Labrador

What a Labrador is like to live with

Most Labradors are exactly as friendly as their reputation. They like people, including strangers, they are usually tolerant with children and other dogs, and they train easily because almost anything can be paid for in food.

What catches people out is the first two or three years. A young Labrador is big, strong, mouthy and very keen on everything, and the calm family dog tends to arrive through training and exercise rather than by default. The Royal Kennel Club lists the breed as needing more than two hours of exercise a day, and for a fit adult that is realistic, not generous.

They also carry things. Socks, post, sticks the length of a fence panel. It is the retrieving instinct, and giving it a job (fetch, scentwork, finding hidden toys) is the easiest way to keep a Labrador settled.

Working and show lines

Labradors in the UK come broadly from two directions. Working lines, bred for shooting and field trials, tend to be lighter and leggier with more drive. Show lines tend to be heavier set, broader in the head and a little more laid back. Neither is healthier by default, but they suit different homes. A working-line dog in a house that manages a short walk a day will find its own entertainment, usually at your expense.

Ask the breeder which the parents are and what they do all day. It tells you more about the puppy than the colour does.

Origin

The breed goes back to Newfoundland, where dogs worked alongside fishermen retrieving nets and lines. English sportsmen brought them back in the nineteenth century and developed them into the retrieving gundog we have now. That history explains the love of water, the soft mouth and the stamina.

Weight: the cost you control

The cost section above names obesity as a health driver. It is worth more than a line, because the evidence is unusually strong for this breed.

In a VetCompass study of Labradors under UK veterinary care, overweight or obesity was the second most common problem recorded, in 8.8% of dogs, behind only ear infections. The same study found degenerative joint disease in 5.5%, and extra weight makes joint disease worse.

Part of it is genetic. Research at the University of Cambridge found around a quarter of Labradors carry a POMC gene variant that leaves them hungrier between meals and burning roughly a quarter fewer calories at rest. A Labrador that acts starving may genuinely feel it.

It can still be done. Weigh food rather than scooping it, count treats and training rewards as part of the day's ration, and make meals last longer with puzzle feeders or by scattering kibble in the garden. The calorie calculator gives a starting figure; after that, feed to what you can feel. You should find the ribs easily under a thin layer of fat. The same VetCompass study recorded average adult weights of about 35kg for males and 30kg for females, but body condition matters more than the number on the scales.

Chocolate Labradors

The VetCompass study turned up a finding worth knowing if you have your heart set on a colour. Chocolate Labradors had a median lifespan of 10.7 years, against 12.1 years for black and yellow dogs. They also had much higher rates of ear infections (23.4% of chocolate dogs, against 12.8% of black and 17.0% of yellow) and of hot spots, the painful patches of infected skin.

The researchers' suggested explanation is that chocolate is a recessive colour, so breeding specifically for it draws on a narrower pool of dogs. It does not mean a chocolate puppy will be unhealthy. It does mean the health testing below matters at least as much, and that a breeder selling on colour alone is worth a second look.

Grooming and ears

A short, dense double coat that sheds all year and heavily twice a year. A good brush once a week, more during a moult, and no professional grooming needed.

Ears need more attention than the coat. Ear infection was the most common problem in the VetCompass study, and a dog that swims is more exposed. Dry the ears after swimming and look inside weekly for redness, smell or discharge.

Health tests to ask a breeder for

The Royal Kennel Club sets out what a responsible Labrador breeder should test for. Ask for results for both parents, by name:

• Hip score under the BVA/RKC Hip Dysplasia Scheme. Each hip is scored 0 to 53, and lower is better. The BVA advises breeding only from dogs scoring below or close to the breed median.
• Elbow grade under the BVA/RKC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme. Graded 0 to 3, and the BVA advises breeding only from grade 0.
• Eye certificate under the BVA/RKC/ISDS Eye Scheme, and it should be recent.
• DNA tests for prcd-PRA (progressive retinal atrophy, which causes blindness), centronuclear myopathy (CNM, a muscle disease), exercise-induced collapse (EIC), macular corneal dystrophy (MCD, clouding of the cornea), skeletal dysplasia 2 (SD2, a form of dwarfism with short legs) and Stargardt disease (STGD, a retinal disease).

The Royal Kennel Club also recommends a DNA test for hereditary nasal parakeratosis (HNPK), which causes a dry, crusted nose.

That is a long list, and a good breeder will have it in a folder ready to show you. You can check registered dogs' results on the Royal Kennel Club's Health Test Results Finder.

Before you buy

See the puppy with its mother, and ask what the parents are like to live with, not just what they have won. Ask whether they are working or show lines and be honest about which suits your week.

Get insurance in place from the day you collect the puppy. Anything a vet notes before cover starts is usually treated as pre-existing and excluded, and a Labrador's joints are exactly the sort of thing you want covered for life. Our pet insurance comparison explains the difference between lifetime and time-limited policies, and the harness sizing tool helps with a dog that pulls hard in its first year.