Labrador breeders

Maxy24

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#1
I've been helping my aunt and uncle find breeders. They are thinking either a golden retriever or a lab. I already sent them a golden list but I'm having more trouble with the labs. They want a family pet, so I didn't want hunting focused breeders, but good god some of those conformation labs are obese. I had one site telling me labs are not to be used as jogging partners, they were made for cuddling, not running :confused: well no, I'm sure if your labs tried to jog they'd collapse, they're enormous.

I am still including conformation breeders with obese labs, I'm just going to warn my aunt beforehand that some of the dogs are fat. It's just they're used to BYB labs which are more field looking and I am afraid when they see some of the sites I send them they'll decide not to go with one of my breeders because the dogs are, well, ugly and not what they think of when they think lab. I wouldn't get one of those dogs. I'm supposed to be sending her breeders that breed "ideal" labs, but it's hard to argue that they're awesome breeders when their dogs are so obese.

Anyway I have two questions. One is just if anyone knows of good lab breeders in New England let me know so I can check them out and pass them along! Two is, what exactly qualifies as a "field breeder". I don't want the super high energy need a job lab so I said I'd avoid field breeders, but sometimes the line is blurry. Several of the breeders I've included have multi-purpose labs. They show them, get working certificates and maybe a JH, maybe do some rally or obedience. A few dogs may have more advanced hunting titles. Then a few breeders don't do conformation at all but have some hunting titles, CGC, obedience, rally. Would these still be the more moderate energy labs or are they likely the higher energy field labs? Or should we wait and ask the breeder?
 

Elrohwen

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#2
No specific breeders to recommend, but I think I can clear up a little of the confusion about field vs all purpose vs conformation dogs.

Basically, field trials require high octane dogs and that's what people are breeding. It's a sport where you compete against other dogs, not just yourself (like obedience or hunt tests, where you just need to pass the test, not beat anyone).

Hunt tests do not require high octane dogs. Hunt tests are more like obedience trials for hunting skills (retrieving, swimming, for some breeds pointing or flushing, etc). I have a spaniel bred mostly for conformation (though there isn't technically a breed split) and I have no doubt that he could get a JH title if I put in the work to train for it. Could he go into a spaniel field trial and be competitive? Absolutely not. Field trials just require something very different and people breed specifically for that.

So any breeder doing confo plus other sports like hunt tests, obedience, rally, etc is not likely breeding true field trial line dogs. They are probably breeding confo line dogs, or a blend. Most people looking for versatile sport dogs want one that can be a family pet as well. I think those breeders would be a great place to look for your aunt and uncle - just talk to the breeder about how much exercise and work they think their dogs need, and if they successfully place dogs in pet-only homes. I do know some obedience bred dogs who are higher drive and energy than your aunt and uncle would want, but I know many labs doing sports who are just nice all around pets too.
 

*blackrose

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#3
I, unfortunately, don't know of any breeders in the area. :/ Hopefully someone else can chime in.
 

MisssAshby

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#5
I don't know of any breeders in the New England area, but there is a nice breeder in Nashville, TN. I believe they might have a litter coming up, but I'm not sure if traveling or shipping a puppy (if they offer that) is out of the question.
 

Maxy24

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#6
Thank you Elrohwen, that is extremely helpful and makes me very happy. I much prefer the multi-purpose labs over the purely conformation labs, not just aesthetically but also because those sort of titles mean a little more in terms of temperament.

They did say that they want to stay in New England, if they can't find anything then perhaps they'll widen the search area. But I think they want to be able to go meet the parents (or at least mom), the breeder, the place where they live, and the pups before bringing one home.
 

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