labadore

No I haven't. I did think about it, but decided not to as think the whole family got a big enough shock with what happened and even though letting his kid walk the dog was a serious lapse in judgement that could have ended very badly, I think he actually is a responsible dog owner and all other times I have encountered him previously, he has always had full control of his dogs and they are always on lead which has been held by him and from our quick chats as we passed by, he always seemed so responsible and considerate of other dog owners. Hopefully he learns a valuable lesson from last and I hope I don't get to regret my decision not to report it.

Exactly. I think his definition of supervising is being in the near vicinity of his child and dog

Thanks :) Couldn't agree more, dogs can catch us adults offguard in the blink of an eye, but at least the majority of the time we can recover quickly enough and hold on to them, a poor kid has no chance. They are so so lucky it didn't end in tragedy, which has been playing on my mind since I got home last night

Thanks :) I think my boy is fine as when the other owner finally got a hold of his dog and pulled him to the other side of the road and I took my boy to the other side and then we went into the people's garage to check him out, he was his normal happy self, loved getting pats and attention from all these new people that came to our aid and was his normal happy confident self walking home, which is one of the reasons, why I declined the offer of a ride home and being accompanied on our walk home as wanted to see how my boy handled the walk home apart from giving me time to unwind and get it together.

So I was out walking my 5 year old black lab boy last night and decided to walk a route we used to walk quite regularly, but due to recovering from a back injury from a fall down the stairs at work, have not walked it in awhile as it takes a little longer than my injured back could cope with. However after months of treatment and gradually increasing our walking distances, I reached a milestone last night to be able to return to this other route. We were both enjoying our return to our old familiar walking route as it felt so good to be able to walk this distance and on our way back around 8.45pm, my boy went into alert mode as we were walking out on the path out of a reserve to the street frontage, so I scanned left and right to look for another dog as my boy's stance indicated the presence of another dog. To our right, a little distance away, I could make out a couple of people and a child and a large black dog and to my horror I saw the kid was the one with the lead walking this large powerful dog. As we were going to cross the road, I wrapped my boy's leash tighter around my hand and we started crossing the road and I picked up the pace to keep the distance between us as in the distance I had noticed the dog's body language change and had recognised this dog as we had encountered him and his owner on previous walks when we used to walk in this area and this dog did not like my boy and vice versa, both similar in age and both intact, so we always made efforts to keep a good distance between our dogs. I was extremely concerned that his kid was walking this dog and next minute out of the corner of my eye, I could see this huge powerful dog running towards us and he launched an attack on my dog . I was screaming and trying to keep my boy behind me and trying to stop this dog from attacking my boy. My boy is a big, solid strong boy who will not back down if attacked and the owner was running up the road towards us calling his dog who just ignored him, cars were stopping as were in the middle of the road (albeit on a walkway on the road), people were coming out of their houses to check on the commotion and the owner was having trouble trying to get his dog and get him under control. I was getting tangled in the lead and getting wrenched around with my boy trying to defend himself and me trying to keep the other dog at bay until the owner could get hold of his dog and I was on the verge of letting my boy's leash go as I thought I was going to faint as my back was sore, I had a splitting headache and finally the owner got hold of his dog and pulled him to the other side of the road and I pulled my boy to the opposite side. The owner was profusely apologising and very shocked his dog attacked mine as I was berating him about allowing his small kid who would have been under 8 yrs old to walk this big powerful and extremely strong dog. The owner was saying he has been allowing his kid to walk the dog under his supervision for awhile now without incident and being able to walk past other dogs without any problems. I was still screaming at him about how irresponsible he was, in allowing this and he should know better as he knows how strong his dog is and that dogs can be unpredicatable and you have to be prepared everytime you go for a walk with them and particularly at night. I told him that I would come looking for him if my dog has been injured in anyway as I just wanted to get him home and check him out. A lady in one of the cars that stopped to check on me offered to give me and my boy a ride home as I was pretty shocked over the incident, but then a couple that also came out from the house closest to where we were, asked me to come inside their garage which was already open with lights on so that I could check my boy for any injury and they gave me a glass of water