Canada

Care in your country

Shared care needs an individual veterinary assessment. Regional law, services and travel requirements are separate; the local guide explains what is checked and what still needs confirmation.

Open the local guide

Gundog Large adult scale

Labrador Retriever.

Friendly, outgoing and eager to join in, Labradors are versatile companions that often love learning and working alongside people. Walks, retrieving, swimming and scent games can all put their enthusiasm to good use. Regular training, measured feeding and plenty of purposeful activity help them remain settled and healthy.

At a glance

Typical adult pet: Roughly 25–36 kg · Exercise: Around 2 hours. These are editorial planning estimates, not measured breed-population ranges, healthy-weight targets or exercise prescriptions.

What living together may involve.

Friendly and trainable, but needs time, space, measured feeding and purposeful activity.

Grooming

Weekly brushing with heavier seasonal shedding.

Activity

Around 2 hours. Age, fitness, health, weather and the quality of enrichment can change what an individual dog needs.

Planning

Plan particularly for training, shedding and health-tested parents.

Training

Use kind, reward-based training and build skills gradually. Breed can suggest inherited tendencies; it cannot determine a dog’s personality.

Real-world size

Pet range first.
Show standard second.

Roughly 25–36 kg is a rounded editorial estimate; its coverage of the adult pet population has not been independently validated. RKC show standard: about 55–57 cm at the shoulder. Neither figure decides whether an individual dog is healthy or proves pedigree. A veterinary body-condition assessment is more useful than aiming for a number alone.

Choose health and function.

Ask for the health tests relevant to both parents and verify results independently. Avoid exaggerated features that compromise breathing, movement, eyes, skin or ordinary activity. A responsible breeder or rescue should welcome careful questions.

Children, other animals, time alone and first-time ownership cannot be decided by breed label alone. Temperament, early experience, health, training, management and the household all matter.

Evidence & next steps

Check the current information.

Royal Kennel Club: Breed A–Z
Royal Kennel Club: Health Standard
PDSA: Dog-care guidance
Next: buying or adopting responsibly · Next: prepare for arrival

This page provides general planning information, not a veterinary assessment or a promise about an individual dog. Seek veterinary and appropriately qualified behaviour advice where needed.

Reviewed 18 September 2026 · Review sooner if evidence changes

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