Beautiful Labrador.
I met this dog during a beach walk on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. He'd been enjoying a swim in the ocean and on his return, his owner took him to an outdoor shower to remove the salt and sand and gave him a thorough rub down before allowing him into the car.
He kindly allowed me to give him a pat before posing for the photos below.
Labrador Retrievers are also known as Labradors and they originated from Newfoundland during the 17th century and belong to the Gun Dog group. They were trained to bring in the nets for the fishermen in the freezing waters but in the early 19th Century they were brought to Poole Harbour in Great Britain.
They are sturdy swimmers, have short limbs dogs with short, dense coats and otter-like tails. Their attractiveness caused numerous offer from Englishmen to purchase them and quickly became successful as gun dogs. They were known as Saint John’s breed of water dogs because the earl of Malmesbury was completely fascinated by them and began to breed them. He then gave them the name, Labradors.
Unfortunately, new quarantine laws in Great Britain and a huge dog tax in Canada created a reduction in the breed. However, the serious breeders in Britain were producing excellent quality dogs and in 1903, the Labrador breed was recognized the Kennel Club in Great Britain.
Labradors are characterized by their love of activity and are strongly built dogs with good bone structure. They have intelligent eyes and their heads are broad and soft. They have two coats with their undercoat being weather resistant and the outer coat being short and dense with no feathering.
Their colours range from black, yellow and various shades of brown. Females weigh approximately 28kgs and the males weigh approximately 30kgs. Their inherent weakness stems from over breeding, so one needs to be careful when purchasing Labradors to ensure that they will not experience hip and elbow dysplasia, and progressive retinal atrophy and epilepsy.
These dogs are make wonderful companions and perform well in field trials but they excel as assistant dogs for people with disabilities such as hearing and sight impairment and those suffering from depression or other chronic health conditions.
They are not fussy eaters which make them economical to feed, but they are greedy and have a tendency to become obese and will often raid rubbish bins.
Labradors are amongst the top three when choosing a family pet and are known for their friendliness, good nature and affection. They are very sociable dogs and are also very adaptable. Their patience and forgiving personalities make them a favourite with children. Labradors are extremely loyal and love being involved in all aspects of family life. They bark to attract our attention to strangers but will welcome them readily. Other family pets are not out at risk by having Labradors in the home.
Their intelligence enables them to be easily trained and combined with their high energy, they perform well in field sports, obedience competitions, as search dogs and guide dogs. They actually take great pleasure in all these activities.
They do require regular exercise and enjoy long walks but love being let off the leash and run freely in open spaces. They adore the act of retrieving especially when water is involved. Labradors will adapt to town living but rural surroundings is where they are happiest.
Their thick, dense coats are easy to maintain but do require brushing once a week with further attention during moulting.
THANK YOU FOR VIEWING. HAVE A GREAT DAY.
