ON Facebook, I see people posting pictures of their dogs who don't look anything like Labradors (although there are often some very good qualities within each dog) and see all the people gushing how beautiful the dogs are. Do these people not know what they are looking at or are they just kissing each other's butts?
[I missed the Westminster show. Who was the bitch that won? I'd love to get on their website and see her. Thanks.
"If you can post here, you are computer literate enough to google Westminster 2012 and find the answer yourself and then google the breeder. Easy Peasy."
"Winner this year was a very typey bitch that is not overdone, is a American and English champion, has won breed at numerous specialties and has a JH."
Sorry to be confused but when I look up the winner and at the website and online, I don't see the JH. Being a newbie, I'm confused but I guess here is not where to find help :( I'd still just like to see her and see what wins both a JH and Westminster. It's difficult to learn as a newbie, I recently sat at a specialty and asked someone next to me if they could tell why the judge chose the WB over the others, "look at the standard" was the reply. Old timers say "go to the shows" but I've gone since 2008 and have yet to find more than 1 or 2 nice older breeders willing to share knowledge. Why are so many Labrador breeders unlike their dogs in temperament?
Oh well, this thread has interesting learning material.
The JH was earned after Westminster.
Here's the video, gee that was hard...
http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/videos/#/Breed%20Judging/2012/Sporting/vid:17897723
Why do people have to get snarky with their answers?
Thank God our Labs are nicer than we are.
http://www.clearcreeklabradors.com/windy.html - just look at her website! Gorgeous girl!
The dogs today are meeting the standard. I am not seeing the fat overdone dogs you are referring to. Now maybe you are in a different part of the country but in the East and Southeast the dogs are great.
Posts like these also look like sour grapes to me. Just because your dogs may not be winning doesn't mean all the other dogs are incorrect.
It is alot of smooching, there are so many times I just can't see anything I like about a dog, and wonder why someone would think it is correct.
Everyone on this thread must really be frustrated and depressed. What a bummer to see all these Labradors who don't meet the standard win these shows. To make it worse, the ones most undeserving win the biggest specialties also. Oh....and these dogs cant work in the field. My...oh...my what is the world coming to?
I would love to see what a picture of a Labrador from a group of great artist would look like with nothing but the standard to go by. I am not bashing the standard and I am not suggesting I don't follow it. But, I have been doing this long enough to not think the way most of you are.
And, yes, there are some delusions here. The breed is never going back to the dogs of old like Light Brigade or Super Charger. Awesome dogs in their day but we have moved on.
I believe a truly nice dog will always stand a chance. I have a more moderate dog with an old fashioned coat (short and hard) that finished easily but I would not show to certain breeder judges that like massive (a word that should never be used to describe this breed) dogs - there is no point. There are breeder and all around judges that do appreciate a correct dog.
Some dogs of the past who were nice in their day would not be competitive today because structurally we have improved the breed since then and they would not be competitive. However, there are several dogs from the past who would certainly be competitive today and probably more so because they have not lost head or coat type.
As a "new" person to the breed, let me just ask, aren't breeders perpetuating the path away from the STANDARD by breeding to the "flavor of the month" stud dogs? Picking a stud dog should be about improving what your bitch can produce not because he's the #1 dog at the moment.