Labrador Retriever

The Labrador Retriever is the United States most popular breed for the same reason it has been for decades: temperament that scales from family pet to service dog to gun dog. But the Lab population is genetically diverse enough that picking the wrong breeder gives you a dog with hip dysplasia, exercise-induced collapse, or progressive retinal atrophy. The right breeder gives you 12 to 14 years of one of the easiest dogs to live with.This is the Labrador Retriever hub on DevotedToDog. We cover the three coat colors and what each one is bred for, the OFA-first health checks every Lab parent should pass, the LRC parent club guidelines, and breeder vetting in the states where we have published data so far.If you are comparing breeds, see our Golden Retriever hub or the Golden mixes guide. If you are working on your existing Lab, the training and behavior guides apply across both breeds.