I have to ask the show ring-crazed breeders...
Labrador or Flabrador?
Known as simply 'labs' to most people the Labrador Retriever is the most popular breed of dog in the world. Number one on all of the breed registries/stud dockets. The popularity of the breed is most likely due to their wonderful goofy family-friendly personalities and ease of acquiring them for very little. Being that they are the most popular breed worldwide also means they are the most overbred (and probably inbred) breed as well. That's not what I am here to rant about today, though. Today's blog, continuing on with my 'Parade of Freaks' series is about how the show ring has ruined the Labrador as a working breed and turned them into something entirely disgusting.
These are pictures of two very well-bred 'field' Labradors. They are in good weight, fit, trim, have good eyes/noses/joints, have sleek glossy low-maintenance coats, and are capable of working in the field as hunting dogs (their intended purpose) all day long. To show an unbiased un-sexist account there is a picture of both a male and a female. Both of these dogs are working hunting dogs. They can and do work birds in the field, do not have joint issues, and are both beautiful. Field bred labs, considered 'mongrel mutts' or 'lab whippets' by show lab breeders tend to live well into fourteen or sixteen years.
...and this is what the show ring has reduced Labradors to. I call them Flabradors. Field lab breeders called them 'rottadors' or 'mastadors' due to their bulk. Both of these dogs are massive, totally obese, and completely useless as hunting dogs. What's more, both are multi-counry national conformation show ring champions. The insanity of show ring breeders has reduced 'bench' or 'show' type Labradors to brain-fogged lumbering 'pigs on posts' as I call them. Severely overweight, large-headed, shorter muzzled, short tailed, insanely high-shedding porkers that are good for nothing but laying around, even before the hip dysplasia and cancer sets in. The weight alone, on top of the overly large bone structure is enough to make me gag. Why in the hell any judge would title a dog like these 'champion' is beyond me. Obesity/massiveness aside cancer/hip dysplasia is so rampant in show-bred labs that few live past eight to ten years of age.
It's just further proof that all working use has been removed from breeds bred for the show ring. These dogs are no-longer 'sporting' dogs as their show group implies. They couldn't hunt a bird if it flew up and smacked them in the face. Fat, lazy, useless, and riddled with join problems and cancer, 'bench' or 'show' Labradors (or Flabradors) are now highly inbred couch-puffs. The judges keep awarding these dogs and I can only see it getting worse over the years. I never thought that obesity would be rewarded by breed/kennel clubs that claim to 'promote health and well-being of purebred dogs'. There is nothing healthy or well-bred about these 'champion' show dogs.
...and don't even get me started on 'silver' Labradors. That's a blog for a different day.
6 comments:
AMEN to this post. I had a Lab who was a field Lab type--she kinda looked like the male dog of the two. Extremely athletic and mostly smart. I didn't do that dog justice--she truly needed to be a working dog of some kind, like sniffing for drugs or something like that.
She passed away last August at 10.5 years, though. We have no idea what happened, truly. She had surgery to remove a cyst and wasn't bouncing back. Two weeks later she had multiple seizures in a row (thank God I was home) in a few hours and suddenly couldn't walk. We took her in and had her euthanized by the vet who spayed her. It was horrible.
Honestly, these dogs are not as healthy as they are supposed to be. She did not have the severe hip dysplasia, but we did have to give her hip and joint supplements.
I also don't understand why they're family dogs. They can be extremely high energy and can really knock little kids over. Tennessee, my dog, was also very territorial, as was her sire. She was very easy to train and always listened to me, but because of her exuberance I couldn't let her be around small kids.
Now we have Collies...don't get me started on the show ring crap with them. But I have to say they are the best family dogs in the world. Ours are smooth-coated, so they don't have long hair. They are gentle and sweet with children, easy to train, and are really just big couch potatoes. I don't understand why they aren't more popular!
Collies have too small of eyes for their heads... That too is a blog for a different day!
Can I puke over those "show dogs"? THOSE dogs are a disgrace. Some dog lines really need to be lost. That line of show dogs need to end NOW.
Wow! Were we separated at birth?
Don't get me started on what's been done to my beloved GSD's. And English Bull Dogs! WTF is wrong with people?
Thank you so much for putting this out there this is a serious problem. I have a working line Labrador as my service dog he is extremely smart, and healthy. But I constantly get people telling me that I'm starving my dog when in all actuality he is just fit and conditioned. People have engraved the image of an obese dog in their brains and scoff at any person who has a dog where you can see a couple ribs. This needs to end it isn't healthy. Also when people ask me what he is I tell them that he is a working line labrador and that I never recommend anyone to get this dog unless they have a job for them they are extremely high energy and drive and isn't for the beginner dog owner they will shred and destroy your entire house if there physical and mental needs aren't met. To give people an idea of how extreme they are, I take my working line lab of 10 mile bikerides where he is running at a heavy trot to moderate canter and within minutes of cooling down and hanging at home he wants to run and play some more. NOT FOR THE UNDEDICATED AND FAINT OF HEART.
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