# American or British Labs for Waterfowl



## br012310

I am just wondering the opinions of everyone when it comes to an American Lab or British lab for waterfowl hunting. How about Males vs. Females...Any preferance?


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## Chaws

Neither matter.


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## jrp267

If you live in town get a male. They dont kill the grass.


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## TPL

The important thing is to get the right one for what you want, british or american.....do some homework, Chaws is right. Oh, and my townhouse association would beg to differ on the effects of male urine on grass, my annual 100 dollar invoice for new sod says otherwise too!


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## templey_41

I have both. So take my opinion for what it's worth. My american is hyper for the first 3 minutes when someone walks in the door. my british is as calm as can be when some one comes in the door. Now with that said they are both maniacs when that gun goes off. They love to retrieve and sit and watch the geese fly over everyday. Just today I went out and shot a pigeon and did some work with them and when I sent one the other wold whimper in disagreement. I would say my british has been more attentive with her environment always watching and learning. My american has one heck of a nose and is great on water. My british will have her first year this year on water so we will see how she does. So with that said here is my recommendation......

Look at the bloodlines and try and meet the parents first before you decide. Our american was just a buy on a whim type thing so i didn't do much research. our british i did a lot of research and met he parents first. both very calm and had a strong hunting drive.

PM me when any further questions or even the breeder that I would highly recommend .


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## DakotaRidge

Labs are labs. It all has to do with the breeding. I wouldn't pay the inflated prices they want for "British" labs.


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## templey_41

DakotaRidge said:


> Labs are labs. It all has to do with the breeding. I wouldn't pay the inflated prices they want for "British" labs.


You can pay just as much for an American as well.


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## nickle ditch

Canadian


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## USAlx50

templey_41 said:


> DakotaRidge said:
> 
> 
> 
> Labs are labs. It all has to do with the breeding. I wouldn't pay the inflated prices they want for "British" labs.
> 
> 
> 
> You can pay just as much for an American as well.
Click to expand...

With much more impressive letters next to the name oke: Sorry, had to go there.


nickle ditch said:


> Canadian


 :lol: :beer:


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## Springer

Male vs Female do you want dead spots on every corner and tree (they will kill the trees also if they are young enough) or out in the middle of the yard.


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## templey_41

USAlx50 said:


> templey_41 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DakotaRidge said:
> 
> 
> 
> Labs are labs. It all has to do with the breeding. I wouldn't pay the inflated prices they want for "British" labs.
> 
> 
> 
> You can pay just as much for an American as well.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> With much more impressive letters next to the name oke: Sorry, had to go there.
> 
> 
> nickle ditch said:
> 
> 
> 
> Canadian
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> :lol: :beer:
Click to expand...

I work with doctors with lots of letters next to their name and I can honestly tell you they don't MEAN Sqwat! sorry i had to go there too


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## boykinhntr

Its easy to find proven litters of American labs. It can be more difficult to find them in british dogs bc they don't run HTs or American FTs. However, most really good british breeders import their breeding dogs. Their pedigrees should be full of FTCH and FTW. If f so, you have a good litter.

THERE CAN be differences. British labs are generally really calm dogs. American dogs can also be very calm but a few fire breathers may be too much for a novice trainer. British dogs are often smaller..females 50-60 and males 55-65lbs.

Nearly all of my hunting buddies have labs and its about 50\50 on American and
British. I would be happy with any of them. I got a brit dog simply bc I found a great litter close to home that had the right temperament and size....I found the same thing in an american litter but it was further away.

Good luck!


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## dakotashooter2

Do the Brits have that annoying accent when they bark? :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin:


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## Chaws

dakotashooter2 said:


> Do the Brits have that annoying accent when they bark? :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin: :rollin:


No, but they always require a break for tea during a morning hunt.


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## verg

I'm a little late on this (as usual) but can you find brit labs that are larger? I like larger dogs but also the calm temp.


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## Bobm

IMO dogs on the large end of the size spectrum for any breed tend on average breakdown earlier in their old age and have more joint issues

of course there are other factors and its just something I've observed over the years I am sure there are exceptions

I like short coupled dogs in the middle of the size range they seem to hold up best and be more athletic


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## verg

I'd have to respectfully disagree. I've had an currently have larger dogs and have never had problems with them aging early. They are in shape and conditioned well. I'm strictly speaking labs or maybe even retrievers in general. Now I'm not talking 120lbers, I'm talking 80lbers. I'm stuck right now as I have a 65 lber and a 105lber. The perfect for my preference is right between the two.
That is just I prefer. I think a 75-85 lb lab is perfect for how I hunt. No it doesn't really matter I guess, but If I'm going to spend money, I want what I want.