and offered me a seat inside and another lady and her son who also witnessed what happened came into the garage to check if we were ok as they were so shocked with what happened. After checking my boy, who luckily had no visible injury, I was able to gather my thoughts, calm down and profusely thank everyone that came to my aid. The husband of this couple offered to walk me home, but I declined the ride and offer by husband to walk me home as I just wanted to unwind and get over the shock on the way home, which was only about 8 mins walk home and let my boy enjoy the rest of his walk home. Just thinking of all that could have gone horribly wrong with this incident (i.e. dog dragging kid onto the road, kid and or dog being hit by a car, my boy being injured etc) made me feel quite ill when I got home. I still can't get over this guy letting his small kid walk this dog, which is a big, powerful and very impressive Rottweiler. I won't even let my 10 year old grand-daughter walk or hold the leash of my 5 year old black lab boy, as he is a very strong, solid 40kg big boy, particularly when other dogs come into view as most of the time he just wants to meet and greet them all and there is no way she would be able to restrain him. As strong and big as my lab boy is and whilst he won't back down when he is being attacked by another dog, I know he will come off 2nd best when a Rottweiler who has at least 20kg on him is involved. They are a big and powerful breed, particularly the males and as such need strong leadership and management and should never ever be walked by kids. It upsets me greatly that my boy was attacked and I know the owner of the Rotti was equally upset and shocked, but I am angry that he put his poor kid and dog in such a position, particularly as he is an experienced Rotti owner with many years experience owning multiple pedigree Rotties over many years. He kept saying they have never had any other incidents with any other dogs and had obviously become complacent about letting their kid walk this big powerful dog and I told him (acxtually screamed at him) that he was totally irresponsible in letting his kid walk this dog and very dangerous at night and that as dog owners walking big dogs we need to be particularly mindful of other dogs and their owners as dogs can be unpredictable around other dogs when you least expect it, no matter how much training, no matter how much you think you know and trust your dog. I am also very upset for the little boy as it was obviously very traumatic for him to witness the dog he loves and plays with and probably thinks is a big teddy bear, break away from him and launch into a very scary attack on another dog, god only knows what psychological damage that will do to this poor little boy and how he now views his dog . The owner of this dog isn't some dickhead owner who has a Rotti as a status symbol. I have spoken to him on a few occasions when meeting/passing on walks with his stunning Rotties and I passed on my condolences to him when he lost his beautiful 13 year old boy, a couple of years back. He loves the breed, only buys them from reputable breeders having learned over the years, exercises them daily and seems to take very good care of them and seemed so responsible and definitely in control of his dogs during their walks. Obviously during the time I have not been walking in that area, he has become irresponsible in letting his little kid hold the lead and walk the dog with no problems up until last night. Hopefully he learned a valuable lesson last night that it is not ok to let a little kid hold the lead and the walk such a powerful strong dog. It could have ended disastrously for either my or his dog and/or kid. . The 8 or more witnesses to this attack last night will now have negative opinions on an already much maligned breed thanks to this once responsible owner becoming irresponsible in allowing his kid to walk this dog single handedly. I am so peed off about another one of my Labs (3rd one) being attacked whilst out on a walking in completely different areas minding their own business, with no posturing, no barking or antagonising the aggressor, who just launches a speedy unprovoked attack on them The three different breeds responsible for these attacks are all much maligned breeds, one with a dickhead owner, the other two with supposedly responsible owners with many years owning and knowledgeable with their breed who both committed irresponsible acts that resulted in their dogs attacking mine in front of their children and wives and in one case, my senior boy (14.5 yrs old) has his ear savaged/torn and arthritic body injured from being jumped on and knocked to the ground by this vicious beast (and yes this dog was vicious and not even trusted by her owner who actually told me she couldn't be trusted and never let offlead and he takes her and the male dog to a park full of children, other dogs and people and lets the male dog (who was friendly by the way) off the leash in an onleash park who rushed up to my boy to say hello and consequently the owner, wife and kid rushing up to us with their other dog on lead who subsequently attacked my old boy :mad . Off to physio to get some treatment on my back and neck as injury aggravated with the incident last night and pounding the pavement will be off the agenda for a week or two, so back to the dog parks until I can pound the pavement again, thankfully the dog parks have been a godsend during my back injury recovery.

