Depends on the photo CVL. The one of him sitting down it appears he has a roll of fat around his neck.
I think the big difference is size of head but also the actual bone structure is huge between the 2 types. This boys chest is very broad, which makes him look a lot stockier. TBH not my favourite and i'm not a fan of his face, not what I feel is a warm kind face.
Anyone got a pic of Ollie? Shame KayC has now gone offline for a bit.

Oooh CVL, what a stunning boy, and a lovely smiley face!  He is just a bit heavier than my personal preference, but looks very fit indeed.  As for his head, I think he's just got a typical show type head, not too broad, it suits his frame and would look odd with a small thin face.  I'm completely unknowledgeable about showing, so I'm hoping someone with knowledge of judging Labs will be along to give you a better opinion than mine ;) 

I'm chuckling at your roll of fat, well, not yours, but you know what I mean; I think that it's just some show bred dogs are jowelly, Tau has more loose skin round her neck than I like, but it's certainly not fat.  He looks to be at the top of any weight range I'd have my dogs on, but I don't think he looks obese for his frame. 

He's done very well, in fact he's Russian International Champion Timantti Solid Davidson, .... he was over here for a year and is the daddy to one of my dogs.  The reason I posted his pictures was to see what those of you involved in this conversation thought about my 'ideal' Labrador who differs quite a bit from the others that have been posted, not to get a Lab judge's perspective :-)  Maybe I'm not well enough informed on the history of Labs, and have just considered dogs of the present.  Glad you like him SL, suejaw, I reckon if you had a cuddle from him you'd feel differently  :-D :-D :-D

He's not my dog btw!

Its only the photo of him sitting i'm not a huge fan of. When standing he does look good for his weight, he is just a BIG boy frame wise. The depth of the chest in show Lab's is a lot deeper and broader than a lot of today's working type. Would this dog be able to do a full days work I wonder?

BUT why can someone tell me the 2 types have gone into a big split? What is wrong with having a show dog which is able to work and vise versa? They should all be working on the same standard, if the breed standard is creating dogs which aren't able to work then the standard should look to be revised in order to allow this.

But its a lot of the same in the gundogs, not just Lab's. There are a lot of breeds which have branched out into the 2 strains. Do they actually all meet the standard? If so then somehow someone has interpreted wrong to end up with such huge differences.

Lovely, moderate dogs, not too heavy/coarse but not whippety either.

As for the type split, a lot of the working type dogs I have met are incorrect for breed type even if they can work, your often left wondering what the Lab was crossed with, just as some of the show type dogs almost look like self coloured Rottweilers, neither is really true to type., leaving out the work issue.

CVL can we have some photos of your's? The one in your avatar looks lovely, just need a larger and more photos :-)

It is each to their own and this is when slight differences will appear in a breed, that isn't bad, its when drastic differences appear and then you wonder..

I'm not going to say that I know huge amounts about Lab's, far from it, but being raised around them(working type) I can see the differences in them over the years and how they have changed(imo not for the better)

Can I apologise as just re-read the standard and they are supposed to be deep chested.
Strongly built, short coupled, very active; broad in skull, broad and deep through chest and ribs; broad and strong over loins and hindquarters.
Which means that the photo of your boys sire is probably very correct.. Sorry x

His son, my Melvin, who is a very similar build, could physically do a day's work... of that I have no doubt whatsoever.  Mentally though, well that's another story :-D

Totally agree that there shouldn't be such a divide...  I wonder what the original Labradors from Labrador and Newfoundland looked like (off to google), because their day's work would have been quite different to the day's work that you are talking about.  I seem to remember someone using this explanation for why the blubberiness around the neck was 'fit for purpose', as it is a kind of buoyancy aid?

http://wylanbriar.co.uk/?p=p_85&sName=stud-dogs

This is quite good, gives a list of their dogs and the ratio for working and show behind them.
The types then start to really show through and their differences.

This is Melvin (black) who is 100% show bred and my lovely, much missed Dexter who was half show and half working bred. 
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11896344&l=17fb71ac3e&id=680525034

Melvin at 7 months
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=9713714&l=96c03740f0&id=680525034

Big-head-Melvin :-D
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15229932&l=41420a9641&id=680525034

Dexter
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15782681&l=c4f23f39fe&id=680525034

This is Eddie, my pupster, all show bred again, but quite different to Melvin I think.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=14556950&l=a307b0c810&id=680525034
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15632079&l=bf57744957&id=680525034

Oooh I like sharing photos!

Really like Melvin...Can I be biased towards black dogs? lol..

Your pup is coming on a treat too, be good to see how he gets on.

Dexter you can see the differences with the others, he doesn't have the breadth of chest, but very handsome in the face :-)

Off to locate you on FB now :-D

> Anyone got a pic of Ollie?

If you look at Kay's breeders page on here the first picture is of Ollie :-) (Ex**** Zeus) - stunning dog!

Yup found him there.. Yellow's don't normally do it for me, but he is stunning!!!

She also has her own website, can I do a link to it? If not google her name and add Labradors and it should pop up

Glad you like Melvin, Sue.  He's one of Kay's :-D

I'm glad you added me on facebook... I'm trying to bump up my doggy friends because my non-doggy friends just think I'm mental!!!

Love your photos on there. I've just gone back onto FB after taking some time out. Culled about 200 people in a short space of time, have now mainly dog people and non work people, hopefully should be less hassle that way.. Yes and talking of dogs and spending money on their Xmas presents ;-)

CVL, my favourite is definitely Eddie, will be interesting to see how he matures. 

Barbara, I agree, there is a great variety of working dogs, my theory, and I could be talking absolute rubbish, is that when Labradors were bred to type, rather than an interpretation of the breed standard, and before showing took off, the nicest looking ones that you see as past dual champions etc, were the best looking dogs from a much wider field of shapes that were successful in the field, more so than the ring?  Which is why you see some different looking champions and dual champions from the past??  Whereas now, as many who show don't work their dogs extensively, and those who work for the most part don't show, you have two different pools but many of the same types of body shape from the past within both of them, if that makes sense?  The showing side seems to reward a very narrow scope today, rather than the much broader interpretation that some view the breed standard as.  All of the photographs show dogs that have some nice conformation points about them to my eye, yet put them next to a current show dog, and the current show dog is more likely to have a broader head, more barrelly chest, broader loin, shorter coupled, which is right, or are they both right? 

Di at Wylanbriar is a friend of mine, she has some lovely dogs and they are worked throughout the season, albeit on a relatively small and informal shoot. 

Di at Wylanbriar is a friend of mine, she has some lovely dogs and they are worked throughout the season, albeit on a relatively small and informal shoot. 

A few years back she used to be a regular poster on here.

I know ;)

> Culled about 200 people in a short space of time,

I'm so glad I missed the cull :-D :-D

> 
> Culled about 200 people in a short space of time,

> I'm so glad I missed the cull

Phew just checked and so have I :o :o LOL
Lea :) :)

> the prototype as seen by Countess Howe's dogs, which are sturdily made,b ut plenty of daylight and athletic looking.

I have a copy of The Labrador Retriever by Lorna, Countess Howe and Geoffrey Waring.  It's not my breed but for anyone interested in the the development of a breed (any), the role of dogs in our lives, and information about how times have changed it's a great read.  Photographs of some of the greats illustrate the text very well.  It was well worth the 10p I paid in my local library!!

Oooh I'm jealous, 10p well spent!!!