Breed · Dog

Labrador Retriever

Newfoundland fishing dog refined in Britain in the 1800s. Consistently among the most popular breeds in the world.

There is a reason this breed tops the popularity lists: a well-bred Labrador is friendly with everyone, trains readily, and copes with family chaos. What the popularity hides is the first two years — a large, powerful, mouthy adolescent with more energy than most households plan for — and an appetite that will make it fat if you let it.

At a glance

Lifespan: 10–12 years
Adult weight: 25–36 kg
Daily exercise: 60–90 min
Trainability: High
Alone time tolerated: 4 hrs maximum
Shedding: Heavy, year-round
Noise level: Moderate
With children: Excellent
With other pets: Very good

Colours · 4 listed

Three recognised colours, all in the same litters. Colour has no bearing on temperament, whatever a breeder charging a premium tells you.

Black
Yellow
Chocolate
Fox red

Right for you if

You want a dog that is genuinely good with children and strangers.
You can do an hour-plus daily, in all weather, for a decade.
You are prepared for a boisterous adolescence lasting into year three.
Hair on everything is acceptable to you.

Wrong for you if

You want a calm dog now rather than at age four.
The house is empty all day.
You are houseproud about hair, mud or drool.
You will free-feed. This breed gets fat, and it shortens their lives.

Health testing — the specific questions to ask

Hip and elbow scores for both parents, in writing — both are UK Kennel Club good-practice minimums for this breed.¹ This is the single most important question for the breed and it has a documented answer.
DNA tests for progressive retinal atrophy and exercise-induced collapse are cheap and definitive, and both sit in the same good-practice list.¹ Ask for the certificates, not a verbal assurance.
Obesity is the practical killer. A slim Labrador lives measurably longer than a heavy one² — and this breed will convince you it is starving either way.

Sources

Retriever (Labrador) — breed health and pre-breeding screening. The Royal Kennel Club 2026. Accessed 2026-08-31. United Kingdom The Royal Kennel Club The UK Kennel Club's minimum recommended pre-breeding tests for the breed: hip and elbow scoring, and DNA tests for exercise-induced collapse and progressive retinal atrophy.
Kealy RD, Lawler DF, Ballam JM, et al. Effects of diet restriction on life span and age-related changes in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2002; 220(9):1315-20. International doi:10.2460/javma.2002.220.1315 PMID 11991408 Forty-eight Labradors followed for life, one of each pair fed 25% less from eight weeks of age. Median lifespan was significantly longer in the leaner dogs and chronic disease started later.

Every source here was checked, not recalled. Where this page makes a health statement and no source appears against it, that is not an oversight we have hidden — it means the claim is not yet sourced, and the build reports how many are in that state.

Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.