Fat Labradors: A Thought

[macka]

Few more of my boy...

25kg now, still a fair bit of growing to do.

[Mas1981]

I'm liking this thread full of healthy lean labbie pics!

show us yours !!!

Here's my boy, sometimes I do think he looks a little skinny, but he's only just turned one so prob got a bit more growing/filling out. I would really rather have him a bit lean than have joint problems.

Archie is about the same size as Mason, have u weighed him lately??

Yes, I meant to post in labs -- he is 31.5kgs too !!

Must be twins, same size and age almost exact!

[Mas1981]

Few more of my boy...

25kg now, still a fair bit of growing to do.

He is lovely Macka and I think ( but hey what would I know) a good weight for his age. The boys have much thicker legs and bigger chests than the girls.

[mikelli]

"Strongly built, short coupled, very active, broad in skull, broad and deep through chest and ribs, broad and strong over loins and hindquarters.

This description depicts a well balanced athletic dog whose conformation enables him to function as a retrieving gun dog, allowing him to stand four square and move freely over ground and through water. To do this he must be free from exaggeration and without any structural weaknesses. He should be substantial without being coarse, cloddy, or lumbering. Likewise he should not lack bone or be of whippety appearance. It must be remembered that he is an active working dog capable of carrying a heavy object gently while hurdling a fence, or retrieving a fallen bird from water. His broad skull indicates that he has good brain room and the intelligence to carry out his tasks." copied from LRCQ website:

Let us not forget what our breed standard requires of a labrador.......to do this job well he needs to be fit and not carrying excess weight.

Please visit our web page it is very interesting reading: http://www.labradorclubqld.com/

Edited April 6, 2010 by mikelli

[black magic]

I wonder if lack of education surrounding food contributes to the overweight issue. As a first time dog/lab owner I have found that information I have got on DOL, in particular from other lab owners and in the health thread has helped me keep Scout at what I think is a good weight. Had I not gained the knowledge I wonder if Scout's weight would be different

This is Scout my lab

Working hard on the waist line here

[Lab lady]

you been putting mr sheen on her coat again BM?

I think too many Lab owners are just to soft and give in way to easy to those begging eyes.

[Mas1981]

I wonder if lack of education surrounding food contributes to the overweight issue. As a first time dog/lab owner I have found that information I have got on DOL, in particular from other lab owners and in the health thread has helped me keep Scout at what I think is a good weight. Had I not gained the knowledge I wonder if Scout's weight would be different

This is Scout my lab

Working hard on the waist line here

She is lovely BM, love the way blacks shine and she is a good weight, well done

[Mas1981]

you been putting mr sheen on her coat again BM?

I think too many Lab owners are just to soft and give in way to easy to those begging eyes.

I often give mason little treats but then I make sure hat he gets less kibble or meat etc that day

[MissMonaro]

The big thing I hear from a lot of people is ........"labradors are fat, lazy couch potatoes"

and for which I inform them that they are only lazy and fat cos their owners make them that way.

Being a retriever, they should be able to work.

I see so many fat and obese labradors..........although have to say one puppy owner of mine brought one of my babies to visit and I think they took my "dont overfeed" a bit too far and I told them to put a little bit more meat on her bones.

Labs just dont have a cut off valve and as long as you feed them, they will keep eating.

A long time ago when we first had labs, I came home from to find 2 of mine severley bloated. I thought OMG they've been bitten by something and their insides have swollen...panicking and running around the yard....then I found the culprit.... we kept our dog food in a garbage bin outside the back door....well being food orientated like they are, they knocked it over and had pretty much devoured about 15 kgs out of a 20 kgs bag of food. So either they do have a cut off valve, or I got home in time for them to not finish the rest of the biscuits. Either way, they did not get fed for a few days and now the food is kept inside the house.

Edited April 6, 2010 by MissMonaro

[blacklabrador]

Ruby:

Gorgeous photo!

Seeing as you are all sharing pics of your lovely labs, I thought I would put up one of Misty to see if you think she is lean enough????

Interesting to compare Misty to Ruby above. To my untrained eye, Misty has a much broader and deeper chest, bigger thighs and neck. Misty could perhaps be a touch skinnier (?), very hard to tell from a single photo, but then she is also a much more solid girl to begin with so maybe not. Ruby looks a fair bit younger in her photo too which makes a difference.

Misty is a nicely bred and fully matured dog who looks like a labrador should. A well bred labrador is heavily set because they are a SOLID BREED. A deep chest does not equal an overweight dog. Ruby is just a puppy in that picture and is very light-on in bone which is normal for a puppy. Don't mistake the two!

People are too willing to see a poorly breed lab with not enough bone and too much length of leg and say it's the best looking lab they've ever seen. I know because I own one. I also own a beautifully bred one who has correct length of leg and is a similar build to Misty with a beautiful deep chest and well sprung ribs. She is quite thin at the moment but her beautiful labrador coat hides her ribs - even though I can easily feel them. She just has so much coat and a nice amount of bone. She can be quite underweight but nobody ever notices her - they invariably comment on my poorly bred boy.

[Mas1981]

Ruby:

Gorgeous photo!

Seeing as you are all sharing pics of your lovely labs, I thought I would put up one of Misty to see if you think she is lean enough????

Interesting to compare Misty to Ruby above. To my untrained eye, Misty has a much broader and deeper chest, bigger thighs and neck. Misty could perhaps be a touch skinnier (?), very hard to tell from a single photo, but then she is also a much more solid girl to begin with so maybe not. Ruby looks a fair bit younger in her photo too which makes a difference.

