The Labrador Retriever
Friday, October 6th, 2006 by Mike Cronk
Basics
Country of Origin: Newfoundland – England
Group: Sporting
Lifespan: 10-12 years
Height: 21-24 inches
Weight: 65-80 lbs (male), 55-70 lbs (female)
Color: Black, yellow, chocolate
AKC Rank 2006: 1
Archieved from “The Paw Report:” Issue #6, December
The Labrador Retriever
My sister Nina and brother Chris both have Labrador Retrievers as a part of their family. Nina’s husband Ron is an avid sportsman and chose his Labs from hunting stock while my brother Chris wanted a good family member to entertain his three boys. Both are on at least their 3rd Lab and for good reason—these dogs get high marks across the board. A good Lab is a calm house dog, playful yard dog, and intense field dog. Labs also make excellent guides for the blind and service dogs for the disabled.
Most people who haven’t owned a Lab usually assume the short coat is easy to take care of but it can be quite the challenge. They are double-coated dogs—the outer coat being dense and hard in texture while the undercoat is weather resistant and protects them from cold, all types of ground cover, and water. Their ability to retrieve fowl out of water on a cold day makes them a favorite of duck hunters. It is that soft undercoat that requires proper brushing to minimize the large amount of shedding that occurs otherwise. We have a special tool designed specifically to comb out a great deal of coat and that is the reason most of our Lab customers bring them in for a bath–we really make an effort to remove as much loose hair as possible.
Some of our customers have gone so far as to give their Labs a haircut—between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch. This really does cut back on the brushing altogether and what shedding that takes place is hardly noticeable.
According to the American Kennel Club’s tracking of breeds, the Labrador Retriever holds the rank of most popular totaling 137,867 Labs owned while the Golden Retriever is a distant second place with only 48,509—about 2/3 less than the amount of Labs. Here, we groom 58 Labs and 37 Lab mixes, totaling 95 Labs coming into our shop! Labs are highly intelligent easy to train and thrive on human companionship but as with all popular breeds, make sure you get a look at the parents to be certain you don’t get one that’s too hyper and bone-headed—they are out there!
Here’s what Nina had to say about Labs. 
“Meet ‘Jaeger’ Greene, our female yellow Labrador retriever. She has been a part of our family for the past 7 years. We got her as a puppy in 1999. She has probably been the nicest Lab that we have had, and we’ve had 2 others, females. Our first dog was a Golden Retriever, male. After having the male Golden for 12 years, ‘I’ decided that a female lab was the way to go. They stick around…don’t tinkle on everything in sight and are more relaxed than
males….sorry, guys, that’s just the way I see it, and they don’t have as much dog hair as the Golden. My husband who loves to hunt … and has always wanted to have a dog…agreed to my ‘sex’ requirement!
Labs are just beautiful to look at, soft to pet, and loving members of the family. They are easy to train and will respond to anyone with authority. As Mike has said in many of his articles, training is KEY. You must start early and be consistent. I like knowing that my dog will always listen and is very loving with the grandchildren. I never even consider worrying about her with them. What a great choice for those of you who would like a family pet for the adults….and children! As to hunting…she is right there. She will retrieve a duck in the morning and sleep with a grandchild that night. What a perfect pet!”