# American vs. British Lab



## Curtis-UGA (Jan 12, 2017)

What do you prefer? American or British labs for duck hunting? Why?


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## king killer delete (Jan 12, 2017)

Here we go


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## king killer delete (Jan 12, 2017)

First off Where are you going to buy a British lab


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## king killer delete (Jan 12, 2017)

If the dog is registered in a stud book in the U.S. how can it be Brit.
Stud book means AKC, UKC


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## king killer delete (Jan 12, 2017)

You need to go to a hunt test and make up your on mind. That way you can see some dogs work and understand what you might be looking for. I have owned allot of Labs all colors and some with great field champion blood lines and some that came from the dog from down the street that turned over my trash can all the time.
First the British lab which means he comes from a kennel and is registered in the U.K. Stud book doesn't know he is a lab or even that he is a dog. Guess what the dogs in the U.S. are the same. I helped train allot of Field Champions in my day. Not all were labs. They were good dogs with great blood lines. What I recommend for you is before you buy a puppy. Go and watch some dogs work in true as close as possible hunting situations. That means go to several hunt test and see some good dogs work. While you are there talk to the owners and handlers. The you can make up your own mind. Good luck!


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## RUTTNBUCK (Jan 12, 2017)

American


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## Curtis-UGA (Jan 13, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> You need to go to a hunt test and make up your on mind. That way you can see some dogs work and understand what you might be looking for. I have owned allot of Labs all colors and some with great field champion blood lines and some that came from the dog from down the street that turned over my trash can all the time.
> First the British lab which means he comes from a kennel and is registered in the U.K. Stud book doesn't know he is a lab or even that he is a dog. Guess what the dogs in the U.S. are the same. I helped train allot of Field Champions in my day. Not all were labs. They were good dogs with great blood lines. What I recommend for you is before you buy a puppy. Go and watch some dogs work in true as close as possible hunting situations. That means go to several hunt test and see some good dogs work. While you are there talk to the owners and handlers. The you can make up your own mind. Good luck!



I've owned, trained and hunted labs the last 15 years. Where in my post did I say I was buying a pup and looking for suggestions?


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## DRBugman85 (Jan 13, 2017)

I've trained and hunted 7 Labs in my years and the Lab I now have is a British UK stud was by for the easiest to train and hunt ,The trainer takes a raw puppy and brings the best of the dogs ability to the surface.I've been blessed with some good dogs BUT I will be getting a British UK Lab for sure. It may be all in my head but the  $ I spend will be on a BRITISH bred lab..


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## mizzippi jb (Jan 13, 2017)

American field trail stock.  Fast, sleek, efficient.


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## flatsmaster (Jan 13, 2017)

There's Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley .... they both can play basketball but have a diff style .... They both can certainly pick up a duck but have a diff look  .... Get what u like and enjoy but mine is making America great again !!!!


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## Curtis-UGA (Jan 13, 2017)

flatsmaster said:


> There's Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley .... they both can play basketball but have a diff style .... They both can certainly pick up a duck but have a diff look  .... Get what u like and enjoy but mine is making America great again !!!!


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## Bobby Jackson (Jan 13, 2017)

The Brit labs I have owned have the conformation and body I like of a traditional lab with a large blocky head and big chest and large otter tail and just overall a beautiful dog to look at. Most of them have been easy to train and tuff as nails in the freezing waters and tough terrain we sometimes hunt..
With that said..

The American field trial labs my Father has always had/hunted will out hunt/retrieve circles around my Brit labs..day after day everytime.
I mean in comparison my lab will run/walk down to the water and swim out to retrieve..his Amer labs will bolt down to the shoreline and literally launch airborne to the water and I don't think the first 10 feet she is even swimming she is walking on water ...LoL
Amazing to see the difference..My lab will be excited and ready to hunt when instructed..But his Amer labs get out of the truck already hunting for ducks!

As a example we often hunt a popular area that gets a lot of hunting and his Amer labs have found several wounded ducks without us ever firing a shot..last season she found 3 ducks on her own..just walking along the waterside and she bolts into the woods and he hollers for the dog to return..she returns(with a mallard duck in her mouth)..
Amazing to see ...Dog 1..Hunters 0Zero
I have witnessed it several times..
The dogs are just serious about hunting ducks!!


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## Curtis-UGA (Jan 13, 2017)

Thanks for all the great input!


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## DRBugman85 (Jan 13, 2017)

Bobby Jackson said:


> The Brit labs I have owned have the conformation and body I like of a traditional lab with a large blocky head and big chest and large otter tail and just overall a beautiful dog to look at. Most of them have been easy to train and tuff as nails in the freezing waters and tough terrain we sometimes hunt..
> With that said..
> 
> The American field trial labs my Father has always had/hunted will out hunt/retrieve circles around my Brit labs..day after day everytime.
> ...


And my British lab is as robust as the American labs I've had.And a fine a nose as any I've seen.9 years old and can flat foot in my boat on the trailer and launch like a rocket with a command. Cold water are ice she comes back for more.


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## The Fever (Jan 13, 2017)

flatsmaster said:


> There's Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley .... they both can play basketball but have a diff style .... They both can certainly pick up a duck but have a diff look  .... Get what u like and enjoy but mine is making America great again !!!!



