Labrador Retriever
High energy, heavy shedding, excellent with children: the Labrador's sheet holds few surprises, and the ones it does hold are worth reading.
The classic friendly family retriever, and the sheet largely backs the reputation up.
The temperament sheet
Energy is rated high. That means proper daily exercise, every day, not a stroll to the postbox and back. Tolerance for time alone is moderate: a working household can manage with planning, but this is not a dog to park for whole days on end.
With children the rating is excellent, the top of our scale. For a first dog the answer is a plain yes; the breed is rated suitable for novice owners. On space it sits in the needs-garden column: a large, high-energy dog and a small flat make a poor pairing.
The practical side
- Size: large. Budget for it in the car, on the sofa and at the food bowl.
- Grooming: low. The coat asks for little beyond a regular brush.
- Shedding: heavy. Low grooming effort does not mean a clean floor; the hair is constant and considerable.
- Barking: moderate. Neither silent nor a nuisance by rating.
The dog in front of you
A breed sheet describes an average, and no dog is average in every column. The individual Labrador in front of you outranks its breed sheet, and meeting that dog outranks everything written here.