Labrador retrievers are more attracted to water than to social stimuli: A pilot study

The Labrador retriever is a breed of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris/Canis familiaris) of great importance to our current society. This breed was selected to be an excellent water dog and to work with fishermen. Because of its origins, the popular belief is that Labrador retrievers are “keen water lovers.” However, the extent to which this is true, and whether recent selection pressures might have changed the breed is unknown. In this pilot work, we investigated the relative importance of water as a behavioral stimulus for the modern breed. The study was conducted in an arena with a swimming pool to evaluate differences in the frequency of approach behaviors and the duration of interaction behaviors toward 3 stimuli: water, dog, and human. The behaviors were measured during 2-minute periods for each Labrador retriever (N = 10), in 3 trials, with all the stimuli present at the same time in the arena. The dogs interacted significantly longer with the water stimulus than with the dog and the human stimuli. The median of the frequency of approach to the water stimulus was significantly different from the median frequency of approach to the dog stimulus. The water appeared to be a positive stimulus for this group of Labrador retrievers and the most appealing of the 3 stimuli in the specific test condition. With this pilot study, we sought to introduce novel research in terms of needs and preferences of specific dog breeds, with particular relevance of regular contact with swimming water to the welfare of this breed.