Labrador Retriever: Breed Field Guide Cards

Today's field-guide breed is the Labrador Retriever: a medium-to-large sporting retriever known for a friendly, outgoing, high-spirited nature and strong family appeal. 1

The size card follows the AKC official standard: males are 22.5-24.5 inches and 65-80 pounds in working condition; females are 21.5-23.5 inches and 55-70 pounds. 2 The care snapshot uses The Royal Kennel Club's breed profile for exercise and lifespan: more than 2 hours of exercise per day and a lifespan over 10 years. 3

The temperament card leans on the standard-language overlap: AKC describes the ideal Labrador as kindly, outgoing, tractable, eager to please, gentle, intelligent, adaptable, and stable; FCI describes the breed as good-tempered, very agile, adaptable, devoted, intelligent, keen, biddable, and kindly, with no aggression or undue shyness. 2 4

The standard-markers card shows the traits that make the breed feel like a water retriever: a short, dense, weather-resistant coat, an "otter" tail, a soft mouth, and a keen love of water. 4 Accepted standard colors are black, yellow, and chocolate/liver, with yellow ranging from light cream to fox red and chocolate/liver ranging from light to dark. 2 4

Note: the cards use newly generated gouache-style portrait art guided by official breed-standard references. They are a breed field guide, not veterinary advice or a substitute for meeting individual dogs and responsible breeders.