a) Labrador puppies like all puppies need a lot of attention. Will you be away from home all day or will there be someone around to care for the pup and give it the love and attention that it needs?
b) Are you prepared to care for this animal for the next 10 - 12 years?
c) Can you afford to keep a Lab? This means weighing up ALL the costs and not just the cost of food. There are many other aspects to ownership such us vet bills (and these can be quite sizeable), toys, boarding if you go on holidays and can not take the pup, food bowls, brushes, collars, leads, etc.
d) Do you have the time to exercise this dog every day of the year regardless of the weather?
e) Do you have enough room in your house/backyard for a fully grown Lab?
f) Are you prepared for a dog that needs companionship? Labs are not the type of dog that you can just shut in the backyard and pat on the head when it suits you. Labradors are family oriented animals that have a need to be part of the family and spend time with their owners.
If you have seriously thought about the answers to these questions then and ONLY then are you ready to purchase a Lab pup.
The best way to go about purchasing a pup is through a quailified breeder. And the best way to find a breeder is through the Labrador club in your state. If you contact your local club they can give you a list of breeders who are only interested in furthering the breed and not in making money from their pups. Any good breeder will show you through their breeding facilities, as well as making the parents of the pup, and their hip, eye and elbow certificates available to be viewed. Not only that but a good breeder will be able to answer any questions that you might have on any aspect concerning the pup or the parents. I can not impart on you how important a resource your breeder is. Hence it is NEVER a good idea to buy a pup from either a backyard breeder or a pet store.
CHARACTERISTICS: Good tempered, very agile. Excellent nose, soft mouth; keen love of water. Adaptable, devoted companion.
TEMPERAMENT: Intelligent, keen and biddable, with a strong will to please. Kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or undue shyness.
HEAD AND SKULL: Skull broad with defined stop; clean cut without fleshy cheeks. Jaws of medium length, powerful not snipey. Nose wide, nostrils well-developed.
EYES: Medium size, expressing intelligence and good temper; brown or hazel.
EARS: Not large or heavy, hanging close to head and set rather far back.
MOUTH: Jaws and teeth strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. Upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
NECK: Clean, strong, powerful, set into well-placed shoulders.
FOREQUARTERS: Shoulders long and sloping. Forelegs well-boned and straight from elbow to ground when viewed from either front or side.
BODY: Chest of good width and depth, with well sprung barrel ribs. Level topline. Loins wide, short coupled and strong.
HINDQUARTERS: Well-developed not sloping to tail; well turned stifle. Hocks well let down, cowhocks highly undesirable.
FEET: Round, compact; well-arched toes and well-developed pads.
TAIL: Distinctive feature, very thick towards base, gradually tapering towards tip, medium length, free from feathering, but clothed thickly all round with short, thick, dense coat, thus giving a 'rounded' appearance described as 'Otter' tail. May be carried gaily but should not curl over back.
GAIT/MOVEMENT: Free, covering adequate ground; straight and true in front and rear.
COAT: Distinctive feature, short dense without wave or feathering, giving fairly hard feel to the touch; weather resistant undercoat.
COLOUR: Wholly black, yellow or liver/chocolate. Yellows range from light cream to fox red. Small white spot on chest permissible.
SIZE: Height: Dogs 56 - 57 cms (22 - 221/2 ins) at withers. Bitches 54.5 - 56 cms (21 1/2 - 22 ins) at withers.
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
NOTE: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles descended into the scrotum.
