Excellent post,, but I would go even further to say that some dogs being shown are far too small, not "broad" enough. We know over here for the most part, if an Australian judge is judging the labs, the finer dogs with no head coat or tail will win every time and they do, The dogs are strung up like a skinned rabbit which might give them reach of neck but also gives them a straight front with no angulation, which is completely incorrect. I love showing under the UK judges as they always want the dogs on loose leads. So my plea would be to Judges is this a labrador is HEAD, COAT, TAIL, they should be a powerful dogs that moves with reach and drive, not trit trot around the ring like a hackney pony , with their tail stuck up in the air, and please please please don't look for under coat along the back, I am very tempted to ask the next judge that looks for undercoat along the back if they are looking for fleas, undercoat is found along the side/ ribs etc. My dogs are completely show lines, but boy can they work , and so they should, I am very sad to said that a lot of the dogs being shown these days couldn't do the job they are bred to do, that been said, a number of breeds are in the same boat.