Replies to this thread make you wonder how any of us first time Labrador puppy owners pre internet and puppy preschool days ever managed to survive and successfuly raise Lab pups :laugh: and go on to own multiple Labs over many many years. We were all first time Labrador owners, who fell madly in love with the breed and love their exuberance and joy for life and could never imagine owning any other breed. Yes they are exuberant (which is what I love about them) and some can be boisterous and some youngsters can get out of control without boundaries and guidelines and appropriate physical and mental stimulation and effort put in by their families to include them and not relegate them to the backyard neglected and starved of family companionship. The Labrador Retriever is the most popular dog in the U.S., Canada, UK and up until recently Australia. Why is that so I wonder? and given their popularity one would think that by "DOL" standards, there would be many more abandoned/surrendered Labs because of idiotic first time/noivce Lab puppy owners cannot cope with raising a Lab. Many Labs are raised by first time novice dog owners with young families who survive :laugh: with many falling in love with the breed for life throughout generations in their families. With Labs being so popular, the number of them being abandoned/surrendered is actually extremely low. Also not all pups/youngster are maniacs (Marley like) and it does a disservice to this wonderful breed to paint that picture. My current youngster who is now 5 years old was the most chilled out pup at home with brilliant bite inhibition who has never nipped me or my family which includes my grandchildren, even when he was teething and he has hardly destroyed anything and majority of his puppy toys lasted years. Out of the 4 pups I have raised, I have only had one challenging lovable scoundrel who destroyed his toys within minutes and beds in record time and got up to all sorts of mischief, but he had the most beautiful bomb proof temperament, was a very funny and extremely entertaining boy :laugh: who was loved by all, even at his naughtiest best :laugh: and he developed into the best behaved adult and was the most awesome Lab who I still miss dearly to this day DOLers negative opinions on Labradors are at stark contrast to their ongoing worldwide popularity with many Labs being owned by first time/novice owners, the majority of whom do a pretty good job of raising their pups. Contrary to advice, reputable Lab breeders will sell pups to families with young kids and novice/first time dog or Lab owners and rightly so. Labs are wonderful family members, great with kids and yes some kids get knocked over by excited boisterous Labs, so what, most kids get right back up and carry on, it is the helicopter parents that don't cope. Labs have a well deserved reputation for being great with kids and there are far more things to worry about raising kids than worrying about the odd knock over by an exhuberant dog, whether it be a Lab or some other breed. Hopefully your friend will find a reputable Lab breeder who breeds to the Lab standard which includes the legendary Lab temperament.

Labradors should never be clipped and it upsets me that groomers do this when it is so unnecessary and not good for their coats. Why don't groomers advise the owners when they try to book in for a clip, that Labradors do not need clipping. They are a short haired breed with an undercoat and all they need is a quick brush/comb. They are a very low maintenance, wash and wear type of breed. If an owner cannot give them a quick brush/comb, then they don't deserve to own one.

They have been overwhelmed with the response from the public to adopt the surviving dogs with traffic chaos being created by the public trying to get to their sister site Cheshire Dogs' Home, they have posted the following: I suspect the excess food and donated items would find its way to other shelters. The arsonist kid will probably be in protective custody as I am sure there will be lots of animal loving crims lining up to get their hands on him :D

They arrested a 15 year old boy within an hour of the fire thanks to the response of the public and the police have had to relocate his family due for their safety due to the emotional nature of the crime and overwhelming response from the public. There are many people baying for this boy's blood for what he did and hoping he suffers the same fate as the poor dogs that lost their lives did . Here is a link to the Manchester Dogs' Home Facebook page. Manchester Dogs' Home They are also nominating two local guys for hero awards who rushed in and saved about 20 dogs by kicking in the doors to the kennels to free the dogs and put them on leashes and tie them to fences before the firemen and police got there. There is a huge fundraising effort underway to help them rebuild the home and one of the efforts through the Justgiving website which was setup by the Manchester Evening Newspaper has already raised a staggering £1,342,696.84 with donations received worldwide from all the doglovers out there including myself. They have been inundated with offers from builders, other tradesmen and businesses offering their time and materials to rebuild the home, so on the positive side they should end up with state of the art new home as the old place was very old and quite run down as they are a charity and were fully reliant on public donations. They are also being inundated with food, blankets, crates, beds and so many other supplies required for the dogs and many collections and drop off points at so many businesses as the response to this awful tragedy has been quite amazing. All the surviving dogs have been transported to their sister shelter and other shelters and rescues are also helping. Hopefully with all this help being offered and money they are receiving they will be back up and running pretty quickly. Justgiving Donation for Manchester Dogs Home

:cry: RIP pups and run free at such a tragedy :cry: but also a very uplifting response from the public worldwide to this tragedy Arson attack at Manchester Dogs' Home UK kills over 50 dogs but 150 saved

