By mkob
Last week we posted a provocative article regarding what we viewed as overweight Labradors representing the breed in the Westminster Dog Show. We have gotten lots of feedback on the post, from Veterinarians and Lab owners supporting our view and some folks, mostly breeders and show dog owners, telling us how wrong we are.
Given the firestorm and strong feelings on both sides, we decided to take a step back and look at what the real issue is – not whether those particular dogs are overweight or not, but what has happened to the AKC Standard for Labradors and is it healthy for the dogs. And let’s be clear, it’s not just Labs who are impacted by a drift from the standard, other breeds are as well (i.e. German Shepherds, Bulldogs and Sussex Spaniels just to name a few.)
Labrador Retriever Standard
The Labrador Standard as it exists today was updated and approved by the The Labrador Retriever Club of America in 1994. There is only one standard in use by the AKC and The Labrador Retriever Club and this is the standard used to judge the entrants at Westminster. Contrary to some of the comments we received regarding our post, there is no ‘English’ Standard or ‘American’ Standard – there is one Labrador Standard. Yes, admittedly, there’s controversy over this and advocates on either side state there should be different standards for the different types. Maybe so, but as of now, there is only one breed and one standard.
We spent the weekend looking back at Labrador Champions over the years. Since a Lab has never won at Westminster, we looked at Best of Breed, Best in Show (BIS) and Best of Opposite Sex (BOS) Champions at Westminster and other shows around the country. There are many great Labradors throughout the years, and several that are considered foundation dogs because of the success of their progeny in both the show ring and the field. One of them is Champion Shamrock Acres Light Brigade, born in 1964 and known as Briggs. He sired 94 champions, making him the Top Sire in the breed. His personal record was twelve Best in Show, 45 Group Firsts, 30 Group Placements. It would be hard to argue that this is not a fine specimen of a Labrador. Here’s a photo of Briggs (on the left) in his prime alongside the Westminster 2014 Breed BOS winner.
(Photo from Westminster.com)And here’s a photo of a more recent Champion – CH Ridge View Heartland Hit Man, BOB in the 1997 Westminster and #1 Labrador in the U.S. in 1997 & 1998.
The differences in these dogs is obvious and marked. If we are judging to a ‘standard’ then it appears the ‘standard’ has somehow skewed to shorter, stockier and heavier. Our question is why?
Many of our readers breed and show their dogs. Many have decried the state of judging and the rewarding of …read more
From: When did Overweight Labs Become the New Normal?
