Not sure where you get your numbers, but I just checked the list for MBF and the total number of dogs is 961 with an entry of 1,351. There are 22 more bitches than last year, but 43 less males in the regular classes. There are 103 specials (one less than last year) which should be enough to choose from.

There were only 703 last year. The 1200 plus figure includes double entries of the same dogs, most probably for sweepstakes. Look on Infodog

The entry above includes sweeps and veterans and non-regular class....

I personally like the foreign judges...albeit would prefer they actually bred Labradors. It gets tiresome seeing the same overdone, incorrectly coated dogs win time and again.

Actually, if you add it all up it is right around 1200. I could easily be off by a few here and there. So the entry is about what it always is. Glad to be going this year and can hardly wait to see all of the beautiful dogs :)

It seems like many are only interested in having a judge tell them that their dogs are lovely, rather than receiving an independent opinion. There are beautiful Labradors all over the world – some of the nicest I have seen in recent years are from Sweden/Finland and the surrounding areas. I would be more inclined to show to judges who will look at the dogs objectively and hold them to the standard, rather than to whatever the look of the moment is. Most of the shows in this country are the same old same old – no real variety in judges (and I believe a wider variety of opinions is a good thing) and clubs more interested in attracting large entries than providing an opportunity for learning from a new perspective. Quite a few people invited to judge sweeps have been in the breed all of 5 minutes (but have a few big wins which seems to count for more than actual experience/contribution). Very few people actually win big at these things – it seems like a more productive frame of mind would be to embrace the learning opportunities presented by a different point of view.

I really like that Potomac has foreign judges for the regular classes. There is a reason they don't like a good number of the dogs. Rather then being so offended perhaps you should open your mind to the fact that the dogs they object to are sometimes overdone, long and low or just plain short on leg, too much bone, mastiff like heads, too much coat, or grossly overweight. We American judges are more forgiving because we are used to seeing these dogs and they are the norm here now. That in itself is sad. The foreign judges are needed to help us keep perspective of what the breed should be. We should be reading the critiques and learning from them. Yes, some of the judges are not the best, but neither are all the American breeder judges. Just because you have bred many champions and specialty winners doesn't mean you have the ability to go out and judge several hundred dogs and do a good job of it. It is hard work to select from the kind of entry at Potomac. That is why it is critical to have people select judges that both know their ability to judge well and are impartial. To be asked to judge Potomac is a great honor and should be offered to those who are notable breed experts. I hope they continue to bring in foreign judges that are Labrador breeders.

You have to compare apples to apples, not apples to oranges, so you need to look at the entries prior to the show, which you can compare to the current posted entries.

Those numbers quoted are the dogs who actually SHOWED at the show, not the ENTRIES. I looked in my catalogs from the past 3 years and this is the entry BEFORE absentees were removed:

2010 - 1042 dogs entered, total entry of 1510, 70 obedience, 85 rally
2011 - 1109 dogs entered, total entry of 1588, 101 obedience, 132 rally
2012 - 1025 dogs entered, total entry of 1483, 119 obedience, 85 rally
2013 - 800 dogs entered (they don't have the total entry tallied up)

So bottom line, there are over 200 FEWER dogs ENTERED at the show - no idea how many will actually show up and end up counting in the real numbers.

I cannot even believe folks are debating about Potomac numbers.... and discussing the judge choices again. It is insulting to all of the people who work so hard to put on this show and tiresome to everyone else.

Winning would be oh so awesome, but we go to see dogs and see friends... could care less who's judging because at the end of the day, I'm going to use who I want and not who was put up.

The sour grapes get old as does the bickering. Get out of the sport if you can't behave like our dogs.

Since when do you go to the Potomac for the judging? I go to see lots of great Labradors, friends from all over the US and the world, and for the PARTYING!

Wow "Huh?"...way to not read the entire post...I belive I stated I preferred the foreign judges at Potomac because it gets tiresome seeing some of these overdone huge dogs at the other specialities...I was referring to specialities with dogs put up by US breeder/judges. A Labrador should not weigh 110 lbs!!

Dr Woods did a spectacular job last year in Breed...loved his final line up.

That being said, do we find that both of the class judges this year are Lab breeders?

We have some good all round judges in the United States that know a well made dog. Are they any less qualified?