Some absolutely beautiful and stunning Rotties . That clothes basket full of those adorable Rotti pups is just too cute for words, such gorgeous babies :love: and that pic of the two gorgeous Rotties sitting in the outside chairs with a beer at hand is just adorable :laugh: , Jag is a very handsome boy , even with his eyes closed :laugh:. Starkehre congratulations on your success with Seven, can see why, she is a beautiful girl . Grumpette, your pics of your beautiful crew are just fantastic, you capture their essence beautifully My family, (Mum, sisters, brother, niece) all had Rotties and my oldest sister used to breed them years ago(BYB)so have had a lot to do with them over quite a few years and was very close to getting one myself quite a few years ago after one of my beloved black Labs died. Unfortunately too many of them end up in the wrong hands of idiots owners which unfairly tarnishes their reputation.

I lost my oldest boy, a black Labrador, in Feb this year at 15yrs,8months old and he was my longest living Lab, but I was also fortunate enough to have another one of my gorgeous adopted black Lab boys live to 15 yrs of age as well. I found my oldest living boy in a pound about 6 weeks shy of his 10th birthday and wasn't planning on adopting him as I already had two black lab boys, but after meeting this beautiful boy, I just couldn't leave him there as his chances of being adopted were pretty slim. He was everything I could have ever asked for in a Lab and I bonded very deeply with this boy, he was just an exceptional dog and I miss him dearly I was extremely lucky with this gorgeous boy as I believe genetics played a big part in this boy's longevity along with his "toughness". All my Labs have been very stoic, but this boy was the toughest of them all and I believed this toughness helped him tremendously in dealing with what was thrown his way. He was suffering from a number of health issues when I found him in the pound, so got all these issues addressed and it gave him a new lease on life to which he responded extremely well. He was on cartrophen injections, jointguard and fish oil tablets for his arthritis and he loved his daily walks, car rides and frequent trips to the river right up to his last few days. He had lost his hearing and his eyesight wasn't the best, but he was fully mobile, loved his food, still played bitey faces with my Lab youngster and was still able to get up on the couch with some assistance for his nightly cuddle. He went downhill very suddenly and unexpectedly with suspected tumour and I had him pts at home a few days later. Here is a pic of him enoying some relaxation in the sun at his favourite park about a month after his 15th birthday.

A 10month old male Labrador would be very easy to housetrain. My recent adoptee, a 6 year old black lab boy I adopted 4 months ago had lived his entire life as an outside dog on acreage because his useless owners couldn't be bothered to put the time and effort into training him, including housetraining. I had him housetrained in a couple of weeks, treated him as a pup and took him out very regularly and apart from a couple of accidents (my fault entirely as I didn't see him go to the outside door waiting to be let out) in the first week, he has responded extremely well and very quickly to housetraining, as have some of the other Labs I adopted who were even older. He has been an inside dog from the first day I brought him home as have all my Labs whether I have raised them from pups or adopted them and I put the time and effort into housetraining them. He has fantastic manners inside and is asleep on the couch next to me as I type this post. It distresses me greatly to hear about yet another 10month old male lab youngster who is being rehomed as his useless owners haven't met his needs. Common theme with these youngsters is they are relegated to the outside, largely ignored and left to their own devices, receive no training, physical or mental stimulation and very limited interaction with their families. As a result, they become over the top exciteable, hard to control, challenging large adolescents. Makes me SO SO MAD Hopefully this boy finds the right home with the right owner who will be able to meet all his needs and help him develop into a well adjusted, very happy and very loving Lab he was born to be. Despite his bad start to life with these idiotic owners, there is so much potential and youth on his side and I hope to hell he finds the right home, hopefully a Lab savvy home, as it will make the world of difference to this youngster. Labs are very easy to train with their strong desire to please, fantastic temperament and legendary love of food :D and Lab youngsters are like sponges, so there is an excellent chance of training this boy to be a great dog if given the chance with the right home and owner. :)

