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  1. #1
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Labrador temperament

    There is sort of a sub-surface discussion that sometimes breaks out into the open about which branch of the Labrador “family” best meets the standard. (One look at my dog and anyone will know I am most often on the losing side of those debates!). The LRC can be specific to a degree (like when they give specific measurements for heights) but otherwise, they use general descriptions that are interpreted by people like us.

    I would like to start a thread that I should probably call “In defense of the field lab’s temperament.” To do so, I would like to start off with a brief synopsis of what the LRC says the temperament of the Labrador should be.

    1)... kindly, out-going and tractable nature
    2)... eager to please and non-aggressive
    3)... pleasing, gentle ways
    4)... intelligence and adaptability

    I don’t think their is a field-ier field Lab than my own. If I assigned 100 total points to the 4 features listed above... I’d give her all 25 for item #1. She is everyon’e friend, and she is easy to train. (A dog getting ribbons in the upper stakes of FT’s or HT’s has learned an extensive curriculum.)

    I’d have to give her 12.5 points on item #2. She would do ANYthing to please ANY human being, but she is uncharacteristically defensive in the presence of dogs she doesn’t know. (This is not particularly common for field dogs.)

    With regard to #3, I have to give her all the points. She would do ANYthing to please, and when her first attempts meet with little success, she’ll start offering behaviors she thinks will. (She taught herself how to sit-up and beg.) Because she’s a rip-snorting dog in the field, some might say she isn’t gentle. But she will carry a live bird without killing it. And in the house, she settles in, loving cuddles and laying with me with her head in my lap.

    Finally #4. Again, full credit. Here she is 6 years old, and she’s here in TX where I’m getting instruction about all the handling errors I’ve been making. She has been easy to retool her responses to me now that I have learned better line behaviors. The very definition of intelligence and adaptability. Also, I notice in the catalogue/premium I picked up at the HT I ran, the various government and military organizations are advertising for Labs who might be candidates for bomb and drug sniffing training. So field dogs are pretty adaptable for any manner of “game”.

    So, I give my dog an 87.5/100. I’m a pretty tough grader. That’s what my students used to say, anyhow.

    Just interested in any thoughts others on the forum might have.

  2. #2
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    Thoughts about field lab temperament? Most of the criticisms I've heard about field labs and the standard have much more to do with their appearance than their temperament. The only complaint I hear (which others see as a virtue) is how much energy and drive they can have.

    Most people (other than me) who do Obedience with Labs do choose dogs from field lines specifically because of their temperament.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  3. #3
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    I would say that M is very much like RD in her temperament although she would get slightly higher marks for the non-aggression. She has never met a dog she didn't want to get to know better. As for #4 right now we are doing obedience (tries for her CD next weekend), rally and on the 13 we are taking a scent workshop. So she is doing this and will start field work hopefully this week some time. She might score lower in tractability because she can be a littler stubborn at times. She thinks she is a lap dog. She sits on my or my husbands knees when ever she can. I avoid the recliner because she is on you as soon as you sit down.
    Elle is just a sweetheart. She loves to work and is eager to please at all times. We have had a problem with drop on recall because she thinks she has done something wrong but today she did it for the first time with no problem at all. I sure made a big fuss over her when the exercise was finished. Her temperament is calmer than M's but she still has that drive in the field.
    Both of them have that On switch and I find that they temper it for the job at hand. It is really interesting to watch their decision making process.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anna Scott View Post
    We have had a problem with drop on recall because she thinks she has done something wrong but today she did it for the first time with no problem at all. I sure made a big fuss over her when the exercise was finished.
    Both Chloe, and now Sass had the same problem with the DOR. For some reason Cookie didn't go through the same thought process - I think she saw it as a game from the beginning. What helped them was to praise them as soon as they started to come on the recall, and then praise again after the drop. They had thought that being dropped meant they were wrong to come on the recall (so then they didn't want to come because they thought that must have been wrong) so giving them the feedback that both parts of the exercise were correct made a huge difference.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
    Mulder (Coventry's I Want To Believe, UD, RN, WC) 5/26/1999 - 4/22/2015

    And our foster Jolie (Windsong's Genuine Risk, CDX) 5/26/1999 - 3/16/2014

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  5. #5
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    That is very cool. I’ve always admired people who put the effort to breed balanced Labs, staying close to the Standard, without producing dogs that are... ahem... perhaps I should just stop there without offering opinion on bench type Labs. (Zippit, McHugh!). And people that choose to run in various other types of competitions (like Anna and Barry) hats off!!!

    OTOH... I don’t think you’d ever see the genuine support dog services like Guiding Eyes and so forth select highly field bred labs. I could be wrong about that, though.

    I have heard from both bench type Lab owners, and even from committed Hunt Test competitors that highly Field bred Labs are just “too crazy” for average people to handle. I’m not going to lie. It’s taken me a while to learn what my dog needs from me in order to succeed. But now that I know, I recognize how eager she is to work with me.

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    Annette47 (04-01-2019)

  7. #6
    Real Retriever Beth C's Avatar
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    I've had an English lab (my heart dog!) and two field labs, including my current puppy, Lido. My English lab, Bluto, was definitely mellower and easier going - a big teddy bear. The field labs are very high energy and more stubborn, in my experience, especially when young. Training is essential. My first field bred lab, Chipper, was absolutely wonderful as he got older, and I'm hoping that Lido will be the same way. BTW, I don't hunt my dogs; they're just pets and camping/walking companions. Lido comes from a breeder who does compete in hunting trials, though.

  8. #7
    Senior Dog Shelley's Avatar
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    ....
    Last edited by Shelley; 04-01-2019 at 08:33 PM.

  9. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by TuMicks View Post


    1)... kindly, out-going and tractable nature
    2)... eager to please and non-aggressive
    3)... pleasing, gentle ways
    4)... intelligence and adaptability

    Sophie's assessment.

    1. 25. She loves everyone
    2. 12. Sophie doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body, nor does she have any eager to please bones. It's Sophie's world and we're just livin' in it.
    3. 20. Sophie is a bit on the ornery side. She'll do what she wants, even when she knows it's wrong.
    4. 25. Sophie is highly intelligent, and very adaptable.

    So she scores an 82

    Now for Brooks.

    1. 25. Yeah he loves everyone too.
    2. 20. Brooks is always eager to please, but while he's not aggressive, he will get a bit defensive with other dogs who get in his face, especially on leash.
    3. 20. Brooks can be a bit of a beast, and is not exactly what I would consider gentle.
    4. 25. Brooks is super intelligent and adapts easily to new things.

    Brooks get a 90.

    If Bruce were still here, he would get a 100. And looking back on all my Labs, only one other would get a 100, and that was my first Lab, Ella.

  10. #9
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    I had a field lab with a ton of energy. Smartest dog I have owned to date, though the griffs are coming in close second and those aren't labs. I fixed the "high energy" problem with a schedule that needed to be followed daily and lots of fun stuff like obedience and hunting training.

 



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