Thread: Fat Labs

Originally Posted by kawhia

of the lines I have been looking at for a few years now, all health test, the health testing is the first thing tooted by the show side I might add, both blame the other for not testing.... I suppose the field lines you mention need to be split into the actual working lines and the common and I hate to say it, back yard specials.
EIC testing is gaining ground with many of the top uk working kennels and it is great to see.

Unfortunately there are some ( both Show and Field ) breeders who still don't believe in EIC, and others test , not because they believe in the problem but because it helps them sell pups.

1hotdog

one would hope that the pup buyers are insisting on buying from EIC tested parents, breeders can't hide it if the market starts asking for it.

How come Bernies dog doesn't fall and hit the ceiling?

Labs were developed to sit quiet and retrieve, their body shape and coat and fat tail is all part of keeping warm in the water. The big round ribs give the body shape. They are not for work as spaniels and pointers. In the show ring many are just over weight because the owner thinks fat is substance, which it is not. The judges many are not gundog owners, or if they are just show gundog owners, they see the same type of dog in front of them over and over and think this must be the right type. They do have to sit exams which involve bone structure of a dog, terminology and questions on the standards of the group they are sitting and finally an exam where they must judge dogs and place them in order and give reasons why they did so to the examiners. Still, they might be a toy or utility breed person who wants another group so when they judge gundogs it is not what they really hold an interest in. Shows are a competition and the judge gets 1-2min to evaluate each dog, so a good breeder should be doing their own evaluations and not relying on what a judge puts up at a show. Same with field trials. You can see good and average but meeting the dogs that can be reversed.

on any driven shoot, they have limited time to sweep the end of the drive and collect runners as well as working behind the guns during the drive, as well as picking up driven duck, and for some working on the moors behind the pointers, in part they are required to sit at heel but a full day 2-3 times a week plus being used in the beating line the dogs end up looking like greyhounds.... as they do even being used weekly for upland and waterfowl work by keen shooters.

Had a good lab rabbiting. Big boof headed bastard he was to, worked out to maybe forty metres tops. Ate like a big boof headed lab too. But he could afford to as he worked it off. And he worked hard and well.
Funny thing was the people I got him off had him as standard lab, a fat bastard.

I'll add to that, one good one out of the maybe 6-8 I've had.

That judge should not be judging. They all get a sheet before the show advising the breeds being shown under them and should read up on the standard. To refuse a challenge because the judge didn't know the breed tells you that the judge is lazy.

No working dog should be penalised for being muscular. My sister stopped showing her Bullmastiff because she was told he was too muscular and not carrying enough condition i.e. not fat enough.

The judge should know the breed and consider if the dog is capable of doing the work it was bred for - most show dogs aren't capable of fulfilling their original purpose.

Yes, with a minority breed it is easy to get the 8 challenge points. But the dog should be a reasonable example of its breed. Unfortunately very few judges are brave enough to refuse to give the dog a challenge point.

That is why I feel, @HF1, that more people with minority breeds should attend ribbon parades where you give trainee judges the opportunity to see examples of the breed. Certainly there is no challenge point to possibly win, but at least the judge will know for next time!!

Unfortunately not many clubs run ribbon parades or open shows these days. With the cost of entries and travelling people want to go where they can get a challenge point towards their championship title. If any ribbon parades or open shows are held, they are usually in conjunction with another show and you can only find out the information from the NZKC magazine which not everyone gets.

A bit like club field trials. I still can't remember how I managed to find out about club trials but unless you join a club you don't get to hear about them. It's a shame because I think we could attract more people to the sport if the information was more readily available.

I'd like to see clubs making use of their local newspapers to let people in the area know that they exist and what they do.

Or maybe the KC could list the gundog clubs on their home page...?

I have seen some results for Ft Champ titles in the Dog World but I think they have to rely on the clubs/owners/handlers sending them the information.

It would be good to see the results of club and champ trials in the magazine and even dates for club and champ trials but the clubs and NZGDTA would have to be on board with that. There might be a cost involved to advertise.

I'd also like to see the local newspapers used to give some coverage so that people in the area would know the clubs exist and what they do. (I may have mentioned this before

Unless we get out there and let people know the clubs exist the sport will die out.

In the NZKC magazine there is a list of gun dog clubs, speciality clubs, etc but you need to be an NZKC member (getting expensive) to get the magazine.