Almost all dog owners do so for the sake of having a pet and among those are ones that acquire a labrador puppy using the same criteria to select their breed of choice as everybody else.

The realization comes later that labradors are a very busy lot, so to speak, and may even prove hard to keep up with. A look deeper reveals that retrievers are by nature hunters and thus love best of all to be where the action is instead of leisure.

Take the function of their jaws that is put to work almost all of a constant time, because instinctively as natural hunter dogs par excellence, their drive is to retrieve. And they have the motivation, the power and even the stamina to beautifully sustain the in-built instinct to swim afar if need be in tracking fallen game, retrive it and carry it back to you the hunter.

The sharp hunting dog insticts and drive  are even well demonstrated as the labrador retriever sharply focuses, chases a tennis ball or frisbee, for instance, and fetches it.

The strength of their jaw proves  the fact that they are hunting dogs and they also retrieve, hence their tendency to keep their mouths occupied by grabbing on any object in sight for putting in the mouth or chewing upon. A retriever is therefore a perfect match for an active dog owner who enjoys catch and fetch games and is indeed a handful and a misery for someone who chose a labrador  breed unaware of the demands of activity and the time consumption required on a daily basis.

If you were firstly aware of the nature of the Labrador retriever breed, and still want to have one as a dog pet and do not hunt, then specific obedience and training lessons are called for in addition to making sure that your property is reasonably dog-proofed against chewing tendencies by your labrador puppy, and even as it matures.

Against the background of what you have just read, if you seriously want a retriever for a house pet, it goes without saying  that you need to commit to a routine of retriever training, supervision and somewhat vigorous playtime activity day in day out, a neccesity for the labrador retriever healthy and wellbeing.

When and How Labradors become useful

Labrador retrievers are perfectly made for the active owner who loves outdoor activities such as jogging, swimming and playing fetch games, because by nature the labradors were bred to be very active as is exactly required when in the company of a hunter, thus running, swimming and retrieving foul, being a perfect task master at it.

It stands to reason therefore that if much outdoor activity is not your cup of tea, then you and the retriever have almost nothing in common, because if your preference is sitting down on the patio or tv watching, realize that the innate nature of a labrador is to run around and play. So by no means should you have the illusion that a retriever can stand laying around sedentary for very long.

You can see that the constant activity of this type of dog does not mean that it is overactive, it is being it’s normal self, perfectly in good health and naturally wired and itching to move about.

A mistake is often made when a prospective new dog owner chooses a labrador retriever without being aware of the amount of active time this type of dog requires in the company of the owner. It needs to be repeated, in the company of the owner, because leaving the labrador to entertain itself or run around on it’s own easily leads to possible destruction of property, even as puppies and more so as they get older. That includes digging up your yard, chewing up at anything and much unnecessary barking.

Interactive and strenous physical daily outdoor acitivities of at least two hours  is standard, shall we say, requirement for your Lab, such as running and fetching.

If you cannot afford that much time and the required physical activity, then do not get a Labrador Retriever dog.

The Labradors by nature do not like to be independent, neither do they like to be loners for any length of time. In other words if you like constant canine companionship, then a Labrador is one of your best choices among the various dog breeds.

These retrievers are by nature retrievers and therefore like to look around almost all the time to see if they can retrieve something. As such they do easily want to follow your instructions, given their innate ability to attend to and follow detailed instructions from you. Therefore your training of this dog ought to be specific and must foster a close relationship between the two of you, if you expect your commands to be followed to a T.

Ability to follow orders is enhanced by your training, and that natural trait on their part is critical to being a reliable retriever. As a matter of fact, that is precisely the reason why these dogs are excellent obedience trainees and good service animals. I have just been alerted by a colleague at my shoulder as I write this, that our friends south of the border would indeed take great exception to that qualification and instead graciously award it to a domesticated animal they call a Burro.

It is as if a Labrador-Retriever cannot take a single step without directions from you the owner, but right there is also the reason why many a family do not do well with the Labradors. Because a retriever does not cope too well whenever left alone for long periods of time, it matters not whether that be outside or inside the house. An obvious instance could be when you are away from home, working. It is no exaggeration that you could return home and find that your furniture has been chewed up or the window or door molested by the Labrador in it’s attempt to escape and search your whereabouts in order to reach you.

The constant undercurrent to successfully owning a Labrador is your being sure that you are in it’s eyesight, so to speak, for a majority of time.
HOW YOUR DOG LEARNS OBEDIENCE IN ONE EVENING

and what about this simple and easy
SIT– STAY and FETCH commands

What is in a name you may ask? More often than not there is plenty a clue in a name and the Labradors have a natural disposition or even a specific dog behavior to retrieve, hence the fitting name Labrador Retrievers.

Labrador Retriever Behavior.

Accordingly, these beautiful little dogs tend to put anything in their mouth if it fits, hence they routinely nip and bite at your hands and arms leading an uninformed dog owner to mistake such behavior as actual biting and thus unfairly punish this dog.

The rather obvious and best approach is to patiently train your labrador retriever puppy not to bite the furniture nor to mouth and bite at anyone’s limbs. You do get a much better perspective of the natural behavioral tendency of your Labrador puppy if you were to think of it as a piranha, who of course dash about with their mouths open, hunting for anything, it matters not what it is, just to put it in their mouths. It is as if they are vacuum cleaners of some sort.

Your best realistic expectations is not to completely stop the puppy from putting things in it’s mouth, but to train the animal to be selective with it’s dog behavior. You will need to start when the animal is still very young to discourage the tendency of it grabbing onto your clothes and arms, as you will see in your forthcoming articles on Retriever behavior dog training.

You ought to be aware that raising and training a Labrador requires dedication and lots of love. They can swallow small objects, whatever it happens to be, that can lead to serious health consequences and damage to your household items, therefore tremendous supervision is a must in the beginning and throughout the obedience training time-interval.

In the meantime, take a look at these lovely and simple Labrador performance commands from one who walks the talk of Labradors.
How labradors stop biting