Labrador Retriever
Popular Dog Breeds
All about the Labrador Retriever
The Labrador Retriever is one of the most gentle and popular family dogs. It is very energetic, friendly, loyal, gentle, hardworking, non aggressive and intelligent.
Labradors are friendly with children and can be very friendly with other dogs. They love to play with water and are very good swimmers.
Their even temperament, intelligence, strong sense of smell and quick learning ability of this breed make them suitable for jobs like hunting, retrieving, detection, rescue, service dog for the disabled and police work.
Labradors can be very friendly with strangers which means that they are not great guard dogs.
Grooming a Labrador
Hair type: Labradors have short, yet heavy double coat which shed a lot.
Daily coat care: Your Labrador will need to be brushed at least twice a week using wire slicker brush or Moult Master to reduce the amount of excess hair. Labradors are prone to skin allergies and should be checked for signs of dry, hard skin while brushing.
Recommended groom frequency: Although your Labrador won’t require any specialist hair cutting, a twice annual visit to a professional groomer is recommended to ensure his nails are kept trim, his eyes and ears are clean and free from infection as well as allowing your groomer to check his skin and coat thoroughly for signs for allergy or infection. Depending on your dog’s activity levels, intermittent nail clips and / or wash and dry may be needed.
At Petmania Grooming Studios we have a full range of treatments available for your Labrador. If you get puppy, we recommend our Puppy’s First Visit at around four months, once your puppy has received all his vaccinations.
Diet
The Labrador is widely known to be a hungry breed – and, particularly when young, will eat anything, so care should be take when feeding them so that they don’t become overfed and become overweight. Depending on your dogs age, size and activity level you can expect to feed between 325g and 525g of dry food per day, split between two meals.
To help you find the right food for your Labrador, speak with one of our Pet Care Advisors instore who will be delighted to assist.
Activity Level
This active dog requires lots of daily exercise. Daily long walks are essential to keep the dog healthy both physically and mentally. Walks should be supplemented with jogging, running or swimming every now and then.
Labradors do love to eat without sufficient exercise, they gain weight easily and become lazy, and develop behavioural problems.
Where to get a Labrador
There are lots of places offering dogs or puppies for sale in Ireland, but we would always ask that you consider adopting a dog first. Our animal rescue partners have 100’s of rescue dogs and puppies seeking a forever home and would be delighted to introduce you to them.
However, if a rescue dog is not for you, we do recommend that you choose a registered breeder and seek Irish Kennel Club registration papers which will confirm that the dog has been bred to their strict code of ethics.
