Labrador Retriever

Key Facts:

Size: Large
Height: 54 - 57 cm (21.5 - 22.5 inches)
Weight: 25 - 35 kg (55 - 77 lb)
Life Span: 15 years
Grooming: Easy
Exercise: Demanding
Feeding: Reasonable
Temperament: Friendly & intelligent
Country of Origin: England
AKC Group: Sporting

Physical Characteristics:

General Appearance: Solid, strongly built and friendly.
Colour: Black, yellow or liver/chocolate.
Coat: Straight, dense, short, hard and weather resistant.
Tail: Tapering and carried fairly high in action but should never curl over the back.
Ears: Set far back, pendant and hanging close to the cheek.
Body: The chest is deep and wide with well sprung ribs. The back is long and level with a wide loin. And the shoulders are long and oblique.

Temperament:
Active, gentle, easy-going, bold and intelligent. Labrador Retrievers are very popular household pets as they are people-orientated and extremely devoted to their family. They get on well with children, strangers and other dogs. Their intelligence makes them very trainable and obedient. These dogs are capable of taking all the knocks of a rough-and-tumble family and their even-temperament means they never take offence at any insult.

Grooming:
The coat of the Labrador Retriever is easily maintained with an occasional brush. More attention is needed when the coat is moulting.

Exercise:
These retrievers adapt themselves to their family, but they also need additional exercise such as long walks or playing and retrieving in the water. They need regular exercise to prevent them from becoming too boisterous and exuberant.

Feeding:
Labrador Retrievers can consume any quantity of food and need rationing to avoid them becoming overweight.

History:
The labrador comes from Newfoundland and is thought to have evolved from the St. Johns dog and a water spaniel. It was in the 1800s that these dogs were used by fisherman for retrieving hooked fish from the water. Eventually some of these Labradors arrived in Britain and their qualities were retained through crossing them with other retrievers. This cross-breeding stopped once the breed was high in numbers and quality to maintain the desired breed type.

Additional Comments:

Labrador Retrievers are multi-talented dogs as they are used as guide dogs and also for drug searching.
A distinct characteristic of this breed is the tail. It is often called the 'otter tail' with its relatively short length and thick covering of hair.