The Labrador Retriever Dog Breed

The beautiful labrador retriever is a beautiful, strongly built dog breed with a sound, athletic, well-balanced conformation. Bred to be a working gun dog, the labrador is designed to function for long hours and distances in varying terrains with the purpose of retrieving water fowl and upland game. Designed to be adept in the water, the labrador retriever confirmation includes a short, dense water resistant coat, webbed toes and an otter style tail for advanced swimming abilities.

A Labrador Retriever Picture of a Patriotic "Snow Storm"

The labs loving, gentle, intelligent nature makes them a great family dog at home as well. Their friendly nature, adaptability and stable temperament also makes them a frequent choice as companions and/or service providers for children, the handicapped and the elderly. They are also used often as rescue dogs, drug detection canines and guide dogs for the blind. In addition, they often excel in both the show ring and obedience competitions. Officially, labrador retrievers come in three colors, yellow, black and chocolate. Some yellow labs are much lighter than others with an almost a white or cream appearance. Chocolate labs come in varying shades of brown, however, the occasional silver hue color labrador genetic mutation is also considered to be a part of the chocolate labrador retriever distinction. Brindle markings, pink noses, docked tails and eye rims without pigment are not considered acceptable in any color shade. Each specific dog breed has it's own special physical and behavioral characteristics that were developed for it's specific purpose in life. Even hunting dogs have their own very specific distinctions. For instance, most hound breeds were created to utilize their nose to find the object and to bark loudly to announce it location when doing so. However, the labrador retriever was designed to gently retrieve the object and to do so quietly. Two very different functions, two very different confirmations and behavioral characteristics. The labrador retriever actually originated in Newfoundland, Canada rather than Labrador, England. They were originally "created" by canadian fishermen to jump into the ocean's icy waters to help haul the fisherman's nets to shore. However, it was the ships from Labrador that took the dog back to England in the 1800's where it was further refined into the breed as we know it today.