Hello we just put a Deposit down on a Female. We are first pick. The mom is American and the dad is English. We are hoping to get a pup that will lean more towards the English Blockier head. Is there a way while picking a pup that we can tell how it will look when mature? Thanks Rich
Hi , and welcome . You are obviously in the U.S.A . as we have very different terminology for the two types of Labrador here in the U.K. What you refer to as the American Labrador is known here as a field bred Labrador and what you can the English Labrador is what we refer to as a show stock Labrador . Our Kennel Club refers to both of these as the Labrador Retriever , both are Labs even though there are differences in appearance ! A pup born from a mix of both could carry the looks and traits of either, or a complete mix of both, hard to say to be honest and absolutely no guarantee of what a particular pup might look like or take after ! However , my own personal view is that a mix of both could be really great , so good luck !
Welcome to the forum from Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. Very exciting times for you getting a puppy. I don't have any experience of pure breed Labradors as my two are Labrador crosses. Good luck. Helen x
I don't think you can tell with the pups. With parents from both lines, you might get either one. Tilly's dad was an American (Field) dog, while her mom was English even though she was a Master Hunter. Tilly is a fairly small (67#) English style. Both of Coopers parents were field type dogs and while she is bigger than either one, she is definitely a field type dog.
Welcome to the forum If you want a dog with a solid build then the safe bet is to make sure both parents look that way. How much would it matter to you if the puppy grew up to look like the mother (light build) and not the father (stocky build)?
It's not only looks that are hard to tell at puppy stage. Field bred Labs can be pretty high energy. Show aka Bench aka English (though English would strictly speaking mean the dog was imported from England) tend to be more mellow. Generally, not exclusively. You could get a show looking dog but one with energy you find it hard to keep up with.
From what I understand, field bred Labs are bred to do a whole lot of nothing for long periods between drives. If they can't cope with doing nothing, they won't make good working dogs. My two field Labs (with lots of FTChs in their pedigree) are faster runners than my show Lab, for sure, but all three dogs spend their time between daily activities chilling out on the sofa.
Maybe it's different if they are bred to hunt or bred to compete in trials. Our field trainer hunts a lot and he didn't think field trials were much like real hunting at all. Most of our friends who hunt use bench bred dogs. But as I said, this is a generalization, it's not exclusive. I contacted the local field group when we got our first Lab. They advised against a field bred dog. And we'd just lost our field ESS. Talk about energy, a field ESS can put many a field Lab to shame for exuberance, the way a lot of them are here. A good breeder should be able to pick the low key puppy out of the litter for a family who needs one but the OP says and may not be able to do this.
Ah, well, spaniels are a completely different kettle of fish to Labs. I don't think you can compare them at all. Working-bred spaniels are usually (from the ones I've met) busy little bees and never seem to stop moving. As I said, my two have lots of field trial champions in their pedigree. Their parents worked in the field (their owner was a gamekeeper). So they have both "bred to compete" and "bred to work". I've heard lots of people say that field-bred Labs are high energy and less suitable as pets, but I haven't seen any evidence of this at all. I'm sure there are some where it holds true, but it would be the exception, not the rule, and so the generalisation, I would say, is flawed. Although maybe they have different temperament characteristics in Canada. What I would say, from my experience, is that field-bred Labs can be more jittery and nervy than show-bred Labs. That is another huge generalisation, of course, but one that, in the dogs I've seen, has been far more accurate than them having higher energy. This is down to either taking less interest in those elements of temperament when it comes to breeding, or specifically breeding for it, if it leads to a dog who will work more effectively because of it. I see this in Shadow; he's a nervous boy, but his nervous energy makes him extremely switched on for training purposes. Of course, in the context of this thread, all of this is meaningless as, just because a puppy takes physical traits from one parent, it doesn't mean that it will take the temperament of that parent. You may get all of one, all of the other or, more likely, a mix of the two. Could be a mix of all the best bits, a mix of all the worst bits, but probably somewhere in the middle. That's why it's important to try to find a litter where you like both the parents for what they are. Back to the question, how to choose the puppy that will grow up to have the better head? It depends on what age you're going to be making that choice. The later, the better chance you have. If you get a chance to hold all the puppies, you might be able to feel differences in the bone structure; the thickness of the leg bones between my field and show bred Labs is quite remarkable; even when Luna was a young pup, her lower leg bones were far thicker than Willow and Shadow's. Even so, I think much of it is a case of luck. An outcross like this is unpredictable, and you could have a huge range of physical characteristics in the pups, or they could all be much of a muchness. If it's hugely important to you to have a puppy that will grow up into a dog with thicker bones, I'd look for a litter that comes from parents who are pretty much guaranteed to give you this. Also, be aware that bitches tend to be finer featured than dogs, anyway, so a female version of an equivalent male would have a slightly narrower head.
Hi whilst I can't add to the above about a mix of field and show in experience what I can say is my boy is a mix of show (Dad) and field (mum). This is him at 9 weeks old and this is him yesterday - 16 months old. I love the combination - not necessarily a block headed lab but certainly not far off - but his is very slim built - don't think he will get much bigger but he is perfect for me
He is beautiful @Samantha Jones x Ironically , my last Lab was pure show stock , and was far harder to train than Sam who is pure field bred, but I loved her dearly, my big chunky girl . I truly think that there are attributes in both field and show , just love both , love Labradors !
My lads mum was field and his dad was show. He's quite similar to Bailey in that he's got a sort of blocky head but is quite lean and small. I think he's just perfect anyway
@JenBainbridge - Photobucket have changed their T&Cs so your image has been removed (by them!). You can read more here: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/photobucket-users-please-read.19952/
Thanks for all of the insight. This will be our 3rd lab. Our other 2 where yellow and American. We are excited to get a fox red Pup. will post pictures. what is the trick to posting pictures on this site. Can't seem to get it on here? Thanks Rich