One has more rings tho....


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## king killer delete (Jan 13, 2017)

will someone  give me a definition or a breed standard for a British lab. I am talking about a stud book standard.


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## king killer delete (Jan 13, 2017)

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/breed/standard.aspx?id=2048


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## king killer delete (Jan 13, 2017)

http://www.dummies.com/pets/dogs/labrador-retrievers-the-akc-breed-standard/


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## DRBugman85 (Jan 13, 2017)

Dang if I know,I have been blessed with meat dogs.Just my experience with the Labs I trained and hunted over the 55 years.


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## Water Swat (Jan 13, 2017)

Silly lab people.


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## Curtis-UGA (Jan 13, 2017)

king killer delete said:


> will someone  give me a definition or a breed standard for a British lab. I am talking about a stud book standard.



^ this guy.


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## Curtis-UGA (Jan 13, 2017)

DRBugman85 said:


> Dang if I know,I have been blessed with meat dogs.Just my experience with the Labs I trained and hunted over the 55 years.



Meat dogs are a blessing!


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## duck-dawg (Jan 14, 2017)

I'm staring at two puppies right now...a 16wo fox-red lab out of British lines and a 15wo American chocolate lab. Both dogs are males and are within about a pound of one another. They were both picked up at 6wks, both have great pedigrees, are very intelligent, and should be great dogs. That being said, here's what I can tell you thus far based solely on these two...the British lab has been much easier to train, seems to be a little bit smarter, and is calmer indoors. This is a dog out of British field lines, not show...very athletic build, blocky head, and should end up in the 60-70lb range. The American should end up in the 70-80lb range, and is already a taller dog.


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## injun joe (Jan 14, 2017)

Water Swat said:


> Silly lab people.



^This


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## king killer delete (Jan 14, 2017)

American, all meat dogs


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## DRBugman85 (Jan 14, 2017)

She don't have any ribbons JUST a freezer full of Dove, duck and snipe and deer meat from 2 she found this year in archery season.


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## king killer delete (Jan 14, 2017)

DRBugman85 said:


> She don't have any ribbons JUST a freezer full of Dove, duck and snipe and deer meat from 2 she found this year in archery season.


Nothing wrong with that. Every one of those were titled hunting dogs were meat dogs. In 1985 I was on the National Retreiver Championship committee. I ran Field Trials and Hunting test for many years. My wife and I sold one hundred and sixty nine Lab pups from Alaska to Puerto Rico. Our kennel produced the First AKC master hunter out of the CSRA. Central Savannah River Area. I think that if you have a dog trained for your needs that is great. But most dogs no matter the Retreiver breed can really do so much more. The British Lab traits can be found in the American lab. Each dog is an individual and if you can match the dog to your needs I think you have success. Trying to label any dog of any breed can really get you in trouble. Some breeders try to use these labels to sell dogs. No body talks about the Australian labs and yes they do hunt ducks in Australia. Labrador Retrievers are well known as bomb detection dogs. You can google pictures of Labradors in combat all the way from WWII thru Vietnam and to the war zones of today. The breed no mater what country they come from has a well known history of being a great family dog and a real hunter. Police use the Lab in the U.S. and the U.K. As well as Canada and Australia. 
Now I will say this there are other Retreiver breeds that can and will do the same things the lab will do.
But I do love my black dogs. I grew up around allot of labs being born and raised in the Mississippi Delta.


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## king killer delete (Jan 14, 2017)

flatsmaster said:


> There's Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley .... they both can play basketball but have a diff style .... They both can certainly pick up a duck but have a diff look  .... Get what u like and enjoy but mine is making America great again !!!!



British labs also Retreive rabbits


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## mizzippi jb (Jan 15, 2017)

Lotta folks say "my dog don't have any ribbons and ribbons and titles don't retrieve ducks". That's absolutely true,and to each his own.  But, I've had em both.  And I can tell you, it's a lot of fun for you, your dog, and your kids with the training and the competition factor.  And I know that if my dog can pass a master test, she can handle anything and everything out of a duck blind.  Plus you meet some of the nicest like minded folks.....it's a great post season hobby


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## king killer delete (Jan 15, 2017)

True British bloodlines come from British Field Trial bloodlines just as True American and Canadian Blood  comes from U.S. Field Trial and Hunt dog test bloodlines. Now a meat dog is out of these blood lines. Most meat dogs have good instinct and drive. What these dogs lack is training. There is nothing worse than a dog with lots of drive and no training being held tied or restrained while a hunt is in progress. There is no excuse for some one not to have a well trained dog next to you in the blind or the dove field. When I Started training dogs information was hard to find. There was no YouTube or google. There were a few books and the way you learned to train was working for a successful professional or you paid for it.  To get true British blood you need to go to the U.K. and buy true British Field Trial stock. When you buy yourself a pup with Champion in his pedigree you may not have what you think you have. Champion means that the dog has been bred to look like a breed standard. Field Champion means performance not looks.  Block head boxey features most of time mean conformation not performance. Now this does not mean that you can not have booth, you can. 
A dog with true Field Champion British or American bloodlines. A dog with true titled AKC, or UKC hunt test blood lines will make you a great hunting dog. But your only half way when you got blood.  Most important are health certificates from the father and mother. Next you have training and allot of it.


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