When I had my home-bred specialty winner at the vet - "Is that a Lab mix?" "No, she's a Labrador." "Well, you got ripped off by the breeder. My brother-in-law has a Labrador with papers and he doesn't look anything like that."

When I had her son at the vet - "That's a Lab mixed with what?" "He's a Labrador." "Oh."

Are there other breeds where people don't recognize the best of the best as even a purebred?

One of my favorites is: Oh - you have chocolate labs? They are the most hyper (I've also heard dumbest) out of all of them. Or - is that as big as she is going to get? Most purebreds are much taller than that. Lol :)

While walking my (very type, very cobby) boy through a crowd, one woman took it upon herself to tell me my lab was mixed with something else. Her "SHE KNEW" attitude cracked me up so much I broke out in laughter.

I did not engage her and walked away. It is what it is - people are dolts.

I get it all the time too. Someone once swore that my boy Jack was a Dogue de Bordeaux. Another that he was the spitting image of her pit/lab mix.

I once had to say to one particularly argumentative person, Considering I am the one that inserted the semen in my bitch and I am the one that caught Jack on the way out of the womb, YES I am fairly SURE he's a purebred Labrador.

Most folks around here seem to understand if I say he's an "English" lab. I don't like the term but it seems to gel for them.

I get that response EVERY time I take one of my labradors to the vet office, LOL!
"What kind of mix is that"? ( to my Am./Can. CH. bitch )
"is she a puppy?" ( 5 yr old mid size bitch )
"What kind of dog is that"? ( 4 mos old lab pup )....but he's so short and squatty!" ( uh, did I not say he is FOUR MONTHS old?! LOL )
"What kind of dog is that, it doesn't look like any lab I've seen"? ( That's her photo on the vet's office wall, winning a specialty show! )
"My brother in law's lab weighs 150#"! ( I tell them what the breed standard says for size )
The vet's receptionist is a dog breeder, she just snickers!

People stop me and ask about my labs all the time. They can't believe how athletic and fit they look. They think their faces are so soft and kind, and that their temperaments are so friendly and curious. They always comment about the fat, rotweiller headed labs and the tall, lanky hyper ones that they see everywhere. I just thank them for their kind words and explain that there are different styles of labs because people have different tastes. Variety is the spice of life!

Deep down, I don't agree that there should be so much variety. I also think my labs look how labs are supposed to....but so doesn't everyone else. What can you do? Too bad there is nothing officially written that describes a correct Labrador (sarcasm with humorous intentions)... :)

A few years back, Jack O'Shaughnessy called me to ask if I had a girl in season. He was going to have his vet collect Multi BISS Am Can Ch Wiscoy's Don't Sell Me Short. We met at the vet's office at the end of the day. I left my girl in my car. Jack, Casey and I sat in the waiting room.

When the exam room door opened, out came a woman with a tall, rangy yellow lab. She stopped dead in her tracks, looked at her dog and said, "See Max! That is what a lab is supposed to look like!!!"

Not everyone is so clueless!

"Is that a English Lab or a American Lab?"......

My younger guy is a yellow lab, balanced, nice head, typey. I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asked my what my Rott was mixed with. A couple times when I had the gumption, I said, "Nothing. He's a Golden Rott and I paid alot of money for him. I just didn't believe in docking his tail." And they would invariably smile, nod and say how handsome he is.
God help me.

Dumb helper at my vets, used to work at the local county shelter.
"we had lots of Labs all the time at the shelter but none of 'em ever looked like THAT! Are you sure it's pure?"
Was referring to my BISS CH black boy......

I was finishing up a therapy visit at the local hospital with my chocolate champion boy, and as we stepped off the elevator, a maintenance man came up to us and asked, "What kind of dog is that?" When I told him he was a chocolate Lab, he replied, "No he's not. I have a chocolate Lab at home, and he doesn't look anything like that." I told him I was pretty sure he was a Lab and he was a champion too. I don't think he believed me!

All of the fun comments remind me of the time several years back when we were leaving Sam's club with a cart of 400lbs plus of dog food. The person in line behind us looks at us and says "Y'all got dogs?" Okay, so my husband looks at them & with a perfectly straight face tells them "No'mam, we have a grizzly bear re-hab facility and this is what they eat." The customer said "Really? I didn't know we had one of those down here!". Needless to say, I had to turn around and walk out!! I nearly rolled on the floor laughing!!

I hear the same thing about my black Rottie So funny!

Ha ha. I met a black golden/rot cross at the dog park just today. He looked just like a PB lab!

My favorite was my good Ol' boy neighbor eyeing my new bitch(who had just placed in her class at Potomac) " Didn't grow much, did she? Can't hunt with her!)

