Porky Pig: "Oh, you are n-not a Labrador retriever!"
Charlie Dog: "Have you got a Labrador?"
Porky Pig: "N-n-n-no."
Charlie Dog: "Know where you can get a Labrador?"
Porky Pig: "N-n-n-no."
Charlie Dog: "Then shaddup."
Posted on 01/21/2009 4:06:15 PM PST by JoeProBono
The Labrador Retriever certainly has a lock on the hearts of American dog lovers. For the eighteenth straight year, the Lab has topped the American Kennel Club's list of the nation's 10 most popular purebred dog breeds. The top 10 dogs are ranked as follows: Labrador Retriever, Yorkshire Terrier, German Shepherd Dog, Golden Retriever, Beagle, Boxer, Dachshund, Bulldog, Poodle and Shi Tzu.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
I agree about the cords, but they are cool looking. I love the mustache/beard.
As for all of the doodle mixes, the problem is, you cannot predict what the coat will be like. My pastor has a golden/poodle mix, and she shed ALL over me (I wore black pants, that was stupid). Doodles are quite popular out here in S FL and they come in every type of coat you can imagine. Long, fluffy, poodley, almost wirey. They are a scam perpetrated on the public. If these folks are serious about creating new breeds they would breed well past the F1 generation and set type, so coat and such could be predicted.
I always tell people considering a doodle to just go get a good standard poodle.
My spinoni friends agree! (of course with their penchent for producing flob they will likely never crack the top 20!)
“I simply don’t understand why, if there were a vibrant community of Aussie breeders breeding for herding, how AKC recognition caused them to stop their registry. I’m sorry, but that just sounds like a cop out.”
Actually, you are correct here. There is always a chasm between those who breed for love of the breed, and those who breed for cash. With the Aussie, enough breeders wanted the extra money & publicity that would go with AKC recognition, so they went there - and ruined the breed. And yes, I say that as someone who happily took a mostly Aussie pup from a rescue, and admits he is a great family dog.
With the Border Collie, the large majority of breeders refused to accept the AKC. Most are still registered with the ABCA, and most are sold with clauses saying the buyer will not register the pup with the AKC. One of the reasons I usually post on threads like this is to publicize to the general population that AKC Border Collies are not accepted as real Border Collies by most breeders and registries.
I’ve only owned 2 purebred Border Collies - one from England and one now from Oregon. I’ve also had mixes. But I love the breed, just as I love the Australian Shepherd. AKC acceptance supports breeding of non-working dogs, and AKC registered BCs are not accepted by other registries for future breeding of Border Collies.
In the end, it is bad breeders that ruin a breed. I believe the AKC makes that more likely. It is a shame, because the AKC could do a great deal of good. I like dog sports, but I also hate to see what enthusiasts would do to the Border Collie.
Same here. That's why I put "white" in quotes in my post. You have a very light or almost white yellow lab but not a "white" lab.
Golden labs....now that's different. :-)
"From early in the 19th century, when some dog fanciers began to take interest in these dogs, and the keeping of written pedigrees began, the breed progressed rapidly, becoming not only larger in stature but also more refined. The dog "Old Cockie" was born in 1867 and he is credited with not only stamping characteristic type on the rough Collie but he is believed by usually reliable authorities to be responsible for introducing to the breed the factors which led to the development of the sable coat color in the Collie. A short time later Collies were seen of almost every imaginable color, including red, buff, mottle of various shades, and a few sables. At that time the most frequently seen colors were black, tan and white, black and white (without tan), and what are now called blue merles, but which were known then as "tortoise shell."
"In the second half of the 19th century, Queen Victoria spotted a Border Collie and became an active enthusiast (at this point, the divergence between our modern Collie and the Border Collie began)."
Lassie came from what originally looked like (and acted like) a Border Collie. I would hate to see a repeat!
Chairman's Report
September 2008
The American Kennel Club faces enormous challenges in reversing the continuing decline in registrations. Today, we are losing market share at an alarming rate, especially in the retail sector. We are being challenged competitively and financially. The declining registrations and associated core revenues, if allowed to continue, will fundamentally change our organization going forward. Make no mistake, the very future of the AKC and our sport is at risk.
...Today, there are at least 30 All-Breed registries in addition to the AKC, whose combined registration numbers exceed that of the AKC. If this trend is allowed to continue, if we do not stop the hemorrhaging of declining registrations, we will no longer be the premier registry in the world, let alone in our country.
Management has been directed by the Board to aggressively pursue all dogs eligible for AKC registration. We intend to reach out, communicate, and educate those in the retail sector as to why an AKC puppy is the gold standard and why they should be registered with American Kennel Club. In achieving this objective we intend to continue to “raise the bar” by vigorously enforcing our policies. This action is essential to protect and preserve our leadership.
...We are losing litters, dogs and entire colonies to competing registries. If litters and dogs aren’t registered with AKC, we can’t inspect them, we can’t help the breeders and we can’t grow our sport.
AKC used to dominate the marketplace. Even places like Macy’s and Gimbels sold AKC puppies. Many pet owners who bought these puppies, and I was one of them, tried their hand at showing and breeding...