Rescue A Labrador do interstate adoptions, here are links to their website and facebook page Labrador Rescue website Labrador Rescue Facebook page Labradog Rescue is a Sydney based Lab rescue org and they have the most gorgeous youngster, a 15month old black boy named Axel who has recently come into care as well as some other adorable Labs looking for homes. Not sure if Amanda Scott, who runs this rescue does interstate adoptions, but worthwhile making contact with her through their facebook page, link below or through their website where her mobile no. is listed for contact. Their website isn't kept uptodate, but their Facebook page is updated very regularly so you can see pics of all the gorgeous Labs available for adoption, including Axel, just scroll down their page. Labradog Facebook page Labradog Website Contact details Just in regard to your concern re a male lab, the Lab boys rule in my household :) as I have found the males to be extremely affectionate, very closely bonding and worship the ground you walk on. A boy as a mate for Holly would be the ideal pairing. Good luck in finding a Lab to give a forever home to and help Holly and your family with your recent loss

Hemangiosarcoma is an awful aggressive cancer that by the time it is diagnosed it is normally too late for a good outcome, even with surgery and chemo treatment as these only buy some time. I lost one of my beloved black lab boys to this awful cancer 5 months after diagnosis despite surgery to remove his spleen (splenectomy) as that was where the tumour was and then chemo and this was despite the fact that during surgery and prior scans, there was no evidence of the spread to any other part of his body/organs. Not sure I would go down the chemo route again though if I was ever unlucky enough to have another one of lab's diagnosed with this awful cancer. The reason it is so invasive and aggressive is because it is essentially a cancer of the cells that line the blood vessels and the most common place a hemangiosarcoma tumor is found is in the spleen as one of the major functions of the spleen is to filter old and dying red blood cells. Another place a hemangiosarcoma tumour is found is in the heart. If the tumour is in the spleen or heart, then there is a risk of a bleedout, hence the recommendation for a splenectomy, to prevent a life-threatening sudden bleed. Because the hemangiosarcoma tumors most often develop in internal organs, frequently, there are few or no obvious symptoms so by the time there any symptoms, the damage has been done. Hemangiosarcoma is rarely curable and the long-term prognosis for dogs with hemangiosarcoma is grave and unfortunately this horrible cancer with such a high fatality rate is claiming more and more of our beloved dogs. At present, there is no readily available, effective test for early diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma . By what you describe with dog coughing, not eating etc, sounds to me like the cancer has spread to his lungs and the owners need to consider PTS option which as any of us that have been through this know, is an extremely difficult, emotional and devastating decision to make, but we do it to end our dog's suffering. You might want to pass on this link to the family to help them assess their poor dog's quality of life and help them make the decision to end their dog's suffering. http://www.hilstvet.com/quality-of-life-scale-pets/ My holistic vet who was treating my poor boy in conjunction with his Oncologist helped me tremendously in understandng what my boy was going through and provided me with the Quality of Life Scale along with compassionate advice for which I will be eternally grateful for and she put my boy to sleep at my home when the time came not long after xrays showed the cancer had spread to his lungs. So sorry for the dog and his family and my thoughts are with them during this very difficult time.

Both bitches are just under 18 months the blacks photo was taken in 2013 Kura was taken this Sydney Royal. Daffy Dog also took 1st open bitch this year at 3 years old this year this is Daffy dog. More English in type with the typical chest development. Daffy whelped a litter in August 2012 her daughter took 2nd in the puppy class. Tks for clarification on your gorgeous youngster's ages and tks for posting pic of your gorgeous Daffy (love her name), great to see a closeup pic of a matured Lab bitch LOL Dame Aussie their weight is perfect IMO but not in conformation I'd like to tweek things on all my bitches I am hoping my boy will improve what I think is lacking. But he is just a baby he has no idea he has a harem waiting for him he is too busy chasing balls and retrieving his dummy. lol Big doofus little does he know.... just about to get his hips/elbows done next week. Love your gorgeous black boy, will be interested to see his development to maturity :)

Tks for your honest assessment and yes he is a very happy boy :) Tks and I agree your gorgeous boy's body shape is very similar to my boy's and sorry you lost your gorgeous boy at 10, I lost one of my beautiful Lab boy's at same age to Cancer Tks for your honest assessment and you make some interesting points. I have been guilty of looking at Greyhounds and Whippets and thinking they need a good feed :laugh: but I know that is not correct as that is their correct shape and I am by no means knowledgeable on these breeds. Having Labs now for many many years, my eye has definitely been educated and influenced by my breed, so I can easily understand how at first glance you would think my boy "too fat" :)

Tapua, what were the ages of your gorgeous girls when those pics were taken, as in fairness we cannot compare pups/youngsters to fully developed matured adults and it would be very helpful to know their ages at time pics taken. I know first hand the big changes that occur during a Labrador's development to maturity and of course the difference in sizes between females and males :)

