Not a Bonehead! Normal...for a Labrador Retriever

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
Eleanor Roosevelt (Eleanor probably did not mean new strength to drag harder on leash or a new idea about how to break into that “dog-proof” trash can, but I hope she doesn’t mind the use of her words here.)

“He is such a bonehead!” the frustrated Labrador Retriever pet person exclaims.

“In what way?” I inquire.

“ He slams into everything - me, the door, other dogs, my kids. His tail clears the coffee table, things go flying, and he doesn’t even seem to notice! I yell at him to stop and he just wags harder. When I come home he greets me at the door with one of my shoes in his mouth, even though he shouldn’t! “

“Yup, you’ve got a Labrador. He is insensitive to sounds and touch, thinks life is a full-contact sport, and picks everything up in his mouth.” I explain.

To understand Labrador Retrievers you need to understand what they were created to do, how they have been selected for generations to be good-natured, oral-but-not-aural, bulls-in-a-china-shop.

A Labrador Retriever was designed to sit next to the hunter for long periods, and then sit next to the hunter while he fires his gun (sound insensitive), often multiple times in a row (VERY sound insensitive), then to be sent off to retrieve (oral, oral, oral) a fallen bird often in ice-covered waters (physically insensitive). The dog may not have seen the bird fall, so must take the hunter's direction on where to find the quarry (highly trainable) and then bring the duck back (rather than eating it). Add to this that guys might meet up together with their dogs to hunt and the strange dogs must sit together in the duck blind or boat and you get dogs selected for low dog-to-dog aggression levels, as well.

From this history you get the wonderfully social, happy, child-tolerant, delightful “boneheads” that America has been in love with for many years now and will be for many more. They are highly trainable, as their position as top guide, service and customs dogs attests, though you can’t use brute force or loud voice to get your point across - they might not notice either.

The following clip shows a yellow lab doing her thing. WARNING: It also shows hunting of actual birds. If this is distressing to you, hit the pause bottom. I share it here as a demonstration of the work Labs were bred to do - notice the ice, notice the dog's enthusiasm and willingness. Dog work starts at about 2:30

by Sarah Wilson

Author of MySmartPuppy.com handbooks: My Smart Puppy (book with DVD) and Childproofing Your Dog