Once known as the "St John's Dogs," the Labrador Retriever is one of the most popular breeds in the United States. Originally from Newfoundland, Canada the Labrador Retriever was trained to jump overboard into the icy waters to haul fisherman's nets to shore. The Labrador Retrievers had been known variously as the Black Water Dog, the Lesser Newfoundland, or the St John's Dog; they were descendants of dogs taken there by explorers, settlers and fishing crews. The Labrador Retrievers, found to have excellent hunting and fishing abilities, were brought to England early in the 1800's where their "modern" development carried on. Crossed with other local sporting breeds, the strong and sturdy Labrador Retriever became, and continues to be, England's most popular gundog. This breed excels in obedience and field trials, needs plenty of outdoor exercise and especially enjoys swimming.

Appearance
The Labrador Retriever has a good-natured and affectionate expression. The Labrador retriever is a strongly-built, short-coupled, very active dog, broad in the skull, broad and deep through the chest and ribs, broad and strong over the loins and hind-quarters.

Character
The Labrador Retriever has a good mood, is friendly, physical stably, good tempered, intelligent and agile dog. The males have more often more temper then the females. The Labrador Retrievers are kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or undue shyness. Both, the males and the females are very friendly with other dogs. They’re also good companions with children, cats and other pets. The Labrador Retriever prefers to life indoors with their family. Living in a kennel is like a punish for the dog.
 

Temperament
The Labrador Retriever is an agile and good tempered dog. The Labrador Retriever is easy to train and, by nature, is a true sporting dog. Labs love swimming and will play fetch in the water for as long as you will!

Exercise/Training
The Labrador Retrievers are active and sociable dogs. They need daily exercise, preferably in the form of retrieving and swimming. Owners with swimming pools either must fence them out or be prepared to share the pool with the dog. The Labrador Retriever can also be a good companion for jogging, hiking ore running along side a bike. Playing and obedience are very good types of mental exercise. 20 minutes obedience and playing with your Labrador Retriever will be more useful for the dogs exercise then an hour walk on the leash can provide. The Labrador Retriever loves to learn new things each and every day.

Color
There are three recognised colors for Labrador Retrievers, black (a solid black colour), yellow (anything from light cream to gold to fox-red), and chocolate (medium to dark brown).The eyes are medium or dark brown.

Grooming
The coat of the Labrador Retriever needs a minimal of care. The coat sheds water easily. It needs weekly brushing to remove dead hair. A good nutrition and regular brushing keeps the proper coat shine and the skin healthy. Bathing doesn’t harm the coat of the Labrador Retriever as long as you use a good quality shampoo that doesn't dry the skin and coat and is formulated for a canine coat. The ears of the Labrador Retriever should be kept clean and regularly inspected as well. Nails should be kept short. As known, the Labrador Retriever loves eating. Don’t feed it to much (also not treats) and exercise it well every day, otherwise the Labrador Retriever will be very soon over weight.

Any breed described as "good with children", the dog must be accustomed to children. Any dog that is not well socialized with children will not behave predictably around them. As with all dogs, they should never be left alone with young children.