Working dogs should have a working standard. This is what the Border Collie folks told the AKC, and the AKC absolutely refused.
Labs that barely know how to retrieve are an embarrassment. Instinct to work livestock in a useful manner is much tougher to achieve, and it all can be undone in a few years of careless breeding.
For me, the bottom line is, “If you have a viable working registry, why does the AKC need to take over?” And the AKC has so much money, it is hard to fight them.
My older Lab spent so much time in her formative years with Border collies (she started life as an agility dog) that she likes to herd, although she isn't very good at it.
But it's a pleasure to watch her handle to a tight blind, or dig a mallard out of the cattails in a stick pond, or run a 120-yard double in an overgrown field.
It's the buyer's responsibility to do his research and get the kind of dog he wants. Most people don't want or need a field Lab, and the misadventures of Marley are "Exhibit A".
A true high bred field Lab is NOT an appropriate house pet. An AKC conformation Lab with less energy and a milder temperament (and less hard headed too) is a MUCH better choice for the average suburban family. My younger dog would make Marley look like a finishing school graduate, if she were allowed to have her head. She's a Lean Mac/Gator Point/Honest Abe breeding, those are all very high octane dogs who pass on birdiness and activity to the nth degree. My vet says my younger dog is "wired for sound".
And as adorable as the true working Border Collies are, they are obsessive-compulsive workaholics and NOT for everyone . . . in fact, not for anyone who can't keep them busy and thinking 24/7. They make my girls look like couch potatoes.