"Now Breeding Non-Hyper Labs!"

Oh I forgot to tell you guys! Last night I met a lady my husband works with and we were chatting about Sarge (as he was attached to her leg) and she told me she had 13 Choc. Labs, a Pom, and 3 dobes! I was like :shock: your :0010: ! She said she breeds the Labs and used to breed the Dobes and Bred GSD's before the Labs. I told her she must be the most patient human on earth to have 13 labs! And she asked why and I said cause when they are puppies they are just huge goofballs. And she said, (totally serious) "Oh, we don't breed the goofball Labs" "If someone gets a lab that is crazy, they need to go to another breeder". And I said "I didn't realize you could actually breed the enthusiasm out of a dog" and she said "oh my, yes." "we breed working Labs and if they are at all goofy, we don't breed that line anymore". I said, "well, alrighty then. No goofball Labs at your house" and she "no, absoulutely not"

I am no breeding expert beyond knowing that contractions hurt no matter if your human or a dog. But that whole exchange just struck me as somewhat bizarre. Like, The Stepford Labs!

 

:shock: "I am no breeding expert beyond knowing that contractions hurt no matter if your human or a dog. But that whole exchange just struck me as somewhat bizarre. Like, The Stepford Labs!"

thats what I say

 

hehe. I don't think I could handle a calm dog, no matter what breed. Who would I run after and act like a goofball with??

 

hmmmm something sounds fishy to me!

 

Sure, you can breed goofiness out of a dog I would think. You just select non-goofy parents and continually select for non-goofiness. Of course, you will probably get some other traits thrown in there that are connected to it somehow.

I'm sure if you're breeding for hunting dogs, goofiness is not terribly desirable.

I once knew a person who bred male mice that didn't fight with other male mice. She just kept selecting the calmest male that got along the best with others and so on and so on - and eventually she had all of her males able to be housed together and playing nicely, just like the females.

Genetics is a tricky thing.

I believe it is possible to have a calm dog that still acts like a goof when invited to. Anyone? Anyone?


Jamiya

 

Well Jake is a huge goofball, but he is the most mellow lab/dog I have ever seen. So I get a kick when people post their about their wild labs. And I alwys thought most labs were like Jake

he wasnt a very active puppy, and then when he hit 2 you would hav thought he was 10. his favorite past time has always been sleeping and it has to be cool,but boy dies have a a stubborn streak, he doenst like to fetch unless it is in water. it would be interestng to know how rambunctous his parents were.


honeybear

 

if my lab, pearl, was any more laid back she'd be dead. but she is a goofball.
honeybears, pearl does not like to fetch either on land, ONLY in water.

 

yea I think that there are 2 types of labs those who just don'Tlike to move so much and those who don'T like to sit still much. My sisters choco lab and my old roomate had the first type. Both dogs are always struggling with weight problems, becausethey are like oh great you want me to stand up and go outside then walk all the way around the block just to use the bathroom, i think i'd rather sleep somemore, I can hold it. My sisters dog has been like this since she was a pup and I oly know my roommates dog after she was older. My old dog was a lab mix (the other 1/2 half pit/chow) and she was hyper, imean super ultra speed until 3 or 4 even and I said oh it is bc I am her 3rd home (that I know of) but then she went from super ultra speed to just super speed. But it really wasn't until she was dying that she lost her"spunk" She was a great dog, kept me active

 

In my Lab experience I say there is a big difference between goofy and wild. Wild is bad behavior in any breed and should be addressed by proper training. Goofy, in my opinion, is what makes a Lab so special and entertaining. Duke is constantly cracking us up as he invents new ways to be silly.
I guess serious people need serious dogs. I prefer goofy.

 

My sister's Golden is a total goof, but she's well-behaved. When my sister did home daycare, the dog thought she was one of the kids. She has pictures of the kids taking their naps on blankets spread out in the living room....and sure enough, there's Emma lying on her very own blanket. Of course, she was like twice as big as any of those kids.


Jamiya

 

Actually, that is exactly what my husband and I were discussing last night. I told him that you get the serious "learner" with the Shepherd but you miss out on the "Tons O' Personality" type dog you get with the Lab. Not to say that Sarge does not have personallity, just not quite the larger than life personality that I have seen in most Labs (even the "laid back ones"!)

I guess I did not acurately describe the encounter with the bredder, as she came across very militant about it all and when I said I did not realize you could breed the enthusiasm out of a dog, what I meant was, I didn't think you should. Jamiya made the point I was not able to articulate:

Duke is obviously well behaved (see door incident in recent post) yet, not lacking in the personality dept. I just wondered why she acted like the 2 were exclusive of each other. But, you and Jamiya summed it up perfectly.

 

Perhaps this woman is not appreciative of goofballs. She should be breeding something more serious.


Jamiya

 

Jamiya- If you could have seen her demeanor and facial expressions. That's what I meant about the whole Stepford Labs comment. She really came off kind of spooky! :shock:

 

Hehehe, I can just see you slowly backing away while talking to her.


Jamiya

 

:0010: I bet she has a sign at her breeding kennel that say "Only Serious Labs Need Apply"