03/23/2022
My little ole Labrador Retriever rant for the year.
I guess by now. All you Labrador fanciers have seen the news. To those that haven’t, here it is:
The Labrador is AGAIN for the 31st year in a row, rated as the NUMBER ONE breed in the United States. Amazing right? Well yes and NO. Let me explain why I dislike this popularity.
Being the “most popular breed” has perks but it also brings serious problems. You see, popular breeds like Labradors bring in the masses of unethical people wanting to breed and sell puppies GALORE because they can cash in on that breeds popularity… Thirthy one years of this has lead to poorly bred dogs and many with serious temperament and health issues. Some even with issues that are NOT FOUND in purebred Labradors such as Color Dilution Alopecia, Von Wildebrands Disease just to name a few. Most people don’t know how to determine a professional, ethical breeder vs other less than desirable types. This usually results in someone paying for a poorly bred pup from non health tested parents with inferior pedigree (if they even have one). Worse yet are those advertising Labradors of the color silver, charcoal or champagne. The buyers of these non-standard colors are duped with incorrect information and made up stories so they can feel “assured” they are buying a purebred. Pedigrees CAN BE falsified easily. Just because papers say AKC, does NOT represent purebred or a quality animal….unfortunately! 😔
From my stand point of view when I see advertisements galore on pages from these horrible mills and unethical persons, it really makes me sick to my stomach. How can anyone look at pups in dirt and filth and want to purchase one, especially when the ad also states “MOM is free to first person to take her” 🤯
Next: Our breeds popularity also affects us in the conformation ring. WHY? Labradors, being so popular and so many AKC registrations per year (major cash revenue for AKC) along with some other factors which solely are based on numbers, makes our competition fierce. So just to give an example; to become a champion with AKC, A Lab must earn 15 points and this includes two major wins. Points are earned based on the number of dogs in competition. For a Labrador to earn a major win, he/she must beat out two, sometimes 5 times the amount of dogs it takes in other “less popular breeds”. In a nutshell. It may take a pointer to beat 5 other dogs to earn a major win, but in Labradors it may be 40 dogs to earn a major win. FAIR?
So to sum things up. Ethical breeders have to INVEST way more, we have to do more testing, work way harder and compete at the highest levels of competition than most all other breeds not to mention travel twice as far to even find shows to compete at for majors. But quess what? We don’t need to misrepresent the breed or tell folks lies to place our puppies. We go above and beyond because that is just the only way we know how to do things.
I hope everyone reading this understands that our breed is probably hands down, one of the most trustworthy, loving, easily trained breeds on planet earth. Let me say this……..To own a “REAL Labrador Retriever” who’s pedigrees have been unaltered, who’s lineage has been carefully guarded by the most truest of breeders going back to the breeds first development and carefully shared with select people throughout the world…..you KNOW the difference. You SEE the difference in a Real Labrador vs the generic, sold on craigslist or parking lot puppies. I hope everyone takes the time to meet a real Labrador Retriever some day! 💞
EDITED TO ADD:
✅Reputable breeders DO NOT use the wording below:
‼️*Champion Lines: Because reputable breeders title their own dogs or at very least.. every other generation of their dogs pedigree you will find a titled dogs on BOTH SIDES. No need to advertise something when you own it. “Champion Lines” in ads usually means somewhere WAY BACK in the pedigree will be one or two titled dogs and that far back does nothing to enchance the quality or temperament.
‼️*AKC FULL: Pay attention. Reputable breeders do not and never will advertise any puppy as AKC FULL (catch word here is FULL). This means the person is trying to enhance the sale of their puppies by allowing you breeding rights. Sure you can get breeding rights from these people but the quality of dog will never be comparable to any Labrador bred by ethical and responsible breeders.
‼️* ENGLISH LABS: Yes, yes, I know! Most of you think our Labradors are ENGLISH because of their head and body shape. But we don’t like using that term at all. We like our dogs to be called LABRADOR RETRIEVERS. Those that use the term “English” to advertise a litter, only do so in hopes to draw in uneducated persons for sales. I have all the information about this listed on my FAQS page of my website. Labradors should be ONE BREED as we have ONE WRITTEN STANDARD. 😉
‼️* First pick, 2nd pick, etc. NOPE and HELL NO! Ethical breeders don’t do picks or first come, first serve.
‼️*Ready at 6 weeks. NO and NO AGAIN. Reputable breeders hold pups back until they are properly weaned and old enough to be completely evaluated for health, temperament and other attributes. 8-9 weeks minimum.
‼️*Mulitple puppies available that are older than 10 weeks. Reputable breeders have pups promised before they are weaned. Many much earlier. Considerations are WE keep back one or two pups unreserved so that we may pick our keepers. If by chance we change our mind about keeping a pup or two, one will become available later but just not half the litter or an entire litter.
‼️*Won’t let you come to their home. Want’s to meet you somewhere. Cannot provide reference if asked. Advertises any non-standard feature. Examples: WHITE, SILVER, CHARCOAL, CHAMPAGNE, BLUE EYES, MINATURE. MASSIVE. CANOE LABS, BEAVER TAIL (Labradors have “Otter tails”) BLOCK HEADED (Correct term is Broad head). LONG COATED (yes there is a long coat gene and we now have a genetic test to prevent producing them which is what any decent breeder will do).
