I am not claiming that the show line lab is ‘ideal’ but then many of the breeds being shown do not have an ‘ideal’ body type, whether because they are too large, too small, have exaggerated features etc. Of the dogs on show, the labs wouldn’t be my major concern when it comes to dog conformation.
Maybe I misread / understood the previous posts, but I was responding to the fact that there seemed to be surprise, even ‘shock’ at the dogs in the ring being a little more rotund than the working lines and not ‘fit for purpose’ because of excessive hair etc. I didn’t see anything different about the gundogs this year than any previous years. Or anything different about the dogs last night to the ones being show tonight (some of which were carrying a little extra weight and coat cover than the breeds may have originally had). I’m not saying that’s how it should be, but it’s a dog show, they are show dogs and I just except it for what it is.
Maybe I misread / understood the previous posts, but I was responding to the fact that there seemed to be surprise, even ‘shock’ at the dogs in the ring being a little more rotund than the working lines and not ‘fit for purpose’ because of excessive hair etc. I didn’t see anything different about the gundogs this year than any previous years. Or anything different about the dogs last night to the ones being show tonight (some of which were carrying a little extra weight and coat cover than the breeds may have originally had). I’m not saying that’s how it should be, but it’s a dog show, they are show dogs and I just except it for what it is.