1947, AMERICAN STANDARD

This Standard was the first adopted in the United States, it was published in 1957, and it was substituted now in 1994 by the effective pattern. We published it just for historical documentation of the evolution of the Breed.

General appearance

The general appearance of Retriever of Labrador owes being of strong constitution, short trunk and very assets. He should be sufficiently wide in the loin, and strong and muscular in the subsequent ones. The coat should be closed, short, dense and without bangs.

Head

The skull should be wide, giving space to the brain: it should have a light stop, that is, the forehead should be pronounced lightly, so that the skull is not absolutely in straight line with the snout. The head should have a defined drawing and free from fleshy cheeks. The maxillaries should be long and strong and free from cuttings; the snout should be wide and the nostrils well developed. The teeth should be strong and regular, with the bite in torquês. The ears should be carried falls, moderately nearby to the head, preferentially inserted well behind, and in certain way low without being big and heavy. The eyes should be of medium size, expressing great intelligence and good temperament, and they can be brown, yellows or black, but brown and blacks are preferable.

Neck and Trunk

The neck should be of size medium, strong and without dewlaps. The shoulders should be long and sloping. The trunk should be wide and deep, the very arched ribs and the wide and strong loin, elegant waist, and the subsequent good developed and of great power.

Legs and Paws

The legs should be straight from the shoulders to the ground, and the compact paws, with the very arched fingers and cushions you plant well developed, the hocks should be well angulados, and the dog should neither have cow hocks nor open hocks; in the reality, he needs to sustain and to move in all of the directions the legs and paws. The legs should be of medium size, showing good skeleton and musculature, but no so short that it is out of balance with the rest of the body. In the reality, a very balanced dog in all of the aspects is preferable to a dog with impressive qualities and defects.

Tail

The tail is a peculiar characteristic of the race; it should be very thick in the base, gradually being narrowed for the tip, of medium size, free from any type of bangs, and it should be covered thickly in all his/her extension by the coat tans, thick and dense characteristic of the race, giving the cylindrical" peculiar" aspect that it was described with" otter" tail. She can be carried high, but it doesn't owe if it curves on the back.

Coat

The coat is another peculiar characteristic; she should be tans, very dense and without undulations, and he/she should give a sensation of being reasonably rough to the touch.

Colors

The colors are black, yellow and chocolate and they are described to proceed:

1. Blacks: Totally black. A small white stain in the chest is permissible.
2. Yellows: The yellows can vary from the red fox to the clear cream with nuances variations in the ears, in the inferior part of the dog or below the tail. A small white stain in the chest is permissible. The color of the eyes and the expression should be the same of the blacks, with eyelids black or brown dark. The truffle should be black or brown dark, although" to fade" for the rose in the winter it is not serious. The truffle" Dudley" (rose without pigmentation) it should be punished.
3. Chocolates: Tones varying from the brown clear to the chocolate. A small white stain in the chest is permissible. The eyes should be brown clear or clear yellow. The pigmentation of the truffle and of the eyelids it should be brown dark or liver color. To "fade" for the rose in the winter is not serious. The truffle" Dudley" (rose without pigmentation) it should be punished.

Movement

The movement should be free and effortlessly. The previous legs should be strong, straight line, appropriate and correctly inserted. Observing a labrador moving in his/her direction, they should not have signs of elbows opening up, but harmoniously staying the body close to, without the legs join, and moving directly ahead without to march or to sway. Looking at the dog for back, he/she should give the impression of the back legs be muscular and without cow hocks, moving as parallel as is possible, with the hocks making the whole work and being inflected well, this way giving the impression of power and force.

Weight

The approximate weight of dogs and female dogs in work conditions: Dogs, 60 to 75 Pounds (27 to 34 Kg); female dogs, 55 to 70 pounds (25 to 32 Kg).

Height

Height in the withers: Dogs, 22½ to 24½ inches (57 to 62 cm); Female dogs, 21½ to 23½ inches (55 to 60 cm).