Hunting Dogs - Dogs Breeds

They are smart with a good temperament, gentle, energetic, and great with kids and other pets. That pretty much describes the most popular breed of dog in America — the Labrador retriever. Or, as they are nicknamed — labs.

Whether they are golden, black or chocolate labs, they were the most popular dog breed in the United States in 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2008, according to registration statistics released by the American Kennel Club.

Originally bred to be a hunting dog, labs are also the most popular assistance dog in the United States. And they are even used in police work for their detection abilities.

At Assistance Dogs of America, Swanton, training director Kali Mikula noted the usefulness of Labradors at the facility where dogs are trained to help people with disabilities.

“Actually, most of our assistance dogs are labs or lab mixes,” she said. “They are a nice size — between 50 and 70 pounds — which is what we need for an assistance dog. They have great personalities and are outgoing and friendly. They are eager to learn and to please.

“They are good at learning such skills as turning lights on and off and picking up items that have been dropped by our clients,” she noted. “They have a great retrieval instinct and that is what they need to have for us because many of our clients have a difficult time bending down and picking up something they have dropped.”

She said since labs are a larger dog, they also offer a good counter balance to a client who can walk by himself but may need to lean a little against the dog to keep his balance.

“They are also a great dog for our clients because the public perceives them as a friendly dog and would be more likely to help a client that might be having a problem than they would if the client’s assistance dog was from a breed such as a Doberman.”

The popular Christmas movie, “Marley & Me,” is a story about the misadventures of a lab. Since it was so popular and played in thousands of theaters across the country, there is concern in circles of people who are interested in the welfare of dogs that many parents will rush out to buy a lab puppy for their children without thinking through the consequences.

Lisa Fortner, of the Defiance County Humane Society, is familiar with some of those sad consequences.

“We get a lot of labs turned in to us,” she said. “They are in all of the colors. People turn them in because they didn’t take the time to train them when they were puppies and now they have this big, energetic dog which they can’t control.

“They are an excellent dog,” she said. “They have a very gentle temperament, they are very intelligent. They love people and they want to learn how to please them. They are very eager to please.

“Even when they are adults, they can be trained,” she said. “It just takes a little more work.”

Randy Ward, of rural Defiance, raises championship Labradors at his Stoney Lane Kennels. He has raised and trained labs as hunting dogs for more than 30 years.

He raises and trains both black and yellow labs and commented on how intelligent they are. He also noted that they have that ingrained desire to please their owners, which makes the breed a great hunting and companion dog.

Source: Crescent-News.com

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