Why the breed exists
Before it was America's family dog, the Lab was a fisherman's dog in Newfoundland — hauling nets, retrieving escaped fish, working in water cold enough to kill. English sportsmen refined the St. John's water dog into a gun-dog of legendary reliability. The otter tail is a rudder; the dense, oily coat is a wetsuit; the famous appetite kept a working dog fueled in the cold. Its steadiness under distraction — the trait that later made it the world's premier guide and service dog — was bred for a duck blind first.
The official written standard belongs to the breed's parent club.Read the official Labrador Retriever standard →
Choosing a Labrador Retriever on purpose
Every breed has its own list of required health screenings, kept by its parent club and published through OFA. A preservation breeder working in this breed tests to that list and shows you the results — including the ones that didn't go their way.
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