Labrador Retrievers have been America’s #1 breed for close to 30 years! Labrador Retrievers also known as “Labs” for short are gentle, outgoing, intelligent, high energy, and very affectionate. Labrador Retrievers are great with children and make wonderful family pets.
Labrador Retrievers are well known sporting dogs and are commonly used for bird hunting because they are athletic have endless energy, love the water, are great swimmers, and natural retrievers. If you are thinking about adding a Lab to your family make sure you have time to give it regular daily exercise and walks.
Labs are high energy but will settle down and curl up at your feet after they have had proper exercise.
This breed is known to be mouthy, a trait that is used as communication to show excitements or get attention, it’s how they interact. This is usually seen in puppies and can be outgrown as the dogs get older.
Labrador Retrievers are always eager to please their people and do not do well being alone for long periods.
This even tempered, very social intelligent breed can get into trouble and be destructive if they get bored. A testament to this amazing loyal and intelligent breed,
Labrador Retrievers are commonly used as search and rescue dogs and are popular support and therapy dogs.
Before buying a Labrador Retriever puppy, consider this: The popularity of the Labrador make them a targeted breed of USDA commercial dog breeders, Amish dog breeders, profit breeders and online puppy broker websites known to be associated with puppy mill breeders.
Their loyalty and popularity make Labrador Retrievers an attractive business model for unscrupulous dog breeders. It’s for this reason that our Puppy Mill Watchdog monitors and reports on Labrador Retriever puppy breeders, online puppy sellers and puppy broker websites know to be associated with puppy mills.
Read the story about four rescued breeding dogs.
If the breeder won’t let you pick the puppy up in person, meet the mother dog and let you see where and how she lives, don’t buy the puppy.
Please do your research before you buy a Labrador Retriever puppy — or consider adopting Labrador Retriever from your local club or rescue organization!
About the Breed: Labrador Retrievers
Labrador Retrievers can weigh 55-85 pounds and can range between be 21-25 inches tall.
Age Expectancy: 10-14 years.
Temperament: Labrador Retrievers are high energy, friendly and affectionate dogs. They are intelligent and need daily mental and physical exercise, or they can get bored. Labrador Retrievers are easily trained.
Coat: Short, smooth thick water resistant.
Color: Yellow, Black and Chocolate.
Grooming: Labrador Retrievers require regular brushing and grooming.
Training: Positive training is recommended for Labrador Retriever puppies at an early age.
Vet Care: Regular vet care is essential for the health and well-being of your Labrador Retriever.
Types of Labrador Retrievers
FAQ’s About Buying Labrador Retriever Puppies Online
When buying a Labrador Retriever puppy, you want to make sure it was born in a loving clean environment and that the breeder is not a puppy mill. Don’t buy your new puppy from looking at a picture. Always meet your new puppy in person. The puppy should have an overall healthy look to him. Make sure his eyes are bright, he is clean and happy.
Look at his body language make sure his tail is up and wagging. Is his posture good? Does he hold his head up, is he curious? Does he run up to you or is he afraid to approach you?
There are so many risks to buying a Labrador Retriever puppy online. We do not ever recommend buying a puppy from a picture on a website. Since your Labrador Retriever will live for 11-14 years it is important to see firsthand where it was born.
Make sure the breeder is not a puppy mill. Pick your puppy up in person, meet the mother dog, see her mental and physical condition. She should be clean, happy and well adjusted. If the breeder won’t let you see where he keeps his dogs then walk away.
It is not safe to buy Labrador Retriever puppies online or any puppy for that matter. Never have a puppy shipped to you by air nanny or even meeting the breeder halfway or in a parking lot. If you are not able to pick up the puppy in person, meet the mother dog and where she and all of the breeder’s dogs live, you might be supporting a puppy mill. The breeder may have many excuses why they don’t want you to visit, but they are that, excuses. Video chats, videos and photos do not take the place of seeing in person.
Over 1 million puppy mill puppies are sold online each year and it is in your best interest to make sure your new puppy is not coming from one of these breeders or you may be looking at high vet bills, a puppy with anxiety or even worse, heartache.
Finding a new healthy, happy, well adjusted puppy takes time. Your new Labrador Retriever puppy will be a part of your family for 11-14 years so it’s important to find a healthy well-bred puppy. Do your research online but never take a breeder’s word for it. Since Labrador Retrievers are purebreds, we suggest finding a breeder who is a member of the Labrador Retriever Club of America.
These breeders breed by a code of ethics. They breed to improve the breed. But, always meet the mother dog, see her mental and physical condition and where she lives before you buy a puppy. See where and how she and all of the breeding dogs live. Video chats, videos and photos do not take the place of seeing in person.
Labrador Retrievers are Americas most popular dog. Many of these bad breeders looking to profit off their popularity are selling puppies online. A puppy mill is a dog breeder that puts profit over the health and well-being of the breeding dogs and puppies produced. These breeders vary in size from small breeders, ten to twenty dogs, to very large breeders that have hundreds of breeding dogs packed in dark pole barns. Most people don’t know that puppy mills are legal.
Puppy mills keep the mother and father dogs pregnant and sell the puppies. The breeding dogs are forced to breed twice a year or at every heat cycle and they are usually kept in wire cages, many times stacked.
The breeding dogs are not groomed, they are not given opportunity to exercise nor do they know the touch of a loving hand. They are denied veterinary care and most are living and breeding with painful conditions such as urinary tract infections, ear infections, rotten teeth, infected eyes, tumors, infected mammary glands and sore feet from standing on wire cage floors, that never get addressed.
It is important to know that any breeder can be a puppy mill. Stay away from breeders that are USDA licensed. It’s hard to imagine the breeder or website you are talking or texting with could be a puppy mill. If the breeder has excuses why they won’t let you see where they keep the breeding dogs or you are not able to meet the mother dog in person, we suggest you find another breeder. Video chats, videos and photos do not take the place of seeing in person.