If you have noticed on our home page, you'll see the same three words as this blog's title. In this blog post we will talk about these traits and why are they so important in a Labrador Retriever.
At Kettle Labradors, as well as all of the preservation breeders around the world, we focus a lot on producing dogs that are great in temperament, structurally sound, while preserving the type. These traits help define a Labrador Retriever from many other breeds and they also make up what and how a Labrador Retriever should be.
Aust Ch Labraddell Uno (AI) from Labraddell Labradors
Temperament
I will quote the FCI Labrador Retriever Standard on behaviour and temperament here.
"Good-tempered, very agile. Excellent nose, soft mouth; keen lover of water. Adaptable, devoted companion. Intelligent, keen and biddable, with a strong will to please. Kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or undue shyness."
From this passage, you'll see what kind of temperament defines a Labrador Retriever. All well bred Labrador Retrievers should have this kind of temperament without any shyness in them. This is also why so many people around the world love this breed; they are intelligent, biddable, adaptable without any aggression.
Now, this is not to say that there aren't any Labradors that are aggressive or shy, but those are usually the outliers and are usually the result of bad breeders who don't take temperament into consideration when breeding them. Many poorly bred Labradors are shy and may show aggression, which no reputable breeders will have in their lines. Good breeders temperament test their puppies at 7-8 weeks old, before assigning them to the suitable families/owners. From here, breeders will know roughly how the puppies will grow up to be in terms of their temperament. On rare occasions there might be an outlier with a shy and/or aggressive disposition; these puppies will go to more experienced families/owners and with a strict spay/neuter contract in order not to produce more of these outliers. Bad breeders often ignore this very important point for the sake of making some money, therefore contributing to the problem of producing even more of such dogs with poor temperament.
I is a good boi, gimme food
Dogs with correct and good temperament not only make great companions, they are also easy to train due to them being very eager to please. They are also very forgiving towards training mistakes and can be corrected in a short time with positive reinforcement methods. This makes a well bred Labrador Retriever suitable for first time owners, as well as families with children.
Sound Structure If you ever had the chance to visit the websites of reputable breeders, many will include words like "sound" and "soundness". To the uninitiated, it means that they produce dogs with the structure that is free from defects, as this allows the dogs to do what they are supposed to do without additional stress to their structure, which could bring upon injuries.
One of the main comments I see people say when getting a dog is, "I just need a pet, I don't need a show dog." While that is totally fine, it is still important that your dog is structurally correct in order for it to have a lesser chance of developing structural problems later in its life. A breed standard will describe how a certain breed is to be structured in order to perform the job that it was originally bred to do. The breed standard is not just there for breeders to breed pretty dogs, but it is also akin to a building code for builders, so that the structures they build can withstand the elements. This is why many people will say that it is preferable for a breeder to show their dogs so that a 3rd party (judge) can give their evaluation to a breeder's breeding stocks.
I will talk more about the structures of a Labrador and the importance of them in this blog post here.
Type
Now we move onto type. If you're reading forums and groups about well bred dogs, some times you'll come across words like "not typey" and "off type". When someone uses this word to describe a dog, they are simply saying that the dog does not look like the breed it is supposed to, or you'll have to think really hard to identify its breed.
Do I look more like a Labrador with those brows?
*This is an example of an off type dog. He somehow looks like a Labrador with some defining features but he also looks mixed.
Why is type important? Well, firstly, you wouldn't want people to mistake your Labrador for some other breed right? Good breeders also place a lot of emphasis on maintaining the type of their dogs, breeding for defining features of what makes a Labrador a Labrador. When you have to guess whether a Labrador is indeed a Labrador, it means that the breeder has not taken type into considerations when it comes to breeding, and his lines have lost type.
Does this even look like a Labrador? picture taken from here.
Here's an example of a Silver L4br4d0r (it isn't even fit to be called a Labrador). It looks totally like a mixed breed, which it is (most probably crossed with a Weimaraner). Breeders of such dogs prey on the unsuspecting public and push them as rare colours to earn even more money. These dogs are disqualified under all Labrador standards around the world and are plagued with health issues like colour dilution alopecia. I will talk about these Silver guys here and explain why you should avoid them like a plague.
Comments