's to see what in the heck produced THAT so I can stay far, far away.