Interesting Dog Breed Facts of the Labrador Retriever

You cannot help but fall in love with a Labrador Retriever!

Labs are full of life and well, just so gosh darn lovable! They are also one of the happiest, funniest breeds many people claim to have come across.

BUT, be warned! You will become a slave to those big, innocent, “you know you love me” puppy eyes this particular breed is famous for! 🙂

And, did you know that the Labrador Retriever or Lesser Newfoundland is the most popular dog breed in the whole world?

Labs were bred to be a gun dog that would fetch, or retrieve, pheasants, rabbits, or whatever the hunter was hunting, the Labrador is favored for its incredible loyalty, intelligence, and loving behavior.

Labrador Coat Colors

Labradors are usually chocolate brown, black or yellow (often referred to as gold, but this is incorrect).

These are the preferred colors for shows and are often winners of all kinds of shows.

Size of a Labrador Retriever

Both male and female Labs are usually 22-24 inches in height.

However, males usually weigh between 64-79 pounds whereas females are a little smaller at 51-71 pounds.

Labradors are Great Family Dogs

They are everything a dog owner could want and have the ideal balance of playful and loving and will always be pushing their snouts into your hands and coming to sit on your feet, wanting to be petted.

They absolutely LOVE a great game of fetch and will happily fetch a ball or stick as long as you will throw it!

They’re perfect as family dogs and get on with babies, children and adults of any age because of their extremely loving and loyal nature.

Labs are rarely aggressive, sensitive, nervous, or territorial and are friendly when meeting new people and other animals.

Labradors also are known for getting on very well with other animals and can easily be kept on farms and in houses with families who keep chickens, cats, and small animals such as rabbits or guinea pigs.

They show very little interest in actually killing small animals because they were only required to fetch, not to kill.

Because they have been bred to be gentle, when carrying game to the hunters, retrievers can carry an egg in their mouth without smashing it, and set it down in its owner’s hand without cracking it. Certainly impressive!

Labrador Retriever Puppies

Labs are notorious for being huge chewers as puppies. Have you ever heard the saying “they will chew through anything”? Yep! It is true!

However, with appropriate chew toys and training, they will and do grow out of it. 

Intelligent Working Dogs

Because of their keen intelligence and working/fetching nature they are actually more popular with police and authority bodies than Alsatians, even though movies and television favor Alsatians because they are perceived as more intimidating.

Labradors are also very common as assistance dogs to blind and disabled humans, both mentally and physically, and are chosen because of their patient, sensible and calm personalities for this purpose.

If you are looking for a sweet-natured family dog, a Labrador Retriever may be the perfect companion for you!