Edie MacKenzie

Edie MacKenzie is a published author, traveler, dog lover, and tortoise enthusiast. Passionate about what she does, her books provide peopel a firm grounding in the dog breed and their unique characteristics with a nice touch of humor.

Description Of A Labrador Retriever: Part 2

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It is important for the Labrador Retriever to be well balanced. He should  not be as tall and thin as a pointer, and he should not be as short and fat as a potbellied pig. No one feature should be so prominent as to detract from the total picture. If you look at a Labrador and notice only his huge head, the dog is probably unbalanced. If you look at a Labrador and see only his big feet or a long scraggly tail,  you are probably not looking at a good specimen of the breed.

The Labrador Retriever ears should be set off the side of the skull, not too high and not too low. They should be of medium size, hanging so that the bottom tips are about two inches below the eyes. The ears should not be so big or so small that they draw attention to themselves. And they should never be long or folded as they are on many hounds.

The Labrador Retriever eyes are where we see that irresistible, sweet, kind and alert expression. Some are shaped like a rounded diamond.  Although some round eyes can be attractive, they should not resemble the round eyes of a Cocker Spaniel, nor should they be too almond-shaped. A good color would be a warm brown-eye on all three colors (black, yellow or chocolate), maybe a bit darker on a yellow Labrador Retriever. If the eyes are too light, the dog’s expression will be ruined.

There should never be a harsh or mean look about a Labrador. When you look into a Lab’s eyes, you should feel instant friendliness. Usually, the moment your eyes meet, the Lab’s powerful tail starts wagging automatically.

The desirable Labrador Retriever head should sit on a strong neck of medium length. If the neck is too short, the dog looks as if his head is sitting on his shoulders; if the neck is too long, the dog appears elegant, like a setter, which is not correct. There is nothing elegant about this dog. He is agile, strong, and sturdy. As you continue down the neck, past the withers, the top line (the back) should be rather level, never sway-back or sloping to the degree that a Setter’s back does from the neck to the rump.

The Labrador Retriever chest should be deep with well-sprung ribs like a barrel. The shoulders should be long and sloping. The correct look requires long bones that form a ninety-degree angle as you look at the dog from the side, from the withers, to the sternum, to the elbow.

The front legs of a Labrador Retriever are well underneath the dog, allowing a prominent breastbone to show and creating the picture of a powerful chest.

What Is A Dalmatian Patch?

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Most people wonder what a Dalmatian patch is until they have seen one.  If you have ever seen a pointer with a black patch over an eye or covering an ear and a portion of his skull, that kind of marking is similar to a Dalmatian patch.  A patch is larger than a normal Dalmatian spot, and is present at birth.  When they occur, they are usually found on the head, but they can occasionally be located elsewhere on the body or tail.  The breeds’ markings may be understood a bit better if you realize that genetically the dog is a solid black or liver-colored animal that also carries a gene for covering over the black or liver color.

Genetically speaking, for any breed of dog that carries variations of this “white masking of the black or liver base color,” the pattern of dark markings can show up in looks ranging from torn splotches of dark color to perfectly round dots of varying sizes.  Selective breeding will determine how the dark markings appear.  If you purposefully bred for larger and larger dark markings, you could wind up breeding a solid black or liver-colored dog, although it would not be a Dalmatian anymore under the standard’s specification.

This explanation of white masking over the dark base color also helps explain the standard’s concern with tricolor markings.  The tan point markings on a black
and tan coat combination as in Coon hounds and Doberman Pinschers, for example, are on the head, under the neck, and on the chest, legs and tail.  The
Dalmatian base color is supposed to be pure black or liver with no tan points.

If you had a black and tan base color pattern masked by a white coat, you could see the tan points of that pattern only if the white masking happened to allow the dark base color pattern to show through on parts of the head, neck, chest, legs or tail.  That is where you would see the tan points showing through, and that is in fact where the Dalmatian standard looks for the tan tricolor markings.  As the breed standard indicates, they are rare in the breed.

The Dalmatians’ gait is peculiar to the breed  as well as within the breed.  The standards of efficiency, endurance and power call for a movement that is “steady and effortless.”  When the Dalmatian is working in his gait, his head position is forward and not erect, held slightly above the top line.  His gait has the extended reach and drive noted in the standard, which are combined in an effortless power, rhythm and smoothness that is distinctive to the breed.  This has to be seen in order to be recognized.  Although many a Dalmatian may get close to the desired gait, fewer than one in a hundred will achieve it to perfection.

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