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Breed Standard of Retriever (Labrador)
The Kennel Club @ March 1994
General Appearance Strongly built, short-coupled,
very active; broad in skull; broad and deep through chest and ribs;
broad and strong over loins and hindquarters.
Characteristics Good-tempered, very agile. Excellent
nose, soft mouth; keen love of water. Adaptable devoted companion.
Temperament Intelligent, keen and biddable, with a strong
will to please. Kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or undue
shyness.
Head and Skull Skull broad with defined stop; clean-cut
without fleshy cheeks. Jaws of medium length, powerful not snipy.
Nose wide, nostrils well developed.
Eyes Medium size, expressing intelligence and good temper,
brown or hazel.
Ears Not large or heavy, hanging close to head and set
rather far back.
Mouth Jaws and teeth strong with a perfect, regular
and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower
teeth and set square to the jaws.
Neck Clean, strong, powerful, set into well placed shoulders.
Forequarters Shoulders long and sloping. Forelegs well boned
and straight from elbow to ground when viewed from either front or
side.
Body Chest of good width and depth, with well sprung
barrel ribs. Level top line. Loins wide, short-coupled and strong.
Hindquarters Well developed, not sloping to tail; well
turned stifle. Hocks well let down, cow hocks highly undesirable.
Feet Round, compact; well arched toes and well developed
pads.
Tail Distinctive feature, very thick towards base, gradually
tapering towards tip, medium length, free from feathering, but clothed
thickly all round with short, thick, dense coat, thus giving 'rounded'
appearance described as 'Otter' tail. May be carried gaily but should
not curl over back.
Gait/Movement Free, covering adequate ground; straight
and true in front and rear.
Coat Distinctive feature, short-dense without wave or
feathering, giving fairly hard feel to the touch; weather-resistant
undercoat.
Colour Wholly black, yellow or liver/chocolate. Yellows
range from light cream to red fox. Small white spot on chest permissible.
Size Ideal height at withers; dogs 56-57 cms (22-221/2ins);
bitches 54-56 cms (211/2ins).
Faults Any departure from the foregoing points should
be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should
be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
Note Male animals should have two apparently normal
testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
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