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## mrb

just my 2 cents
but from all the people I know that have american labs, they tend to have longer legs, and tend to have thiner heads, and ' all are much more hyper.( many are over 100 lbs too)
I currently have a british lab, bought because the time and litter was right, and because of the temperment the parents had and also talking to others who had dogs from the breeder, and what they got and how they turned out.
I looked at many different breeders looking for line and temperment types I hoped for.
I got exacly what I hope for too
he is 12+ yrs old and solid,88lbs since he was 2.
hunts like I want and a great overall companion every where else.

I think that all dogs breed for hunt/field trials tend to be higher strung, to do all them long retrieves.( people seem to love to see)
and history tells that american labs were breed for the taller legs to make getting in and out of boats better too!
Draw back to high strung dogs,( my opinion and from what I seen happen to them) is they can injure themselves, with all that speed and doing without looking or seemingly thinking first), and most I know have more issues with hips as they age, thinks its due to all that constant drive, and one speed, FAST!, maybe more wear on joints with all that speed! but not suffer these issues!, and lastly, they seem to be the most breed of the labs out there, so there are bad breeders making many of these labs, again not all, but so many I see sop many with poor features, over sized, bad hips, poor teeth, and such, AGAIN< NOT ALL BREEDERS, but buyer beware on lab breeder all over do research, look at patents, ask what age they start breeding them, and look closly at there built, teeth, and on and On)

best advice I can give you is look first, ask questions, and know what you want your lab to do, and how they do it!
then go to breeders known to produce the type you are looking for,
american/british, no matter if the line produced is normally what you want, then that the one to get!
me I will get a britsh lab again, like the stocker looks better, and the rest can be had as well

and lastly
if you really want a super strong waterfowl dog, you need to be looking at a chessy retriever, they rule the waterfowf game, just have strong wills and typically like just one boss telling them what to do!
but super waterfowl dogs!


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## Bobm

verg said:


> I'd have to respectfully disagree. I've had an currently have larger dogs and have never had problems with them aging early. They are in shape and conditioned well. I'm strictly speaking labs or maybe even retrievers in general. Now I'm not talking 120lbers, I'm talking 80lbers. I'm stuck right now as I have a 65 lber and a 105lber. The perfect for my preference is right between the two.
> That is just I prefer. I think a 75-85 lb lab is perfect for how I hunt. No it doesn't really matter I guess, but If I'm going to spend money, I want what I want.


I wasn't suggesting you should buy a particular size dog I agree you should get what you like. I was just commenting on my observations about dog size in general.

I hope you find the dog you want, good luck.


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## Chaws

Entirely NON British lines. This dog is out of an FC Cosmo son and out of an all age pointed Watermarks the Boss daughter. This male is my personal dog, runs about 58lbs at working summer and hunting season weight and is pretty short legged and a nice blocky head. This is our first AKC Master pass.

He's a perfect size dog for waterfowling. He can easily handle a big late season honker in the field and is easily in and out of a GHG low profile field blind and even retrieves well out of a canoe without tipping it over.


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## Guest

I have been doing field trials and hunt test for 11 years and have only seen 1 maybe 2 dogs over 100lbs that were field bred labs. Anything bigger than 80-85lbs tends to have bench bred dogs in the pedigree.

I could care less what people say about American Field Bred labs about them being hyper. I have have 2 on my floor right now that could fool anyone that they are a "gentlemans lab" as house dogs (both are field bred american labs one is a FC AFC X FC AFC CFC and the other is a FC AFC X MH). In the field I want as much go as I can get. I TRAIN them to be good mannered around adults,kids, and other animals and in my house. END OF STORY. Train your dog to be a good mannered dog and the rest doesn't matter.


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## honkstopper

what it all comes down to is personal preference for me i picked the breeder and the parents over anything else. The dogs had good pedigrees. The stud won field trials was about to try for his master hunter. Both were well behaved and calm. They were british labs but if they were american i still sould have wanted these dogs. The only problem with the american labs that i see is the backyard breeding. The guys that look at each other and think are dogs are pretty decent retrivers lets breed them. And the breeders that breed for color. I realize that there is market demand for certain colors but if all breeders only cared about how good the dogs that they are breeding really are we would all be better off. In my opinion there is too much of a breeder breeding an alright yellow or choclate just so he can get sell them faster.


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