Any Advice For Improvement?

[Suzette]

What a handsome boy Buddy is!

[Buddy'smyboy]

Buddy sure looks healthy to me! Such a happy, friendly-looking dog! Sure a Lab can be 90+ lb and be healthy. Mastiffs are more like 150-200 lb. Maybe Nettle thought you said 90 kG. Now that's a big dog!

90 KG??!! That would be 198 pounds! At that point I'd be thinking more along the lines of Saint Bernard Although, she does say 90 plus pounds so I don't think she thought kg. It still makes me smile, though.

[Nettle]

He looks good! Are you honestly telling me he's 90lb? How tall is he?

[Buddy'smyboy]

He looks good! Are you honestly telling me he's 90lb? How tall is he?

Yep, he's actually 96 lb.

And I just measured his height at the shoulder to the ground and from the top of his head to the ground (I wasn't sure what you wanted exactly!)

At his shoulder he is about 27"
At the top of his head he is about 32"

Although, since I was measuring with a piece of string and he was moving about some I'm sure that could be more accurate. He has a HUGE head, and the body just comes with it. I measured his head with my hand and my hand is just over 6" long from heel to the tips of my fingers.

His head was about two handlengths long from base to his nose so that's easily about 1 ft. long.
And then I measured the width of his head (cranial part, not the snout) and that was about 7 in. wide.

I don't know how big a regular lab's head is supposed to be, but after measuring his head I was surprised to find out how big it really was! I think maybe you are thinking along the lines of show ring dog standards, Nettle. Buddy wan't bred from that sort I don't think. Both his parents were too big for that and besides I think they were more of a working breed if anything. Keep in mind that 50-75 pounds is just an average; if all dogs strictly followed those guidelines and didn't go over them then following that logic all the animals in the world that have set Guinness world records for biggest members of their breed are grossly obese and have bone disease that made them grow tall. All dogs (all animals for that matter) are unique, and some of them just like to thumb their noses at statistics and numbers

[emmabeth]

Wow he IS a big boy - hes only a few inches shorter than my Deerhound b itch, and hes a good 5/6inches over the top height for Labradors going via the UK breed standard.

He looks good in the pics!

[Buddy'smyboy]

Wow he IS a big boy - hes only a few inches shorter than my Deerhound b itch, and hes a good 5/6inches over the top height for Labradors going via the UK breed standard.

He looks good in the pics!

5/6 inches? When I looked it up I thought he was about 3 inches above I must have been looking at the US standards

[emmabeth]

Uk labrador standard is around 22" and I would hazard a guess that most in the show rings are nearer 20 than 22, really, pretty short dogs!

Our working labs are much taller and actually your boy reminds me of a bigger version of my friends working lab, Bonnie who is a BIG girl, but lean and fit with it (so much so, people who are used to fat show labradors think shes a crossbreed as she looks so different to what they are used to!).

[Buddy'smyboy]

Perhaps I can take a picture of him next to something for size reference to help you get a better visualiation- any ideas? Tire, dog crate, person, ect.?

[Buddy'smyboy]

Uk labrador standard is around 22" and I would hazard a guess that most in the show rings are nearer 20 than 22, really, pretty short dogs!

Our working labs are much taller and actually your boy reminds me of a bigger version of my friends working lab, Bonnie who is a BIG girl, but lean and fit with it (so much so, people who are used to fat show labradors think shes a crossbreed as she looks so different to what they are used to!).

According to the American Kennel Club;

Size--The height at the withers for a dog is 22½ to 24½ inches; for a ***** is 21½ to 23½ inches. Any variance greater than ½ inch above or below these heights is a disqualification. Approximate weight of dogs and bitches in working condition: dogs 65 to 80 pounds; bitches 55 to 70 pounds.

[Buddy'smyboy]

I was out for a run this evening and while I was out there I passed by my friend's home. Her neighbors have llamas and her 6 month old mastiffxGerman shepard cross Bear is enthralled by them and occassionally escapes into the neighbor's yard lately. Well, he was in there when I passed by and they were calling him and trying to get him home with no such luck. Every time the mom walked closer to him on the other side of the fence (he was in the yard, she was out) he would just move farther away (let's play chase!). So I came over beside the fence and then started running towards their home gate calling, "Bear, come get me! Get me Bear! Come here Bear! Follow me! Follow me!" and he chased me under the fence and all the way back home! That was a fun little run, I think he enjoyed it