Labrador Retriever: The Most Popular Family Dog Worldwide

Please note it is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, opinion or advice contained in the content below.

Labrador Retriever: The Most Popular Family Dog Worldwide by Mike Mathews
There is no doubt of the fact that the Labrador retriever is the most popular family dog in the world. While choosing a great family dog, you need to consider certain quality like friendliness, how a dog behaves with children, loving, caring nature, loyal etc., and all these qualities are there in this ever so diligent and friendly retriever.

Labrador puppies are a picture perfect, live depiction of adorable and appealing dogs you will surely fall in love with at first sight. Getting one of these dogs for a family pet will certainly guarantee years of devoted companionship you and your family will always enjoy. The Lab’s temperament and tolerant attitude towards children makes him put up happily with children’s games and antics that he would gladly join in as well.

Labs have a history of assisting in waterfowl hunting and love water. A completely dependable dog, lab retrievers are being trained more and more for assisting blind and disabled people. They are regarded as specialist dogs by K9 units across the United States and in bomb squads or sniffer squadrons across the world. This doesn’t mean that the retriever is a working dog only; he is “the” family dog too.

Compatibility and Usage: A native of Newfoundland, Canada the Labrador Retriever was used to swim the cold waters to haul fisherman’s nets to shore. Their retrieving instincts are well honed and developed that they perform extremely well in drug and bomb detection. They are also used as a guide dog for the blind and elderly, rescue dogs aside from being an outstanding family dog.

Physical Appearance: Standard Labrador Retriever coat colors are black, yellow and chocolate. Any other color, combination of colors or brindling means the dog is not a purebred. Male Labs measure from 22 1/2 to 24 1/2 inches tall with weight ranging between 65-80 pounds whereas the female of the breed stands from 21 1/2 to 23 1/2 inches and weighs between 55-70 pounds.

Temperament: There are no ways about the temperament of Labrador retrievers. They are like the angels of all dogs. He is good tempered, caring and committed. Extremely possessive and protective about their owners, the Labrador retrievers are super intelligent and can adapt to any environment.

They are very lively and good-natured, making them an excellent playmate for children. They like to get lots of human attention and behave as though they are actually part of the family. They are more of a watchdog than a guard dog because of their sociable behavior but they may display aggressive behavior towards strangers if they are not socialized as puppies. Labradors are very good at hunting, tracking, retrieving, police work, and are easily trained.

Caring & health: As they grow older, the coat of lab retrievers will become whiter mostly around the area near the muzzle. The life expectancy varies from 12-13 years and faces some major health problems. Labs have a great appetite and can eat all the time. This needs to be watched as it can cause obesity.

They are also prone to knee problems, elbow and hip dysplasia and ear infection. The ear infection is much higher in labs as compared to other dogs because they have floppy ears, which can trap moist air and thus fungus and other microbial bacteria formation takes place. Ear cleaning on a regular basis is a must with lab retrievers.

Choosing a great family dog has become easier thanks to the Labrador retriever, which is probably the most lovable companion you can ever have!

Author Info: Mike Mathews is a writer and publisher of the popular Dog Breed Facts website. His new ebook titled “Choosing a Dog For Your Lifestyle” is a fantastic resource for the prospective dog owner.

Free Newsletter

Sign up for the free Daily newsletter, filled with tips and ideas on dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, birds, fish, exotic pets, pet nutrition, pet health, aging pets, small animal pets and more. Your email address will be kept confidential and won't be shared. Easily unsubscribe at any time.

If you enjoy the free information available on this site, you're sure to enjoy the free newsletter as well:

Site Search Tags:

Share and Enjoy:

December 02 2007 10:32 pm | Dog & Puppy

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Fine Pet Care .com

Dog, Cat, Horse, Bird, Fish, Small & Exotic Pet Care