American VS. English

If you have heard the terms "American Style Labrador" and "English Style Labrador", you may have wondered, what's the difference? Well, there are two different types of Labradors which possess different characteristics from one another. They are known as American Labradors or "Field Breed" and English Labradors, also known as the "Show Breed". Below you will find a list of common characteristics for both.

American Labrador or "Field Breed"

1. Long legs
2. Thin tail
3. Long muzzle
4. Skinny head
5. Thin coat
6. Lighter body
7. More commonly known for being high strung

English Labrador or "Show Breed"

1. Short Legs
2. Short, thick tail, similar to an "otter" tail
3. Short muzzle
4. Short, wide, "block" head
5. Thick coat that possess waves
6. Thick body
7. Calm

Sometimes, the two types of Labrador Retrievers may be crossbred, giving you a friend that has a combination of the different characteristics.

After looking at our AKC papers and doing some research, we found out that our little bundle of joy is an "English Style Labrador," which may explain her well behavior. If you are planning on purchasing a Labrador, you may want to research the type that you would like and find a breeder that specializes in breeding that type.

Are They Really Indestructible?

It took us literally 5 months and at least $100 to discover which toys our Labrador Retriever, Chelsea, could and could not have. We were making trips to Petco on a weekly basis and let me just say it got to be a bit ridiculous!

Fortunately, Chelsea was never a chewer when it came to things in our house. She knew what she was allowed to tear apart and what was off limits. However, this was not the case when it came to her toys. I still remember the first toy she chewed up, a tennis ball, something I thought was innocent and fun for her play with. I left it in her crate at night so that if she became bored, she had something to keep her entertained. Well, one summer morning, I woke up and noticed the tennis ball was no longer in her crate. I thought to myself, well that's weird, maybe she buried it in her blankets. As I began to search, I found little pieces of what appeared to be the ball and then realized that she ate it, the whole thing! A few hours later, she began vomiting and I knew something was wrong. I called the vet and he told us to bring her in immediately. They did several x-rays and discovered that she did in fact eat the ball and that she took breaks in between. The prescription was to keep an eye on her and make sure she passed it. If her condition became worse, they were going to have to operate. Thankfully, a day later, she was 100%. Needless to say, she is no longer allowed to have tennis balls.

Along with the tennis balls, ropes, stuffed toys, and anything with squeakers joined the list and then finally, we discovered toys that she could chew, thoroughly enjoy, and that would hold up! Chelsea's favorites are Kongs, "Tough Toys", and Nylabones.

Free to Good Home

Whoever wrote"If dog is man's best friend, then the Labrador Retriever must be his soul mate." must have been describing our one year old chocolate Labrador Retriever, Chelsea. When Russell and I signed papers for our new house, we were welcomed by our neighbor's two adorable Labrador puppies. We had no idea how much one of those puppies would change our lives.

A month after settling in, we were outside taking care of the yard, when our neighbor approached us, knowing that we were in awe of his two bundles of joy and were thinking about getting our own, and asked if we would be interested in taking Chelsea off his hands. He said taking care of two lab puppies was just too much to handle and Chelsea had too much energy and would be better in a "one dog" home. At first I thought he was joking. I mean who could turn away such a cute dog? Then Russell and I took some time (literally only 5 minutes) and decided that we just had to take her. We offered our neighbor some money and he said that he didn't want anything, just the thought of knowing that she belonged to a good home and would remain right across the way from her brother.

The next day, we picked her up and brought her crate over to our house. I thought it would take her a few weeks to settle in and I was a bit nervous about how well she would adjust. However, my fears were washed away when we took off her leash and she immediately ran up and started licking us. This was just one of many times that she would do this, giving her the label, "our little love bug".

Within weeks she not only worked her way into our house, but into our hearts as well, by welcoming us at the door, following us continuously, comforting us when we have a bad day, and just being her typical self. Needless to say, the dog that had "too much" energy, just needed an outlet for all the wonderful gifts that she gives us day to day. We couldn't ask for anything better!