While I can smile at some of the experiences shared here regarding our interactions with the general public and their perceptions of what a Lab is, it also makes me wonder if our version of type has strayed from what is true Labrador type. If type is what sets one breed apart from another, shouldn't there be no mistaking it? Of course, there will always be uneducated people, but with some of the trends we see how adays, it makes me wonder...

Several years ago, there was a head shot of a Rottie in the AKC Gazette breed columns. I wondered why it was in the Sporting Group. I was quite taken aback to see the caption read Labrador Retriever Rottweiler. That has stayed with me.

I think it has more to do with the fact most of the labs the general public has seen/interacted with, are from BYB or field lines, and are just way incorrect!
I often overhear folks at the vets office ( with their poor quality lab ), "I'm studding him out"...I've even had them approach me, offering their dogs services...which I politely decline. These dogs hardly resemble a labrador, and are often HUGE, with no coat, stick tails, horrible conformation, and sometimes terrible temperaments, or very hyper.

Don't you love that? I had one guy who e-mailed me offering me his dog's services, and in return instead of a fee he'd "let" me have one puppy. After I stopped laughing, I sent him a serious e-mail and said that for Tilly's next breeding I was planning on shipping semen from out of state from a Champion dog with a hunt title that had all of his clearances. I told him that in the future I would consider it if he had hip, elbow and eye clearances, a PRA test, and a brucellosis test. If he had those things, I'd like to see how his dog hunted, whether he had any performance titles, and was he already pointed towards his championship? The response I got back was "what is a PRA test?" I sent him a link to Optigen and never heard from him again.

I have alot of people stop me to comment on my boy, they are fascinated by him, his look... their comments are his beautiful head.. which is lovely, he has the wonderful soft true labrador eye.. which I think always captures them. He is fit and moderate, with a lovely thick tail. He is approachable by his look, and he has a wonderful temperament towards all dogs, so whether the person has a puppy or a newfy he is always wagging his tail in acceptance. Many have asked if he is a purebred and I smile and reply "Yes, he is very well bred, what all labs should be". They just smile and say, he is not what we see, but he is beautiful. I am proud of him being an advocate of the true lab. He is a Ch and he is amazing in the field!

Wow. This helper at your vet's office never saw a quality Labrador because she was accustomed to seeing mixed breed dogs at the animal shelter so she is called DUMB? Classy. This behavior speaks volumes.

I remember walking back to the bench in Chicago with my WD/BOW (4pt major) and someone stopped me and said how she had a dog at home who looked exactly like my guy. I smiled and congratulated her. I also told her to get that dog in the ring, since my boy just took home the major.

Lately however, when someone asks me, I take some time to explain the breed standard. If they mention how nice our puppies are, i congratulate them for noticing a nice dog.

Perhaps I am whistling in the wind, but I hope we can educate a bit.

On the way home from Potomac at the border when they opened my car to check out the dog the young man said "oh my, are you sure he is not a BEAR?" LMAO

NOPE, he is a pure bred chocolate labrador.

We then had a nice converstation on purepred dogs as he too was surprised and asked why he was so "thick".

The comment I loved (not!) from a guy on the street in L.A., directed towards my beautiful, well-bred, typey, big-headed purebred Labrador was: "Is your dog part 'pit?'"
That was an opportunity for education that I was so floored by, I did not take!

A few years ago I was watching the BIS competition at the Hampton shows over Memorial Day Weekend.

A Lab had won the group. A family of spectators asked...what kind of dog is that. I explained it was a Labrador Retriever. The father said no it isn't. I said, well yes it is and I am a Lab Breeder. I explained about the AKC Breed Standard and he said, no that is not a Lab...just as the lab was awarded BIS!

Is there something written somewhere that explains what a "real" Labrador is? Not someone's opinion, I don't care how "famous" the person is. I want something official.

Yes, it is call the AKC Breed standard...

http://www.akc.org/breeds/labrador_retriever/

After having Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs and a PBGV, and no one knowing what they were, I was used to the questions. Once I got my Labradors, I thought that the questions were a thing of the past. Can't tell you
how many times I have been asked if my blacks are Rotties and my yellow male, a Mastiff????

Pot, meet Kettle.

The poetic irony of this thread is thick considering the authoritative yet ill-informed comments about impurity that many here have made about "Silver" Labradors.

Carry on.

I believe that no matter what breed of dog you own, at some point, if you come across an individual who has never seen that particular breed or style of dog you will get asked some pretty ridiculous questions. I have friends with brindle greyhounds who have been asked if their dogs were either Great Danes, pit bulls, or the weirdest of them all: hyenas. Yes hyenas, and yes I'm being completely serious.

In my area there are very few if any show bred Labradors yet individuals still recognize that my boy is (in their words) "English" style. I've never had anyone ask if my boy was a Rottweiler or Mastiff but when he was a pup, I did have someone ask if he was a cocker spaniel