KENAI
Labrador Retriever

The breeds · gun dog · retrieving

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 122

Labrador Retriever.

Retrieving gun dog with the substance and soundness to hunt waterfowl or upland game for long hours under difficult conditions.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13.1YRMedian lifespan · sources differ13 to 13.1, measured on real dogs. A second study puts life expectancy at birth at 11.8; both are shown below.
24 / 23INHeightdogs 23.5, bitches 22.5. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
55–80LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 72.5 lb (65 to 80); breed bitches 62.5 lb (55 to 70).
2.5+ HRSExercise, every dayMore than 2 hours per day. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The lines

Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.

field

Working/field ("American") style: lighter bone, more length of leg, a less dense coat and a narrower head with more length of muzzle (The Labrador Retriever Club, English vs. American Labrador Retrievers). One breed, one standard; the parent club says the styles do not identify temperament, trainability or health.

show

Conformation/show ("English") style: stockier, heavier of bone, denser in coat, a head the club says is often incorrectly described as "square or blocky" (The Labrador Retriever Club). The parent club notes working/field variations occur in England too, so the national labels are misleading.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 23.5 in (22.5 to 24.5) · bitches 22.5 in (21.5 to 23.5)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

Center is the midpoint of the standard's range.

Weight

dogs 72.5 lb (65 to 80) · bitches 62.5 lb (55 to 70)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

Center is the midpoint of the standard's range.

Coat

Short, straight and very dense, fairly hard to the hand, with a soft weather-resistant undercoat; a slight wave down the back is permissible; black, yellow or chocolate

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

field lineLighter bone structure, more length of leg, a less dense coat and a narrower head with more length of muzzle

Breed clubThe Labrador Retriever Club, 2023

The parent club's own description of the working/field style. It stresses these are the extremes and most Labradors of either breeding sit close to the standard.

show lineStockier, heavier of bone, denser in coat, with a head often incorrectly described as square or blocky

Breed clubThe Labrador Retriever Club, 2023

The parent club's own description of the conformation/show style.

Shedding

Shedding 4 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · Short dense double coat: short, straight, very dense outer coat with a soft weather-resistant undercoat

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1994

Derived from the standard's coat description (4 = short dense).

How long they live, and what they costSources differ

Two numbers, two measures. Median lifespan: in a large sample of this breed, the age by which half had died; read it as the typical lifespan (UK, 2024, 584,734 dogs). Life expectancy at birth: how many years a newborn of this breed is expected to live, worked from the death rates at every age in UK veterinary records, the same life-table method used for people (VetCompass, 2022). It runs lower because every early death pulls the average down and because it comes from clinics, not registries. KENAI leads with the median and shows the other beside it. Neither is averaged.

Median lifespan

13.1 years (13 to 13.1)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

Life expectancy at birth

11.8 years (11.7 to 11.9)

MeasuredTeng K.T., 2022

Sources differ with median_lifespan_yr: different measure (life expectancy at birth from vet records vs median age at death across a registry-linked sample) and different sample; both shown, never averaged. The 11.77 point figure is printed in the paper's Discussion; the CI was read from Table 3 on the PMC copy (PMC9050668).

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: more than 2 hours = 150.

Exercise need

More than 2 hours per day

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

5 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · Once a week (RKC grooming band); coat length short; sheds

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: weekly brush = 2.

Grooming

Once a week

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Retrieving gun dog with the substance and soundness to hunt waterfowl or upland game for long hours under difficult conditions

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

Primary game

Waterfowl

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

The standard names waterfowl first; the parent club's breed page echoes 'the substance and soundness to hunt waterfowl'.

Also used on

Upland game

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1994

Range

Close: a non-slip retriever works from the handler's side and goes out on command; test retrieves should not normally exceed 100 yards (Junior, Senior) or 150 yards (Master)

Breed clubAKC, 2025

Range here means retrieve distance, not a hunting-dog search range; retrievers do not quarter ahead of the gun in tests.

Field trial standard

AKC retriever hunting tests score four abilities 0-10: marking (memory), style, perseverance/courage/hunting, and trainability (steadiness, control, response, delivery); dogs must perform equally well on land and in water; Senior and Master dogs run blind retrieves and honor another dog's retrieve; tests are designed to approximate upland or waterfowl hunting

Breed clubAKC, 2025

Retriever rules are shared by every eligible retriever breed; nothing here is Labrador-specific.

Water work

Retrievers shall perform equally well on the land and in the water and are tested on both at every level

Breed clubAKC, 2025

Cold water

4 of 5 · Undercoat provides protection from water, cold and all types of ground cover; the standard describes a dog with the substance and soundness to hunt waterfowl for long hours under difficult conditions

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1994

Derived from coat plus the breed's water work; 5 is reserved for breeds whose standard names ice work.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

11.3% · 11.3% dysplastic of 325,251 OFA hip evaluations on record (all data through Oct 2026; OFA hip registry dates from 1974); 87.5% normal (21.8% excellent, 57.1% good, 8.6% fair); breed rank 121 of the breeds listed

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry: Hou et al. 2013 (hou_2013) document that OFA submissions under-report affected dogs, so true prevalence is higher. Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock.

Elbow dysplasia

9.9% · 9.9% abnormal of 149,110 OFA elbow evaluations on record (grade 1 7.6%, grade 2 1.7%, grade 3 0.6%); breed rank 49

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Same voluntary-registry caveat as hips.

Most common disorders

Most prevalent disorders in UK Labradors under primary care (2013, sample n = 2,074): otitis externa 10.4%, overweight/obesity 8.8%, degenerative joint disease 5.5%; 61.6% had at least one disorder recorded. Median longevity 12.0 yr in that sample; chocolate-coloured dogs shorter-lived (10.7 vs 12.1 yr) with more otitis and pyo-traumatic dermatitis.

MeasuredMcGreevy PD, 2018

VetCompass primary-care records; prevalence is one-year period prevalence.

What the studies found

Population-level findings, shown as a spread. Breed sets the odds; the parents set the dog.

Toward strangers

0.4 of 4 · C-BARQ stranger-directed aggression breed mean 0.41 (online sample, n = 349); breed-club sample 0.36 (n = 277); ranked 5th (online) and 6th (breed club) of the 8 breeds common to both surveys, where rank 1 is the most aggressive (Dachshund)

StudiedDuffy DL, 2008

This is the aggression subscale, not fear. No SD published in Table 5, so no spread is given. Population means from owner questionnaires; never a prediction for one dog.

Toward other dogs

0.6 of 4 · C-BARQ dog-directed aggression breed mean 0.59 (online sample, n = 349); breed-club sample 0.46 (n = 277)

StudiedDuffy DL, 2008

No SD published in Table 5. Owner questionnaire data.

Aggression, as studied

Among breed-club Labradors, field-bred dogs scored higher than conformation-bred dogs on owner-directed aggression (z = 2.18, P < 0.05); stranger- and dog-directed aggression did not differ between the lines. The authors note this is the opposite pattern to English Springer Spaniels, so show breeding is not itself the cause.

StudiedDuffy DL, 2008

Population-level finding from club-member questionnaires; both lines scored low in absolute terms.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 5; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 4; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 5; Adaptability Level 5.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

Kennels breeding the Labrador Retriever

Chasing Bands Retrievers

Retrievers built for the field & home

Yates center Kansas

Every Labrador Retriever kennel in the directory. Each page shows the dogs’ kept record beside their clearances; the inquiry goes to the breeder and nobody else. Breed the Labrador Retriever? List your kennel free and it shows here and in the hunting dog breed finder.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the Labrador Retriever against your own answers.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 13 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Lab, Labrador

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

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