Working or show line Labrador puppy?

[Lucyquack]

We’re living in London near 3 parks and a 10 minute drive from a woods. It’s me, DH, dd16 and dd10

[PrmmRoses5]

We have just started looking for our much awaited puppy . Do you know if your breeder is still available .?
Watcher in the night and ms adorable ? I am new to mums net !

[PrmmRoses5]

We have just started looking for our black lab puppy ( much awaited for !)
I was doing some research and saw your pictures !what a lovely dog !
Any idea of where to go to find one just like him !!!

[Lucyquack]

We’re going for it!! Very excited, especially after hearing about your lovely dogs

[CatkinToadflax]

Our three-year-old yellow lab claims to be from working lines, but she's the laziest animal I've ever come across. She doesn't seem to contribute to society in any way or form. She's also the most wonderful, loving dog and was in the wrong queue when the brains were given out.

[Honeyroar]

Ive had one working lines and two show lines. The worker needed soooo much more exercise to wear him out. The other two were possibly more intelligent (particularly the choc, contrary to what gun dog people say) and would have been great assistance dogs (unless the blind person went near water!). All three were wonderful dogs, so loving and great with children. All three loved food, water and balls. All three were rescues too.

[Theresahairbrushinthefridge]

She just loves the kids and is their shadow. This is her with my socially anxious 5 year old.

[Theresahairbrushinthefridge]

Our pup on bonfire night. It was like Armageddon and she just snored through it. She is so chilled.

[Theresahairbrushinthefridge]

Oh my he is handsome.

[LittleCandle]

A friend has a working stock lab. She is a lovely dog, but dear God, she's thick! Also huge (not fat, just solid) and as we have small dogs, she took up a hell of a lot of space while staying with us! But such a lovely dog and no health problems to speak of either.

[WatcherOfTheNight]

Here's a clearer one of our boy ,I find they are so hard to capture ,especially when out .
Either the light is wrong or they are 100 miles an hour so it's a blur or a tail !

[LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett]

Gosh @MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig your dog is the double of mine! Ours is a rescue and we were told he was a cross, but I've never been convinced and seeing yours makes me even more doubtful there's anything other than lab in there. We don't see a lot of the smaller working dogs where I am, it tends to be chunkier big dogs. How tall is yours, may I ask?

[WatcherOfTheNight]

Oh wow @MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig
Very handsome!
And very alike too,How old is he ?

[WatcherOfTheNight]

@tabulahrasa yes yes with food & exercise! I wish all lab owners realised this !
We see so many out ,most are a lot younger than our boy but struggle because they are so heavy,it makes me sad to see a 2 year old Lab struggling because he's so overweight.

Some people are so surprised when we say ours is 6 but we've always given him a good diet & exercise which I believe is another factor in why he's doing so well.
All of ours are on Millies Wolfheart 8/20 or 70/30 and/or raw ,we also weigh it & keep an eye on "output"

People think it's expensive but they don't realise when you feed high meat content it can be half what is needed compared with a carb /wheat heavy food.
Tbh though ,I've not known of any breed that hasn't noticeably improved once their diet has had an overhaul.

[Saucery]

I would go with working every time, from a reputable breeder with a traceable line for health checks and how they have been worked.

[tabulahrasa]

How it tends to work is that they’ll have similar energy levels, but that working line dogs are a bit easier to channel the energy into doing something and show lines are a bit scattier...

But show line labs are still pretty easy to train as they’re very biddable. As in, you’re not talking as different as a completely different breed.

They tend to be giddier because (and yes I am absolutely generalising) people pick them thinking they need less input than working lines and so give them less input and actually they need about the same.

Working lines are also usually a bit smaller because size isn’t an issue when working.

Show lines shouldn’t be fatter though, that’s entirely from not the right amount of good and exercise.

[MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig]

I’ve also got a lab from working lines. He’s been a dream to train and is so well behaved and adorable. Never had any health issues at all. I don’t think he’s related to Romeo but they look very similar!

[WatcherOfTheNight]

Same here @Theresahairbrushinthefridge ,toilet trained in days ,by far the easiest to train of any breed we have/have had .
He also came raised in a family home which I believe made a huge difference .
He was very confident when we went to see him ,and also very playful where as his sister hid from us .

We've 4 dogs now (he's the only Lab ) & if I raise my voice for any reason he's gone !
The other 3 couldn't care less
He just wants to please .

[BrokenWing]

Our black lab is working line and super calm, never barks. ds's friend has a yellow male show lab, huge dog with huge head, mad as a hatter and very vocal. Different from above so it can go either way, but temperament wise from meeting lots of labs when out walking ours I'd personally always go for working line.

Regardless of the line you choose read up on the constant casting then twice a year moulting that goes on for weeks first! Nightmare. Every potential new unwitting Labrador owner should be made aware of this before committing!!!!!!!! I'm not particularly house proud but have vacuumed twice today as ds has a friend staying tonight, and didn't realise dh also did it when I was out it is that bad at the moment!

[OrcinusOrca]

Working or dual purpose. My youngest golden retriever is from dual purpose lines on both sides. I bit the breeder's hand off as soon as I got chance to go on the waiting list. She is an absolute delight. I'm a big believer in dogs that look as they should, are healthy and can also do their thing. Sometimes working lines in some breeds are quite far from what would do well in the ring, certainly some working goldens can be fab but look all wrong, snippy heads etc. That's why I'm sold on dual purpose in the goldens. I know less about dual purpose in labs but tbh most of the working examples I see are nice examples of the breed, so I'd definitely lean that way over show lines.

[Theresahairbrushinthefridge]

Working!

Slimmer less tendency to be overweight and have health problems in old age.

A working bred dog is highly trainable. Our was house trained in 2 days at 8 weeks. Only ever had 4 wees in the house. No poos. Two of those were because I left her with the kids and was not paying attention. She is brilliant. Great recall. Really willing to please.

Just be mindful of their first 8 weeks though. Ours is a working dog bred and raised in a family home. Very sociable and confident. Some working dogs raised in kennels may be more nervous. You will know when you meet them.

[Eifla]

I prefer working line. Generally hardier (although you still need to choose a breeder that undertakes all of the KC recommended screening for the breed) and looks wise, I like that sleeker athletic look.

Working line dogs do not make any less of a good pet than show line dogs. They just need suitable exercise and mental enrichment.

As long as he gets his walks, playtime and opportunity to use his nose & brain, my young working Cocker, from very hard wired working lines, can usually be found belly up on the sofa.

[Awesomeo90]

You should go for the puppy you've found. A good breeder is the most important thing.

[WatcherOfTheNight]

Thank you @Lucyquack ,he didn't look like that half an hour ago after tearing through the flooded park in the rain after his ball
He was in his element though!

I think a PP might be right about health ,we checked he came from good lines & that health checks were done & apart from a bit of pano (doggy growing pains) as a pup he's never needed a vet other than his vaccinations & the usual flea/wormer.

[Myshinynewname]

Working lines generally tend to be healthier as they have been bred to do a job rather than to look a certain way.

[Lucyquack]

Romeo is gorgeous! Almost majestic