"I don't need a show dog, I only want a pet".
This is one of the most common comments made by people when they are looking for a dog, and they end up purchasing a dog from a source that does not take into considerations the correct structure of a dog, which will see these dogs suffer from unnecessary injuries later in their lives due to these structural faults and defects.
I am going to talk briefly about why is a correct structure important in dogs, and I will be using Labradors as most of the examples here as it is the breed I'm most familiar with.
Labradors were developed from the St. John's Water Dog, where they work in the icy waters of Newfoundland in Canada. They were originally used by fishermen to help retrieve fishes that have fallen off the hooks, and also to retrieve nets casted by the fishermen. The St. John's Water Dog eventually became the foundation breed for most retriever breeds due to their proficiency in water and their eagerness to do their jobs. Eventually some English dudes think they will be great dogs and brought them to England where they were further developed. I'm not going into the details of their history so you can read more here.
I love water, just like my ancestors eons ago
Now that you know the history behind Labrador Retrievers, it is time for us to look at why are they structured like that, and the importance behind them.
Now I will quote the FCI Labrador Retriever Standard on the correct general appearance of Labrador Retrievers. "Strongly built, short-coupled, very active; broad in skull; broad and deep through chest and ribs; broad and short over loins and hindquarters."
Basically a Labrador needs to be a strong dog that is broad, without being over lanky in appearance. This allows them to perform what they are bred to do; which is to swim and retrieve. I will quote my mentor Wilhelm Chang of Labraddell Labradors on his explanation on the general appearance of a Labrador Retriever in layman terms. "Labrador is a water dog and should be wider behind with strength to cut through water like a boat."
Now that we know how should a Labrador look like generally, we will look into different parts and their importance. I won't go into all of the details, just the general ones.
Body
From the FCI standard, "Topline: Level. Loin: Wide, short-coupled and strong. Chest: Of good width and depth, with well sprung barrel ribs."
The topline of a Labrador should be straight and level, with a strong core in the chest and loin. This provides stability to a Labrador's core and spine, which in turn reduces the chance of it suffering from spinal injuries. It also helps support the back muscles, providing balance and supporting the whole body. A strong body allows a Labrador to swim and cut through water effortlessly. A dog with an incorrect body will be prone to developing injuries and impeding its movement.
Aust Ch Tapeatom Miss Perfect (Imp Sth Afr) from Labraddell Labradors.
Look at the topline and strong core.
Head and Neck
A Labrador's head should be wide with a defined stop. Nose should be wide with well developed nostrils and it should have a complete scissor bite. Its neck should be strong and set into well placed shoulders with enough reach length.
You may have Googled about Labradors and one of the terms you may have come across is "block head". This typically refers to a wide skull a Labrador should have. But what is a defined stop?
The circled part shows the stop. It should not be a slope but rather a nice stop like Marcie's head here.
A strong head serves the function of allowing a Labrador to swim effortlessly in the water, cutting through icy waters and/or marshlands. A strong neck with a good reach is also important as it allows a Labrador to reach for the item it is supposed to retrieve and carry it without much effort. A Labrador with a weak neck and short reach of neck will struggle to carry game, or any item it needs to retrieve.
An example of a correct scissor bite. Sorry Charlie.
A scissor bite is where the top jaw overlaps and fits the bottom jaw perfectly. Some Labradors may have a level bite, means there isn't any overlapping, which is fine but not ideal. Bad bites are over bite (where the top overlaps but with too much space in between) and under bite (where the bottom protrudes out). A good scissor bite allows the Labrador to hold well onto the game with a lesser chance to drop it on the way back to its handler.
Forequarters, Hindquarters and Feet
A Labrador should have straight forelimbs from elbow to ground with strong pasterns. Hindlimbs should be well angulated, with a well turned stifle. Feet should be round, compact, with well arched toes.
Kettle has serious structural problems such as bad topline, weak pasterns, splayed feet and badly angulated hindlimbs with no turn in the stifle.
Let's take a look at Kettle for an example. Pasterns (the part above the feet) act as shock absorbers for dogs. A weak pastern will not allow a dog to engage in high impact activities such as jumping and running without causing injuries to its legs. It's like a car with faulty suspension; it will damage other components of the car if left unchanged.
Kettle's hindlegs show a straight stifle (knee) and he has a bad hindlimb angulation. This will cause him to run with more effort as compared to his better built friends who can move much easier.
From left to right, Charlie's feet, Marcie's feet and feet of a Labrador that is lacking in type.
Labradors should have feet that is round and compact. As you can see from the above example, both Charlie and Marcie's feet are compact and well structured. This will allow them to not only to swim well, but also allow them to run with much better stability.
Bench Bred and Field Bred Through your Google searches you may have come across other well bred Labrador Retrievers that look a little different from what the breed standard describes. You may also have come across this term "field bred" or "working type" when describing Labradors. There are several widely used standards (FCI, AKC, ANKC etc.) but fortunately the differences between these standards for the Labrador Retriever is quite minimal. However, a field bred Labrador will be considered out of standard due to the split between the goals of different breeders.
The split between Field bred Labradors came about when some breeders liked how Labradors are biddable and easy to train, and they went on to select Labradors with structures that may be more apt in performing other tasks such as tracking and flushing, instead of the original task of retrieving in the water. This resulted in field bred Labradors having quite a different look as compared to the bench bred ones.
Other breeds
Some breeds will require a roached topline, some breeds will require longer limbs, while others may require a nice sloped head. It all depends on the job they were originally bred to do. Let's look at English Toy Terriers from Yurrugar English Toy Terriers. I've known the breeder Paige Saunders from years back when she was getting into showing Bettas.
CH Yurrugar Dream Come True "Lexi", the most successful English Toy Terrier in Australian history.
English Toy Terriers (ETT) were originally bred for speed and agility in rat pitting. Its head should be long and narrow with a slight stop. Body should be compact with the back curving slightly. Legs should fall straight down from shoulders with elbows close to chest. All of these traits allow an ETT to move effortlessly with speed and precision to hunt down rats.
Conclusion
As you can see, a correct structure is very important for dogs as it firstly allows them to do the job they were bred to do, and secondly it strengthens their body and reduces the chance of them getting injuries from everyday activities like running and playing. This is why you should get dogs from breeders who show and/or do competitive sports with their dogs; their dogs are proven to be of sound structure and can do what they are trained and bred to do. So unless you will live in a house that is not built to safety standards, you should start looking at dogs from reputable breeders who put a lot of effort in producing structurally sound dogs.
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