5 Things You Need to Know About Labrador Retrievers

5 Things You Need to Know About Labrador Retrievers

this week on the cone I’m gonna tell you about the five things you should know about America’s favorite dog breed the Labrador Retriever let’s get into it and now the vet who gets really excited when someone new comes to visit dr. Andy Roark today we’re talking about the most popular dog breed in America for ten plus years running the Labrador Retriever let’s break down what you need to know these guys are everywhere the American Kennel Club or AKC registered over a hundred thousand labrador retrievers every year and you think about the small percentage of people who actually register their labs with the AKC you’ve got people who don’t register them which is probably the majority of us you’ve got other Kennel Club’s like the United Kennel Club but my point with this is just these guys are wildly popular they’re the iPhone of dogs they’re amazing their popularity comes from a lot of different places I mean Labradors are ridiculously versatile they can do everything from holding down a couch to serving as a guide dog to literally bomb detection these guys have it all they’re big but not too big I mean that that perfect big-ish size they’re generally depending on the sexes sixty to eighty pounds they’re good with kids especially older kids and they love to be rowdy they may be a little bit high energy for itty bitty kids that’s just something to be aware of but overall this is a great family dog [Music] maintenance labs are wash-and-wear are dogs they’re super easy to maintain there’s really only two things that I call out for lab owners the first is if you brush them out once a week you’ll get a lot less shedding and their coat will look good simple easy to do real quick and they love it and the second thing is that you have got to exercise these guys they are high-energy play dogs and they need to get worked out they love to run and play and romp around and guys they were made to swim so if you could hook that up they will love you for it it’ll keep their mind and body sound I just gotta be totally honest with you the vast majority of Labrador Retrievers that I see in medical practice are overweight they tend to get that way for two reasons and it’s a real problem the first reason they tend to be overweight is that they can lead a sedentary lifestyle these dogs were made to sit in a duck blind and so they can hold down a couch with the absolute best of them they need to be burning those calories off and working out guys I got a family I got little kids I know how it is it’s hard to make time to exercise a dog regularly I totally get it this is something we need to prioritize if we’re going to have a Labrador and just fit it into our schedule because man it’s important the second reason that Labrador struggle with weight is because they love to eat I mean they love to eat they also have these wonderful warm loving expressive eyes that just speak directly to your soul and tell you they need to have a bite of what you’re eating they are ridiculously persuasive I get it there’s no question about why this is the most common conversation I have to have with pet owners their lab weighs too much generally Labrador retrievers are really healthy dogs it’s part of their popularity we look for common standard orthopedic issues you would expect like elbow dysplasia shoulder dysplasia hip dysplasia we also look for on kneecaps that pop outer or luxating patellas those are all things to keep an eye on and be aware of there’s really one big orthopedic problem that I really want to focus on and call out and that’s torn cranial cruciate ligaments or CC Elle’s the CCL is the dog version of the ACL and the Labrador retrievers are prone to tearing this ligament it is a terrible injury it is a injury that often requires surgery to fix it is crazy expensive it is a real problem and I don’t want you to have to deal with this so I want to speak directly to the lab owners right now and say your best defense against this is keeping that dog thin the most common knee injury I see you’re an overweight Labrador Retrievers who have laid around on the couch and just live the good life and then they got to go to the lake for the first time this year and they just run like wild beasts Unchained and they have the best time ever until they land the wrong way and they blow out their knee this is a weekend warrior injury and once your dog tears his or her cranial cruciate ligament in one leg there’s a 60% chance that he or she will tear the other one you don’t want any part of this so stay on the diet keep up the exercise and talk to your vet if you need a good weight loss diet to help out finally the medical condition that Labrador retrievers are known for beyond any other breed is dietary indiscretion or trashmouth I know what you’re thinking you’re thinking what that’s not a medical condition Oh contraire I have personally seen a Labrador Retriever who ate a dozen golf balls you would think that he would eat one and think this doesn’t taste good or normal but you would be wrong he ate one and then he ate 11 more I counted them on x-ray and then I had to go in surgically and take them out this type of behavior is not uncommon Labradors are known for eating things out of the trash or things that they find that can make them sick they especially love things that smell like their owner so think about socks and underwear those are favorites if you have little kids especially kids that wear bibs or get food all over their clothes those clothes get eaten a lot you’ve got to keep an eye out and make sure that your Labrador is not eating anything toxic or anything that might get halfway through the digestive tract and get stuck this is a real problem we can tackle it though constant vigilance latching trashcans we can do this people I believe and that is our show thanks for letting me share my love of this breed with you and talk about how to keep these guys and gals healthy if you have a lab I’d love to know a little bit about your buddy so just talk about it in the comments and that would make my day until next time let’s be the people that our pets deserve [Music] you