Originally Posted by
mustad
Thanks for bringing this thread back to where it is supposed to be Pike.
The parameters that the original poster had were:
Waterfowl/Retrieving
Upland hunting
Fur
Tracking
Family Dog
I have never knocked the lab as an all around sporting dog. In fact, again I put it as probably the best option for a flushing dog. The biggest problem I have with the lab is the amount of HD in the breed.
That said, I would love to see the metrics you use to determine that the lab is the best dog in the categories you listed. Antler finding and Dock Diving has nothing to do with a hunting/sporting dog. You might as well add agility into the list if you're going that direction.
BTW, you ask who cares about NAVHDA and other testing systems. The answer is twofold:
1. Any breeder who is looking to improve the quality of the breed
and
2. Any owner looking to get the most our of his/her dog.
The reason I added dock diving is because it was brought up earlier in this thread and since you brought hunt tests into the discussion why not include dock diving? After all it is retrieving.
And by the way labs dominate the sport, Nutmeg a choclate lab from CT. is the current world record holder. Air Morgan a black lab was the previous world record holder.
As far as antler hunting, there are more hunters using their dogs to hunt antlers than there are hunters training their dogs to compete in hunt tests. And once again hunt test's take place in a controlled enviroment and isnt hunting. And once again labs are by far the best breed to use to hunt antlers and labradoodles are 2nd.
More hunters and non hunters own labs as pets than any other sporting breed. Why? because they make the best pets.
Waterfowl? Do you really need me to explain?