I'm wondering from those who work directly with rescues and shelters if such organizations are flooded with Labradors needing homes. Also, if so, are there certain locations that seem to have more homeless Labs than others?

The reason I'm asking is because recently a co-worker expressed discussed at the idea that I could breed a litter (and I have maybe one litter every 2-3 years) with all the litters in rescue. I realized I had no idea if shelters were inundated, and with the internet it's hard to tell what's real and what isn't.

I'm hoping we can have an open and honest conversation about this issue.

Thanks!

Almost NONE of them are pure bred, let alone well bred.
It's all the BYB and stray/un-neutered PETS making the unwanted dogs in shelters. Tell your co worker to get over it and go run a spay/neuter campaign somewhere where it's needed.

I'm not sure I'd tell your co worker to get over it but her comments are well founded as there are a lot of "Labs"(as well as everything else!!) in shelters. And, I agree, not usually purebred and certainly almost never well bred.

Just take the chance to talk about well bred dogs. And the fact that you, as a reputable breeder, would welcome any puppy of yours back into your home, no matter the reason.

I get comments such as your co worker's a lot as I live in an area where there are sooooo many homeless and neglected dogs. I do a lot of rescue work(mostly NOT Labs) so people know that I respect ALL dogs and are not just filling up the world with more. I just use opportunities to educate about why some people prefer, as is their right, a well bred dog.

I think it depends on where you live ... here in the northeast (I live in NJ) there are not many labs to be found in shelters ... primarily pits and pit-mixes.

In the southern states, there are plenty of Labs to be found. My neighbors wanted to rescue a Lab and had one transported from Texas as there were none to be found locally at the time they were looking.

My vet also went south (not sure which state - Mississipi I think?) when his old Lab and hunting partner passed away as he wanted to rescue and knew from a colleague in that area that there were "tons" of Labs in shelters and he wanted a rescue.

As for breeding or not, I believe the kind of owner looking for a well-bred puppy from proven stock is looking for something different than many of the people who are willing to take on a rescue, so I'm not sure that your not breeding a litter would mean that your prospective owners would then seek out a rescue dog instead.

Agreed. The shelters/rescues in our area almost NEVER have puppies. What are in the shelters/rescues here are lab mixes (or they call it a lab mix and it really isn't), or pit-bull mixes.

Any solid yellow, black, or chocolate big dog at the shelters is called a Lab or Lab mix. Most that might look pure bred, came from pet stores or BYB.
Well bred Labradors are seldom seen at shelters.

While I do appreciate all of you supporting my position I am truly looking for information on whether or not shelters and rescues are inundated with Labradors, or is this hype being created online? perhaps those of you directly involved with rescue would be wiling to chime in, with respect to how many dogs are in the system of your particular group, as we speak.

Related to this issue is the topic of the underground rescues, or the retriever groups that are rescues but not affiliated with the rescues we are all familar with.

So, people, are there tons of Labs in rescue across the country???

You just got told from rescue/shelter people the answer to your question but you sound like you didnt read their responses. They told you there are allot of mixtures of dogs, probably mostly pits, pit mixes, american lab mixes, different mixes, american BYB labs and then rarely a pup or nice english type lab. Dont breed a litter to place in rescues. This should have answered your question. Am I missing something? What are you wanting to hear?

You may be referring to specific breed rescue groups vs shelters and private rescue organizations?

There are Labrador Retriever(and any other pure bred dog you can think of) rescue groups all over the country. These are groups of reputable breeders who are known by their county shelters and who will take dogs of their specific breeds into foster homes to find suitable homes for them. These people know and care about their breeds and will very often spend hundreds of dollars "fixing" a dog who was surrendered at a shelter with health, structure or behavior issues.

Breed rescue becomes extremely important when you get into the harder to place breeds and when things such as movies featuring a specific breed are released and fuel the flow of that particular breed. Beethoven comes to mind!!! Shelters all over the country were inundated with St.Bernard's who were purchased by unprepared families.

Anyway, don't know anything about "underground" Lab rescuers but to answer your question, yes, there are thousands of Labs and Lab mixes in shelters. And there are thousands of Labs being rescued by Labrador Retriever rescue groups.

Hope that helps?

Here's a suggestion to the OP.

Why not Google Petfinder, then do a search on Labrador Retrievers in your area, just enter your town or zip code. That will give you some clue of how many labs and lab mixes there are, although not all the Humane Societies are affiliated with Petfinder.

Check out your local Humane Society online.

Next you can Google Labrador Rescue for your state/province.

Bear in mind that putting pictures up on-line takes much time and effort by volunteers, so it isn't always up-to-date and many dogs never get their pictures posted.

Some HS's immediately ship out the purebreds to the relevant rescue groups, but lab rescue groups are notoriously packed to the gills and cannot accept any more, so many good dogs get euthanized every day for lack of space at the shelter and lack of homes.

That will not provide an accurate answer since as another poster stated, anything black, yellow or chocolate (and often times mulitcolored!!!) is labled as a Lab or Lab mix, even if they clearly are not.
Of course statistics will suggest there are millions of "labs" in shelters. They shelters don't know a Lab from a Pit from a Great Dane!! They lable them Labs as a generic term.
Heck, even most of the rescue organizations I see advertising their rescued "labs" don't know the difference and the dogs are frequently not Labs at all.
Just think breeders, how many times have you been asked in public what your champion show dog is mixed with????????
I got told last week at the lake that my BISS Ch boy must be a solid Rottie!! LMAO!

"That will not provide an accurate answer since as another poster stated, anything black, yellow or chocolate (and often times mulitcolored!!!) is labled as a Lab or Lab mix, even if they clearly are not".

In case you are interested, Petfinder makes them call the dog something and there is no category for mutts, so it can be really difficult to figure out what to list as the main breed. People can search Petfinder by entering a specific breed, so if there's even a hint of lab, they might want to take a look at the picture, and come in to see the dog. It helps to find homes.

I wasn't suggesting that going to any of these sites would give an "accurate" answer to the question, but more of an idea. Presumably, the OP knows what a lab looks like (Grin),and can figure out for herself that there are probably many black dogs in her local shelter/rescue that look like labs who are desperate for a home.


"Just think breeders, how many times have you been asked in public what your champion show dog is mixed with???????? "

I never had that problem.

If you've never had that problem you obviously don't have champion Labradors.
It happens to everyone I know whose dogs are winning show dogs.

As for your "it helps find homes" remark. Yes, no kidding. It also makes JQ Public think THAT'S what a Lab looks like so breeders of quality dogs like myself get comments about our "mixed" breed Champion Labs!

"If you've never had that problem you obviously don't have champion Labradors.
It happens to everyone I know whose dogs are winning show dogs."

Although it is tempting to comment on your statement that your champion lab was mistaken for a Rottweiler, I am going to resist!!!

"As for your "it helps find homes" remark. Yes, no kidding. It also makes JQ Public think THAT'S what a Lab looks like so breeders of quality dogs like myself get comments about our "mixed" breed Champion Labs!"

Actually it should not. Our rescue group calls every dog a MIX (unless it is an owner turn-in and we know for sure that it is purebred).