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.
That's why we are looking at dogs so overdone and downright fat in the ring, that's what's winning. It's one thing to vary from the Labradors of the past, but it's another to not have a mind of your own and just jump on the "flavor of the month" bandwagon. Leave it to humans to mess things up. I stopped showing when I saw this happening, waste of time and money.
