A Hunting We Will Go—Hunting Labradors

Labradors are known for their intelligence and friendliness. Because they are intelligent they can be trained to do many different types of things. They have been known to assist humans in everyday tasks for many years. Labradors are often used as guide dogs for the blind, deaf, and other handicapped people. They can also be trained to be therapy dogs for the elderly people in nursing homes and for emotionally disturbed children. The military and the police have used Labradors to track criminals, weapons, bombs, drugs, and to find missing people. Though Labradors are used in many ways to assist people today, they were originally trained to do only one thing: HUNT. Hunting Labradors originally came from Newfoundland in eastern Canada. How they got there is not clear. But the fact remains that due to the need to hunt, hunting Labradors became very popular very quickly. Labradors are often referred to as “Labrador Retrievers” because they learned how to retrieve dead animals as part of their hunting training.

Characteristics

What makes Labradors good hunters? Labradors posses many characteristics that make them good hunters. First of all, hunting Labradors have a strong bone structure. The Labrador also has a very thick tail. Their tail is often compared to an otter’s tail and is very helpful to hunting Labradors when they are swimming. Other characteristics that help them swim with ease are their webbed feet and their water repellent coats. Another characteristic of the hunting Labrador is their gentle mouth, which is important because Labradors were used to retrieve the dead animals that were shot and were required to being them back to the hunter. Therefore, they had to be very gentle with the animals that were killed. The final characteristic that makes Labradors ideal hunting dogs is their loyalty and the fact that they can be easily trained.

Modern-Day Labs

Today, most Labradors work in the fields mentioned above. But some Labradors are still used for hunting purposes, especially in more rural areas. In fact, there are many obedient schools and dog training schools throughout the country that still train Labradors to become hunters. However, being “man’s best friend” is still the most common occupation of Labradors today, and perhaps it is the most appreciated!