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“They're not an automatically perfect dog”

written by Reddogtrainer on 26/06/2015

Labradors are an incredibly popular breed. Many dog books or dog breed websites state that they are the perfect family dog and are always friendly to strangers or other dogs. One site even said they are 100% trustworthy around cats or small pets, even if they haven't been brought up with them.

Labs are probably the breed of dog I most often bump into on dog walks. They tend to be badly trained ( it seems people often think Labs are guaranteed to be 'nice' and therefore don't need obedience training) and very rude with other dogs. Quite often they are just trying to be friendly, but they haven't learnt how to be polite - a lot of Labs race over, get into a dogs' face, lick their faces and even jump on their backs. Not cool.

We have also seen our fair share of aggressive Labs, and both our dogs have been set upon by Labradors on several occasions. A family member has a Lab that is an obsessive, neurotic mess. He has attacked other dogs, yet the owners don't see it as a problem because "he's a Labrador" and wouldn't ever properly hurt anyone.

Labradors have great potential, don't get me wrong. They're energetic, fairly easy to train and seem to be one of the more easy going high energy breeds.

Unfortunately due to their popularity most Labs end up living stressful lives with little to no exercise or training. They need just as much training as any other dog; they should be socialised as a puppy and once they hit a year old they're probably gonna need a few hours exercise a day.