Ok finally here are some very recent (26/4 & yesterday) closeup pics of my show bred boy that will give you an idea on his body shape and condition, he will be 5 years old in Sept. The other Lab boy in the 2nd last pic is my recent rescue boy who is 6½ years old who I adopted through one of the Lab rescue orgs. Please feel free to critique my boy as it will then give us an indication on people's perception of what a Labrador should look like and what they perceive the body condition to be. Any other Lab owners are welcome to post pics of their Labs :)

They may now be breeding their own Labs but they haven't always. They have sourced their pups from breeders and I know for a fact pups came from show breeders breeding to standard and these pups had the typical Labrador traits/instincts of retrieving, love of water etc but at the appropriate age they underwent the rigors of the guide dog training program. The training program is rigorous with a high failure rate, so only the best that meet all the guide dog criteria make it through and qraduate as guide dogs. Labradors from show breeders bred to standard have been used successfully for many years as guide dogs and there weren't all off chasing birds. :D Once that harness is placed on a dog guide they are in work mode, but when not working I bet many of them love to play fetch and swim if given the chance :D . When you say they don't care about coat etc, I don't think that is strictly true as I am pretty sure some guide dog puppies with allergies/skin conditions don't make it to the guide dog training programme. Labradors are a very versatile dog and their legendary temperament (intelligent, keen and biddable, with a strong will to please. Kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or undue shyness) makes them a very suitable working dog in many arenas as well as fantastic pets/family dogs. My show bred boy is the most chilled out boy at home, but step outside the front gate and he is ready for action, he is athletic and energetic and loves to be on the go. :) I am currently sorting through some very recent close up pics of him that I am going to post later for you to critique and appraise as I will be interested in the variety of judgements/comments as they will be based on each person's 'perception' of a Labrador. I have critiqued the OP's pic of their working line (I believe bred by Guide dogs) by saying that their dog is too lean based on my perception of what I think a Labrador should be/look like, so I need to open my dog up to scrutiny as well :D Whilst he is show bred, I do not show him.

Does this poor pup have any shelter at all? as their Duty of Care means that they have to provide "appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area. I would be reporting them if she has no shelter. I would also be having a discussion with them on returning to Breeder if she was purchased from a responsible, eithical Lab breeder or convincing them to contact either "Labradog Rescue" or "Rescue A Labrador" to surrender/turn the pup over to them to adopt out. Poor baby, makes me sick to the stomach reading of cases like this. My most recent Lab rescue, is a 6½ year old boy who spent his whole life outside on acreage and then when his family separated, none of them wanted him as obviously they had not bonded with him, out of sight, out of mind mentality , but at least they did do the right thing by him in trying to find him a home and he ended up being surrendered to one of the Labrador rescues from which I adopted him. He loves being inside with me and my other Lab boy and has made himself right at home and loves being up on the couch and sleeping on nice warm dog beds around the house :) Labs are very closely bonding dogs and do not do well relegated to the outside as garden ornaments

Labradors and German Shepherds are subject to the most criticism of any of the breeds, everyone is a Lab or GS expert :D and the loudest criticims come from the least knowledgeable and inexperienced in the breeds. For us long time Lab and GS owners and/or breeders, the criticism is downright annoying and it is often incorrect and of course we will come out in strong defense of our beloved breeds. Of course as in most breeds there are some very bad examples and I encounter some of these almost on a daily basis as I take my boys on outings to dog parks, reserves and rivers daily. Some of them are a result of bad breeding and others as a result of owners who have overfed or underfed or underexercised their dogs. The other day at the dog park there were a few Labs of all shapes and sizes and there was a very overweight and very large yellow boy who completely dwarfed my youngest big solid boy both in height and overall size. I have never seen such a large Labrador in person and he was actually a lovely boy, very playful and very friendly typical Lab, but the stress on his joints would have been horrendous, poor boy and I cringe at the thought of his future if his owner does not get some of that weight off. Hopefully the trip to the dog park was the step in this direction. As I have said in one of my previous posts, Labradors are not meant to be lean, but nor are they meant to be overweight. Unfortunately it's people's interpretation of what constitutes overweight and this is where show/bench lines come in for so much criticism about their Labs being overweight. Yes IMHO some of them are, but equally many of them aren't and I think it is unfair to state that a Labrador is overweight/obese due to some people's perception that Labs are meant to be lean, mean muscle machines and if they aren't they are unhealthy, unfit and overweight. As the standard stipulates their general appearance should be: Strongly built, short coupled, very active; broad in skull; broad and deep through chest and ribs; broad and strong over loins and hindquarters with chest of good width and depth, with well-sprung barrel ribs (this effect not to be produced by carrying excessive weight). Level topline. Loins wide, short-coupled and strong. I will come back later and post some pics for discussion :D