Misty is a nicely bred and fully matured dog who looks like a labrador should. A well bred labrador is heavily set because they are a SOLID BREED. A deep chest does not equal an overweight dog. Ruby is just a puppy in that picture and is very light-on in bone which is normal for a puppy. Don't mistake the two!

People are too willing to see a poorly breed lab with not enough bone and too much length of leg and say it's the best looking lab they've ever seen. I know because I own one. I also own a beautifully bred one who has correct length of leg and is a similar build to Misty with a beautiful deep chest and well sprung ribs. She is quite thin at the moment but her beautiful labrador coat hides her ribs - even though I can easily feel them. She just has so much coat and a nice amount of bone. She can be quite underweight but nobody ever notices her - they invariably comment on my poorly bred boy.

I agree with you 100%, my boy has the same build as Misty does. He is very fit and active but I wouldnt call him skinny, to my untrained eye he is a good weight etc, he is the first lab I have owned and I try and not feed him too much, he eats so little as it is!

[blacklabrador]

Mason will fill out as he matures - can take 3 - 4 years for this to happen. So he will get heavier looking even if he doesn't gain fat. How much heavier he gets depends on his bloodlines.

[black magic]

I have noticed that Scout has really thickened up around the chest and neck areas over the past few months, she is not any fatter but has got broader through that area.

she just turned two

[RallyValley]

Just an interesting tidbit from a website:

With all these different types it's rather difficult to produce a Dual Champion, that is a Labrador which is a Show Champion as well as a Field Champion. Someone said, "Field breeders are producing the athletes and show breeders are producing the models". How difficult it really is, is shown in the phothographs above. Henk van de Waterlandspolder had to lose 9 kilos (almost 20 pounds) to be fit for Field Trials, and had to gain those 9 kilos again to be fit for the show. As a matter of fact Henk looks great to me on the photo on the right, so how come show judges won't value this dual purpose lab in his working condition? There must be something wrong

Henk fit for show (37 kilos - 81.5 lbs)

Henk fit for field trial (28 kilos - 61.7 lbs)

[Mas1981]

Mason will fill out as he matures - can take 3 - 4 years for this to happen. So he will get heavier looking even if he doesn't gain fat. How much heavier he gets depends on his bloodlines.

Will this happen even if he is desexed? I am in touch with 2 of his littermates families and his brothers are way bigger then he is, they are really broad and have huge heads.

[mrs tornsocks]

Just an interesting tidbit from a website:

With all these different types it's rather difficult to produce a Dual Champion, that is a Labrador which is a Show Champion as well as a Field Champion. Someone said, "Field breeders are producing the athletes and show breeders are producing the models". How difficult it really is, is shown in the phothographs above. Henk van de Waterlandspolder had to lose 9 kilos (almost 20 pounds) to be fit for Field Trials, and had to gain those 9 kilos again to be fit for the show. As a matter of fact Henk looks great to me on the photo on the right, so how come show judges won't value this dual purpose lab in his working condition? There must be something wrong

Henk fit for show (37 kilos - 81.5 lbs)

Henk fit for field trial (28 kilos - 61.7 lbs)

Sounds like henk had to lose 9 kilos and 9 additional syllables from his name !

Personally I like the way he looks for field trials but that's just taste.

When we first started researching getting a dog, we liked the look of the German SH Pointer, and Weimies, just becuase they're a little leaner and (to a novice like me) less susceptible to weight gain.

But once you go lab, you never go back.

[blacklabrador]

Just an interesting tidbit from a website:

With all these different types it's rather difficult to produce a Dual Champion, that is a Labrador which is a Show Champion as well as a Field Champion. Someone said, "Field breeders are producing the athletes and show breeders are producing the models". How difficult it really is, is shown in the phothographs above. Henk van de Waterlandspolder had to lose 9 kilos (almost 20 pounds) to be fit for Field Trials, and had to gain those 9 kilos again to be fit for the show. As a matter of fact Henk looks great to me on the photo on the right, so how come show judges won't value this dual purpose lab in his working condition? There must be something wrong

Henk fit for show (37 kilos - 81.5 lbs)

Henk fit for field trial (28 kilos - 61.7 lbs)

WOOOAAHHH That's a whole debate that you don't even want to start on this forum. I am sure you can find some shitfights if you do a search on Show Vs Working dogs. It applies in many breeds - either different condition of the same dog or a different build of dog in the same breed used for working Vs showing. Border Collies, Kelpies, GSDs to name a few.

[RallyValley]

WOOOAAHHH That's a whole debate that you don't even want to start on this forum. I am sure you can find some shitfights if you do a search on Show Vs Working dogs. It applies in many breeds - either different condition of the same dog or a different build of dog in the same breed used for working Vs showing. Border Collies, Kelpies, GSDs to name a few.

The quote isn't supposed to hilight type difference but the weight difference.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[blacklabrador]

WOOOAAHHH That's a whole debate that you don't even want to start on this forum. I am sure you can find some shitfights if you do a search on Show Vs Working dogs. It applies in many breeds - either different condition of the same dog or a different build of dog in the same breed used for working Vs showing. Border Collies, Kelpies, GSDs to name a few.

The quote isn't supposed to hilight type difference but the weight difference.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Same shyte different day though. The principle is the same. The 9kg MAKES him a different type. The question is, why does the show ring require a different type than the activity that the dog was bred to do? I will just say that nobody knows but it sure causes some fights on this forum.

[tdierikx]

Trouble looks very lean when she does her "beg"...

And here is her best "butter wouldn't melt" look...

My vets love Trouble's nice lean shape - however she isn't a well bred Labrador. She came from Moree, and we have a sneaking suspicion that there may have been a Dingo in the mix somewhere back in her "lines". This girl is WAY more agile than any other Labrador I've ever met...

T.