Could Your Labrador Score a Knock Out?

February 19 2013

Ever wonder how your loyal lab compares to the best of the best? Not in the duck blind but in the show ring at Madison Square Gardens. For the past 22 years, the Labrador Retriever has been the most popular dog breed in the U.S. according to the American Kennel Club. However, in the 136 years of the Westminster Dog Show, a lab has never been awarded Best in Show. The very traits that we value in Mississippi duck hunting work against them at the shows. Labs are more intent on pleasing their owners and making the camo clad duck hunter happy and proud than in showing off for an audience. Aren’t we glad that labs want to make us look good. Sometimes we need all the help that we can get on a cold Mississippi Duck Hunting day. Boss swears our lab, Coop, is just like me. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

The American Kennel Club’s breed standard requires a “strongly built, medium-sized, short-coupled” dog that retrieves game in the water. Judges look for a broad head, powerful jaws, friendly eyes and a wide tail. Your black, yellow or chocolate lab should stand between 22 ½ to 24 ½ inches as a male and 21 ½ to 23 ½ inches as a female with males weighing between 65 to 80 pounds and females between 55 to 70 pounds.

You won’t find a MS Delta Dog in the Garden, but we welcome the opportunity to show them off in a duck blind in the shared duck lease season program, on a guided morning hunt or joining your group to hunt on your exclusive Mississippi Delta duck lease. You wont find any long-haired Pekinese hanging out with us!

Nathan Peden, Director of Wildlife
601-479-4873