Free: Contests & Raffles.
Quote from: quacker whacker on November 02, 2008, 01:15:32 PMHave to respectfully disagree with you on this one. There is no.....I repeat no substitute for a lab or any other hunting breed for that matter from a solid line of well bred parents and grandparents. That's not to say someone with no common sense or dog savy with the best breeding offers ends up with a dud, or conversely a person who understands dogs and has a mix breed can do some amazing things. Utimately though, your odds of ending up with a top notch animal begins with genetics....no doubt about it. Good genetics and proven parents, etc. comes with a price. +1 100% AGREE....
Have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. There is no.....I repeat no substitute for a lab or any other hunting breed for that matter from a solid line of well bred parents and grandparents. That's not to say someone with no common sense or dog savy with the best breeding offers ends up with a dud, or conversely a person who understands dogs and has a mix breed can do some amazing things. Utimately though, your odds of ending up with a top notch animal begins with genetics....no doubt about it. Good genetics and proven parents, etc. comes with a price.
Quote from: quacker whacker on November 02, 2008, 01:15:32 PMi have a lab mix that i found(free), and my buddy has had 3 free lab mixes. In my experience they aren't any different than the expensive dogs that were sent away to expensive trainers. Its all how you train them. Have to respectfully disagree with you on this one. There is no.....I repeat no substitute for a lab or any other hunting breed for that matter from a solid line of well bred parents and grandparents. That's not to say someone with no common sense or dog savy with the best breeding offers ends up with a dud, or conversely a person who understands dogs and has a mix breed can do some amazing things. Utimately though, your odds of ending up with a top notch animal begins with genetics....no doubt about it. Good genetics and proven parents, etc. comes with a price. If one realizes the cost is minimal over the dog's lifetime it makes the purchase easier to accept.This is more important if you train a dog to do what it was bred for. What I mean is the total package.....steady until sent, marking birds as they fall. Training on blind retrieves and everything else. With bird dogs...i.e. pointers....steady to wing and shot...honoring etc. If you don't expect to put that effort into it, then bloodlines may not be all that important to you. The majority of dogs are never trained to do all they were bred for.If you want a comparison just go to a licensed AKC retriever trial and compare the open (group) dogs and what they do to those you see out hunting with the average guy. Lots of effort goes into a finished dog, but everyone should experience that joy once in their life....just my two cents.Oh....I would rate a BLACK lab right at the top of the retrieving world....if you want the toughest and can adapt your style of training to not always being the boss....get a Chessy.
i have a lab mix that i found(free), and my buddy has had 3 free lab mixes. In my experience they aren't any different than the expensive dogs that were sent away to expensive trainers. Its all how you train them.