United Labrador Retriever Association

Labrador Retriever Study Guide


The Labrador Competing in Today’s Conformation Ring

The Essence of Breed Type Explained

Sponsored by the United Labrador Retriever Association, Inc. --- ULRA
photographs are of ULRA members’ dogs

written by Martha B Anderson, PhD & Kenneth E. Anderson 


the authors’ favorite labrador photograph courtesy of Twin Holly Photography

 

The Labrador retriever Competing in Today’s Conformation Ring

The essence of breed type and judging explained

 

As its popularity has grown, many judges have asked us for information about our breed.  This is our club’s response to that demand for good information about Labrador Retrievers.  It presumes you have at hand the UKC Standard.  We are always striving to make this presentation factual and complete, but not overly long and boring.  Your comments are always appreciated.

We wish to thank Jim and David Scott of Twin Holly Photography for most of the photographs used in this study guide.  Additional photographs were taken by Kenneth Anderson of Ynda Photography and Renee Willis of Cinnamire Photography, and we also thank them for the use of his photos.

This pamphlet is copyrighted by ULRA, Inc., and written permission must be obtained to use any of the material contained in it.  Contact the Education Chairman listed at the end of the learning assessment.

Martha & Kenneth Anderson

 

 

 If you CAN NOT answer these questions or do NOT feel confident in your answers, you may profit from reading the Study Guide

Words that describe the true temperament of the labrador are:

  1. Happy, tail-wagging
  2. Gentle, sweet
  3. Kind, happy
  4. Trainable/biddable, kind
  5. Sweet, trainable
  6. Happy, trainable

 

What is the ‘optical illusion’ effect when judging labradors:

  1. A person’s eye is naturally drawn more to the light colored dogs than to the darker dogs.
  2. The yellow dogs appear to have more expressive heads.
  3. The black and chocolate dogs appear to be more substantive than the yellow dogs.
  4. All of the above are correct.
  5. None of the above is correct.

 

Describe the head outline of a correct labrador:

  1. The top skull can be a bit domed or rounded, but the muzzle must be level.  The muzzle can be of a pleasing length to balance the skull.  A little bit of rounding on the stop is allowed.
  2. The top skull and muzzle must both be level and parallel to each other.  The muzzle is the same length from nostril to stop as the skull is from stop to occiput.  Stop should be moderate and the overall head should appear ‘chiseled’ and not rounded.
  3. The top skull and the muzzle can both be level.  The muzzle is somewhat shorter than the skull.  The stop should be very slight and slope into the skull.
  4. The head should convey the concept of ‘blocky’ to be a good show dog head.  The skull may be somewhat rounded on top and when viewed from the front should have a lot of stop to frame the eyes.  The cheeks may appear a little fleshy beside or below the eyes, which are a little sunken into the head for protection.  From the side, the muzzle must be shorter than the backskull, the shorter the better. 

 

The function of the front of a labrador is:

  1. To look imposing
  2. To distinguish it from other retrievers
  3. To break the water as the dog swims
  4. To provide cushioning as the dog lies in a blind

 

The function of the tail of a labrador is:

  1. Balance for the dog as it runs
  2. A rudder for the dog as it swims
  3. The tail is there for appearances and has no function

 

Eyes in labradors:

  1. Should be brown and may be a variety of shapes from round to almond
  2. Must be a recognizable shade of brown and should be diamond or oval, never round
  3. May be brown or black, the deeper the color the better
  4. Are allowed to be lighter in chocolates, even yellow or green

 

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