We’ve had three labs over the last two decades. We have two older girls now, almost 10 and almost 14. We are thinking about our future and whether we’d get another lab.
Our pros/cons list might help you.
The poster above nailed it. They are nitwits as puppies/young dogs- if you’re being polite. I remember sitting on the kitchen floor crying my eyes out when puppy 1 was small, thinking WTF have I done?! He’d fallen asleep on the kitchen floor when I was cooking dinner and looked so peaceful I didn’t want to move him into his crate… so we ate dinner just a few meters away in the dining room and let him be. We were out of sight for 10 min maybe… he ate an a4 sized piece of Lino from the middle of the kitchen floor. I have no idea why or what on earth possessed him!
They stay puppies for YEARS. I’d say ours were at least 4 before they’d calmed down. And the last one was probably at least 6! They are such hard work when they are young.
i made mistakes with our first dog, letting him play with every (willing/friendly) dog we met… it then became expected and was a bit of a PITA, and required extra work/sessions with a trainer to get his focus back on us. I didn’t make the same mistake again.
The shedding! My god! We have a robo hoover that goes around twice per day but if you nipped over in between you’d think it hadn’t been done in weeks.
They are not small dogs- this increase costs of everything from food and vet treatment to things like beds and chews, as you need the XL sizes.
They are food and eating obsessed. Great in terms of training… not so much for everything else. Both girls have had to go to the vets for vomiting drugs when they’ve eaten inanimate objects. The youngest is a complete bugger for it and had to have surgery (age 7, so not a puppy) to remove a sock. It is lifelong. We had another incident a few months ago where she randomly ate (in one gulp) a soft toy we’d had for years… I could see it happening but couldn’t get across the room and pull it out in time. Another trip to the vets for vomiting drugs.
It is a struggle to keep their weight in check. If they ate the recommended amount on the bags, or worse, until they were satisfied they would be morbidly obese.
BUT
They are the most awesome dogs you’ll ever have.
Their attitude to everything is ‘whooohoo!! This is my new favourite thing ever!!!’ Random people come to visit? ‘Whooohooo! You are my new best friend ever!!’ Everything is met with such enthusiasm and joy!
Ours are the most people-y friendly dogs you could wish to have. They’ve been fine with all the random children we’ve had over. They were incredibly gentle when we had babies. I can’t move at home without them following me about, even if I’m just getting something from across the room or nipping to the loo. They feel they have to come to- they are eternal optimists that there might be food on offer. We’ve not had any issues with separation anxiety tho.
They have been fine with other animals- we got chickens a few years ago and neither ever bothered chasing them etc, they can free range in the garden together. Actually the youngest was scared of them tbh. They have never been interested in livestock etc. The youngest will chase cats if given the chance but isn’t interested in wildlife etc on walks. I’m sure if we had a cat we could have desensitised her.
Our younger one now especially adores our youngest DC (8). She follows him about everywhere and just wants to be involved in everything he does. At night they spoon together in bed, her head on the pillow and tucked in under the covers.
All of ours are show bred, we actually did a bit of showing when they were younger. Our older lady did some gundog training classes when she was a young adult and loved it. She was retrieving obsessed. Oddly the younger one’s dad had his show gundog working certificate, so in theory you’d think would have a stronger retrieve instinct. She didn’t get the memo and is comparatively not that fussed.
They are wonderful family dogs. But they can be really really tough for the first few years.