Labradors are consistently among the most popular breeds worldwide, and for good reason: biddable, sociable, tolerant of children, and built to work alongside people all day.
They also come with a specific set of problems that are entirely predictable, which means they are largely preventable.
The appetite is genetic
This is not a moral failing in your dog and it is not your imagination.
A proportion of Labradors carry a deletion in the POMC gene, which is involved in the signalling that tells the brain a meal has ended. Dogs carrying it are measurably more food-motivated and more prone to obesity, and the variant is found at a much higher frequency in Labradors than in most breeds — and higher still in assistance-dog lines, where food motivation makes for easy training.
Two consequences:
- Your Labrador may genuinely not feel full. Feeding “until they seem satisfied” does not work
- You have to manage it externally — weighed portions, counted treats, secured bins
The Labrador lifetime study is the clearest evidence anywhere of what this costs. Littermates kept lean lived roughly two years longer than those fed 25 percent more, and developed arthritis later and less severely.
Feeding
- Weigh every meal. Measuring cups produce errors of up to 80 percent
- Count treats within ten percent of daily calories
- Use a slow feeder or puzzle, because a Labrador clears a bowl in about twenty seconds
- Secure the bins, the worktops and the food cupboard. This breed is the reason foreign-body surgery exists
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps keep this site free. We only recommend products we would use with our own dogs.
Outward Hound Fun Feeder Slo Bowl
A maze bowl stretches a Labrador’s meal from twenty seconds to several minutes. On a weight plan it matters more than it sounds — satisfaction is as much about duration as volume.
KONG Wobbler Treat Dispenser
Holds a full meal and dispenses it gradually. Uses food you have already counted, so the mental work costs nothing in calories.
Health to watch for
Hip and elbow dysplasia. Common enough that both parents should have scores from a recognised scheme, compared against the breed average. Ask before you buy.
Cruciate ligament rupture. Very common in this breed, and weight is the biggest modifiable factor. Roughly half of dogs who rupture one go on to rupture the other.
Exercise-induced collapse (EIC). A genetic condition causing weakness and collapse after intense exercise, usually in young adults. There is a DNA test — responsible breeders test for it.
Laryngeal paralysis in older Labradors: noisy raspy breathing, a change in bark, coughing around food and water, and heat intolerance. Can become an emergency in warm weather.
Ear infections. Drop ears plus a love of water is a reliable combination. Check and dry weekly.
Obesity-related disease, which underlies most of the above.
Progressive retinal atrophy and hereditary cataracts — DNA tests exist.
Exercise
An adult Labrador needs around an hour to ninety minutes a day, in more than one session, plus mental work.
During growth, be careful. Large-breed puppies should not be road-run, jogged alongside, or repeatedly jumping out of cars before growth plates close at around 12 to 18 months. The five-minute rule — five minutes of formal exercise per month of age, once or twice a day — is a reasonable guide.
Swimming is ideal for this breed and non-weight-bearing, which suits their joints. Rinse afterwards and dry the ears.
Retrieving is what they were built for, but endless high-speed ball chasing with skidding stops is hard on joints and produces an over-aroused dog. Retrieve with rules — sits, waits, and a release — rather than forty minutes of flinging a ball.
Grooming
A short double coat that sheds constantly and blows heavily twice a year.
- Undercoat rake or deshedding tool weekly, daily during a blow
- Bath every 6 to 12 weeks
- Dry properly after swimming — a damp undercoat is where hot spots start
- Check ears weekly
- Nails every two to four weeks
SleekEZ Deshedding Grooming Tool
Lifts loose undercoat without cutting the guard hairs. It also clears Labrador hair off sofas and car seats, which becomes a significant part of your life.
Temperament and training
Friendly, people-focused, and slow to mature — many Labradors are adolescent in behaviour until two or beyond.
What they find easy: anything involving food, retrieving, water, and being near you.
What they find hard: impulse control, particularly around food and other dogs, and settling when excited.
Priorities in the first year:
- Loose lead walking, started early, because an adult Labrador who pulls is genuinely difficult to hold
- Recall, heavily reinforced, before adolescence arrives
- “Leave it” and “drop it”, because they pick up and swallow things
- Settle and mat work, because an unsettled Labrador is a busy Labrador
Who they suit
Active households who will walk them daily in all weather, who can cope with mud and hair, and who are willing to be strict about food.
They are less suited to households who want a low-exercise dog, who are house-proud, or who find it hard to say no to a dog staring at them while they eat.
Which, to be fair, is most of us. That is why so many Labradors are overweight — and why weighing the food is the single most useful habit a Labrador owner can build.