interesting article, thanks. Hopefully AUS follow the British on selective breeding and yes the soft mouth is such an important characteristic of the Labrador and I share your concern. I belong to an American Labrador Retriever forum and there are always lively debates on show/bench vs working/field lines :)

To play devils advocate for a moment, if those labs are the ones out there actually working and fulfilling their original purpose and doing well at it, how could they be poor representations of "what a Labrador should be" ? How are they any less a good example of the breed than the dogs strutting around a show ring that aren't proven working dogs? Shouldn't the standard they are bred to be the one that produces the best working type? I'm sure if you asked the handlers who do use them for retrieving they would say "who cares as long as our dogs are fit, healthy and work well". I think there are poor examples of every breed in both "splits" (where there are splits). You can't generalize and say all dogs of working or show type are bad. Should there be such vast differences between sexes when they are bred to the same standard Of course I can generalise, I have been around Labradors for many years and have seen the changes and I don't like the changes with the development of the working line because people wanted Labradors to do things they weren't bred to do and in doing so changed their actual appearance and in many cases the temperament. Many of these working line/field types are highly strung and very hyper and not ideal as pets for the general public. The ex working boy I adopted was actually a great dog and I loved this boy dearly, but he was pretty highly strung and hyper even well into his old age and would have been a handful for inexperienced owners, even at retirement age. I don't understand why you are confused that there are differences between the genders, males are taller, bigger, heavier and stronger than the females. Maybe the choice of "vast" wasn't correct, but the diffence is definitely noticeable and allowed for in the standard. Its obvious you prefer the working lines and I don't, nothing wrong with that, your choice, my choice. Not all changes are good changes and I don't like the fact my beloved breed has split into two types, end of story.

Interesting that the OP holds their Labrador up as an example of what they expect a Labrador to look like . IMHO your Labrador is too lean and if I am not mistaken, she is an ex guide dog from working lines isn't she? I believe that the only time a Labrador should be kept lean is when there is a health/medical condition e.g. hip/elbow displaysia. I don't personally abide by the working/field line labs, they are not representative of what a Labrador should be and they are not bred to a standard like the show/bench Labs are and apart from conformation issues in the working/field line labs, temperaments in some of these lines are also questionable. I have owned multiple Labs over many years with one being from working/field lines as he was an ex working dog and I adopted him when he retired. I have had two of my Labs live until 15 years of age, this ex working dog and one from show/bench lines who was a big solid boy, bred to standard and I lost him in Feb this year at 15 yrs, 8 months old, he was my longest living Lab. My current two Lab boys 4½ yrs and 6½ yrs are both purebred boys, with the youngest one I have had since a pup and the other I recently adopted, but I have his pedigree papers (limited register). The youngest is from a top Labrador breeder and whilst my rescue boy does have some of the same pedigree in his lines that my youngest has, they do look pretty different as my youngster is a big solid and very strong boy who has been able to fully develop as nature intended as I have kept him intact, but my rescue boy was neutered around the 6month mark and has a noticeably smaller head and neck/chest area than my youngster. Everyone has an opinion on what a Labrador should look like and whilst there are many overweight/obese Labs out there, I see a lot in my outings with my boys, you cannot compare show/bench lines with working field lines, they look like totally different dogs. I just don't get why people compare the two, they are apples and oranges and it annoys me also that people think that a Labrador bred to standard cannot do the job they were intended to do. The Labrador bred to standard is an energetic dog built for endurance, not built for agility and running at great speeds for long distances, people who expect this from a Labrador normally end up with the working/field line type. Also you cannot compare males and females, vast differences between the genders and there is also differences between neutered/intact, desexed/entire within the genders and some of these differences are like night and day particularly if the neutering/desexing was done before the growth plates closed and the Labrador had not fully matured. My youngest boy was still developing muscle mass up until he was around 3 years of age at which stage I considered him to be fully matured. :)