Thank you sooooo much to all of you who know this breed so well for passing on your knowledge in the recent posts about standards and how Labs have evolved over the years.

As someone who cherishes a Lab's temperament almost more than their beauty, do any of you know if there is any history documented about any changes through the years in their temperament and/or work ethic?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

This of course is opinion only but I think that we can lose temperament just as we can lose natural hunting ability when we spend too much time focusing only only the outer package. I have seen too many folks will an ill-tempered dog but forgive it's nasty demeanor because it's beautiful and wins in the show ring. Then those pretty dogs are offered on LQ and elsewhere and we breed to a picture and clearances and never bother to ask the breeder (who of course WON'T tell you the truth). Everyone should care about temperament AS WELL as type and soundness. Heck, temperament is a hallmark of the breed. Yet so many dog du jours are mean.

As far as I know, the standard for temperament has not changed, but, like everything else, the selective pressures are different. The show lines are not always tested for biddability and intelligence as well as they could be, and the field lines are more high charged than many of us would like. But no one is trying to breed aggressive dogs or stupid dogs.

This is in response to the effects of the e-collar. I think that the collar has allowed a softer temperament to succeed in the field. Before the collar, a field trial dog had to be pretty tough. With modern collars and their adjustable levels of stimulus and the ability to give corrections at exactly the right time, training can be much more humane and effective.

Do you know if there is any historical proof that the breed was anything other than the loyal, reasonable dog we see today?

Are there indications that the first breeders saw something in those first dogs beyond their ability to retrieve? Or do you think that we have bred the temperament into these dogs over the years?

Understanding the evolution of a particular animal is so helpful when faced with an injury, disease or behavior problem.

Thanks again for your time.

I have heard vets and vet techs tell me they are seeing more shy and more aggressive labs. However, they tell me these labs are not being produced by the regular show breeders and hunting breeders that they know. My concern is that whenever you breed for just one thing, be it your idea of general beauty or for hunting drive, other things will suffer. This includes temperament. But, it does seem like the less good temperaments are mostly being produced by "backyard" breeders. I hope that is not just my wishful thinking. I remain hopeful....

The breeder I bought my Lab from said that she considers many things when she decides to do a breeding-
Temperment
Health Clearances
Conformation
Pedigree
In that order.
She said temperment has to be the first consideration.
She sells most of her dogs to pet homes but she said no matter where they go, temperment is formost!

In my opinion the temperaments in some kennels have changed because they are selecting for different criteria. In my own experiences in the ring in the last few years I have been in the dog rings with males that I see are difficult to manage and many border on aggressive(or are outwardly aggressive).But as the previous poster stated they are forgiven because they are winning or are beautiful to their breeder. They have also lost that sweet melting expression and have harder faces. Do I think that translates into a harder dog, yes.

The first thing I condider is temperament,I don't want a pushy hard to manage, not very biddable dog in my home, and if I don't want to train one like that I can't see that my puppy buyers should have to struggle training one either.

One reason why I think that even the vets complain to me about some of the more backyard breeders temperaments is that they are breeding to some of these "dog dujour" dogs,I see it often, and they can say " he's a big winner or champion" but are ill prepared to deal with the temperament they have now brought in or that has trickled down because someone else did.I've seen some of the pedigrees and it's not a surprise to me.