National Labrador Retriever Club

FCI Standard for Labrador Retrievers

The Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) is the World Canine Organization. Eighty countries throughout the world are part of this organization (the United States of America is not among them). The FCI recognizes 330 breeds. Each of them is the "property" of a specific country. The "owner" countries of the breeds write the standard of these breeds (description of the ideal type of the breed) which all member countries use as their breed standard and the reference on which their judges base themselves when judging shows held in FCI member countries.

LABRADOR RETRIEVER
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; keen lover 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 & SKULL: Skull broad with defined stop; clean cut without fleshy cheeks. Jaws of medium length, powerful not snipey. 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 topline. Loins wide, short coupled and strong.

HINDQUARTERS: Well developed not sloping to tail; well turned stifle. Hocks let down, cowhocks 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 - 22.5 ins); bitches 54 - 56 cms (21.5 ins).

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.

Approved by the General Assembly on the 23rd and 24th June 1987 in Jerusalem