Labrador Retriever: the Most Popular Dog Breed is Plentiful in U.S. Shelters

He’s the number one most popular dog breed in America, his sweet, playful nature and happy-go-lucky athleticism the stuff of legend. And if you’re popular, you haven’t got problems, right? Wrong. Come Christmas, the Labrador - Mr. Popularity himself – will earn a distinction no dog wants. He will officially be a Breed in Need.
 
Here’s why: December 25th is the date one of the most eagerly-anticipated movies reaches theaters: "Marley and Me," the film adaptation of John Grogan’s phenomenal best-selling book about a Lab whom the author, Marley’s owner, affectionately calls "The World’s Worst Dog."
 
Cataloguing Marley’s mischief chapter by hilarious chapter was all in good fun, of course. But the sad reality is that bad behavior – i.e. lack of good-manners training – is the number one reason dogs of all breeds are surrendered at animal shelters. If not harnessed, a lab’s boundless energy and enthusiasm will find destructive outlets. And because few of us possess Grogan’s writing skills, most of the badly-behaved dogs won’t have Marley’s happy ending, inspiring best-selling books and star-studded movies. The sad reality is that most may not even make it to age 1.
 
It doesn’t take a psychic to predict that, come Christmas, many Marley puppies will find their way under the tree as holiday gifts, purchased on impulse at pet stores. And just a few short months later, those puppies, having grown into rambunctious adolescent dogs without the exercise and training they need to keep them well-behaved, will be abandoned at animal shelters by frustrated owners, there to face an uncertain future at best. With animal shelters already overburdened due to the mortgage foreclosure crisis, any dog who enters the shelter system today faces an untimely death.
 
Already, Labrador rescue groups are gearing up for what they fear will be an onslaught of unwanted Labs needing immediate, emergency placement. Sadly, there won’t be homes for them all, and many won’t make it out of animal shelters. So please don’t buy a puppy; visit your local animal shelter and adopt a pre-owned Lab instead, or Google the words Labrador Rescue to be instantly connected to a group near you that’s dedicated to re-homing leftover Labs.
 
The great news is that the Labrador’s tremendous eagerness to please makes even pre-owned adult dogs prime candidates for behavior modification and good-manners training. With the slightest effort, you can indeed teach old dogs new tricks – and the Lab is no exception to this rule. Plus, Labs just love to exercise, so if you’ve been meaning to start a fitness regimen, an adopted Lab will be your ideal workout partner: Always up for a jog, no matter what the weather! A well-exercised Lab is a better-behaved Lab, so start running with your Labrador Motivator and watch those unwanted pounds melt away.
 
Those looking for purebred Labs will not be disappointed at the shelter selection – there will be Labs of every color, from yellow to chocolate to black. But for the maverick Lab-lover who likes their Lab with a twist, there will also be many Lab mixes to choose from, and these, too, are wonderful. Think of Labrador mixes as Marley Plus – mostly Marley, but with a bit of Boxer here, or a hint of hound there!

Actress Felicity Huffman is a maverick Lab-lover who discovered first-hand the joy of adopting a Leftover Lab. The "Desperate Housewives" star, nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Transamerica," adopted her beloved black Lab mix, Tucker, from Pet Orphans of Southern California in 2006. Huffman wittily calls Tucker a "collab-rador," and because she and her family (actor husband William H. Macy and their two young daughters) are so thrilled with their Leftover Lab, she’s now the official spokesperson for the "Home 4 the Holidays" nationwide pet adoption program.
 
"I used to stick to purebred dogs," Huffman said. "But then I heard about adopting and we went to visit a shelter. Tucker was the best thing that ever happened to us."