The available pool of AKC registrable puppies is being lost to other registries, along with potential participants in the sport. As we lose registrations, we also lose our core revenues, our ability to generate alternative revenues and our legislative influence. We need to get back on track growing our influence as the premier registry in the world.
...For decades we collected millions of registration dollars from AKC pet owners. These millions overwhelmingly subsidized our sport. Today, this scenario no longer exists. Twenty-five years ago almost all of our revenue was registration related. Last year less than one half of our revenues came from registrations. Dog registrations peaked at 1.5 million in 1992. By the end of 2008 it is projected we will register only 725,000 dogs. This is a staggering 53% decline...
Sincerely,
Ron Menaker, Chairman
Porky Pig: "Oh, you are n-not a Labrador retriever!"
Charlie Dog: "Have you got a Labrador?"
Porky Pig: "N-n-n-no."
Charlie Dog: "Know where you can get a Labrador?"
Porky Pig: "N-n-n-no."
Charlie Dog: "Then shaddup."
Cookie cutter Border Collies:
http://vodpod.com/watch/229209-border-collie-06
http://vodpod.com/watch/229210-border-collie-07
That they are, they make me laugh every single day.
What I learned when I looked up info for my friends who have a Goldendoodle (pound dog) is they were bred to use for service dogs for people who have allergies and needed the non-shedding of the poodle and the attributes of a golden or lab. I will say our friends who have a beautiful black Standard and the GoldenDoodle the doodle is a real clown, while the standard is more regal — though this one not so much as the one they lost to cancer a couple of years ago. This Standard is more of a tom-boy.... and hopelessly in love with the doodle... she spends hours grooming him... Bichette NEVER would have lowered herself to do such a thing.
But, it seems to me that people with a mentality like that were bound to ruin the breed anyway, regardless of registration. Do you herd with your dogs? I love to watch that, the dogs are amazing.
An F4 cross is still an experiment, it takes MANY generations to fix type. I am familiar with the Australian group, I know they have been breeding them for quite some time. The vast vast majority of doodle breeders in the US are not going past the F1 generation. One reason is that the F2 tend to look more like the grandparents, that is they sort back out.
I don’t really care what people breed or buy, but it aggravates me to see so many charlatans out there saying things that simply are not true. If someone tells me they want a doodle I steer them to a shelter so they can go and see the poodle crosses. If you get an older one you can at least tell what the coat will be like.
One more thing (sorry!). If doodle breeders want more respect they will not only try to fix type by breeding more than a generation or two before crossing back, they will also decide what traits they do want and come up with names that aren’t just a cutesy crossing of the 2 breeds they used. What is the purpose of the dog? They can come up with a breed name that suggests the purpose.
I get golden lab all the time. I really think it’s because many people don’t understand that golden retrievers and labradors are 2 different breeds. They honestly think they are just coat/color variations of the same breed. That’s really not a good thing since temperamentally they are quite different. :)
Of course, sometimes when people see me walking my in standard golden girl, they ask if she’s a puppy. I say no, and they proceed to tell me about their, or their neighbors 100 lb golden! Now, I don’t mind a dog being over or undersized, that happens, BUT 100 lbs? (and they always say, “he’s not fat!”) Wow....
MOST of the doodles I’ve seem seem to be sweet dogs, altho they are more active than my goldens.
This guy is a love... very active though. My Missie is in love with him, too.. we babysat a while back and she was all over flirting with him.
I suspect you are right, although wider recognition via AKC accelerated it.
My previous Border Collie got one chance in her life to herd, with a bunch of range sheep fresh off the mountain owned by an old friend. 5 years old, no previous experience, and she rounded them up and walked them thru a couple of gates and into a new pasture. Pure instinct.
My new puppy comes from a lady who trials her dogs, including both parents. In a year or so, I'll give my friend a call and see if he'll let us try him. However, we will never have the facilities to see what he could do. On the other hand, he hates cold weather - defined as less than 60 - so maybe a pet home in southern Arizona isn't such a bad fate. Still, it is fun to watch him run out ahead of the other dogs and crouch in wait...
I love to watch any of the working dogs - retrievers, pointers, herders. Their passion and ability always amazes me, as does their relation with their owners. Not that there is anything wrong with a good pet dog. Our Aussie pup couldn't herd a cat out of a paper bag, but he's a 'mother hen' dog - if anyone is sick, he stay by their side with concern pouring out of his eyes. Our BC's first night, when he cried a bit in the crate, Rusty went over and stayed by the door of the crate the entire night to calm him.
What can I say? Dogs are wonderful creatures!
They’re both lovely! My first show golden (I bought from multi purpose lines) earned her WC (which is not an extremely difficult test, but many don’t pass) at around a year of age,with me (very novice handler) and almost no training (she did know some obedience commands and had seen a duck before). I love a dog with natural skill. Our spinone were pretty fun in the field, pointing is such an amazing thing to watch. I miss hunting with them, but there is no way I would take my dogs out in the wilds down here (S FL) because of the gators. Hopefully we will end up back in TX or NM.
“Big soulful eyes routine. Gets ’em every time.”
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