How big do Labrador Retrievers get?

A grown male Labrador Retriever stands 22½ to 24½ inches at the shoulder and weighs 65 to 80 pounds, and a female stands 21½ to 23½ inches and weighs 55 to 70 pounds, under the AKC breed standard. Where breeders have given the parents' adult weights, the mothers weigh 85 pounds and the fathers weigh 89 pounds.

The standard is strict about height and loose about weight, and that difference matters when you compare puppies.

What does the breed standard say about height and weight?

Height is a firm limit in the Lab standard. A dog more than half an inch above or below its range is disqualified, although the minimum heights do not apply to Labs under twelve months of age. The weights are written as approximate figures for a dog in working condition, so a Lab carrying extra pounds is not a bigger Lab under the standard.

The standard asks for a short-coupled dog whose length from the point of the shoulder to the rump equals its height or runs slightly longer, with the elbow halfway between the withers and the ground. It says a Lab should never look low and long or tall and leggy, and it calls light, weedy dogs and heavy, lumbering ones equally incorrect.

Is there a mini, English or American Lab?

The AKC standard describes one Labrador Retriever, with one height range for males and one for females. Mini, English and American are labels a breeder chooses, and none of them is a size the standard recognizes. If a listing uses one, ask how tall the parents stand and what they weigh.

How can you estimate a Lab puppy's adult size?

The parents tell you the most. Ask the breeder how tall each one stands at the shoulder, what each weighs in lean condition, and whether either is still young. A puppy from a 21½ inch mother and a 22½ inch father is likely to finish near the small end of the breed, and a puppy from parents near the top of their ranges is likely to finish larger. If the pair has had a litter before, ask how big those puppies grew.

When does a Labrador Retriever stop growing?

For large-breed dogs, VCA Animal Hospitals gives 12 to 18 months as the usual age for reaching adult size, and says large and giant breeds may not count as adults until 18 to 24 months. The standard's exception for dogs under a year means a young Lab can sit below the minimum height without being disqualified.

What health checks matter for a Labrador Retriever?

AKC gives the Lab a life expectancy of 11 to 13 years. It says a responsible breeder screens breeding stock for elbow and hip dysplasia, heart disorders, hereditary myopathy and eye conditions, including progressive retinal atrophy. The Labrador Retriever Club recommends hip, elbow and eye evaluations for breeding dogs, along with four DNA tests, one of them for exercise-induced collapse. OFA certifies hips and elbows only once a dog is at least 24 months old, so a younger parent can have preliminary results only. Ask to see each parent's results before you choose a puppy.

AKC also says that Labs, like other large, deep-chested dogs, can develop bloat, which it calls life-threatening, and it tells owners to learn the symptoms and what to do about them.

See Labrador Retriever puppies

Labrador Retriever puppies on Puppy Connection are posted by their breeders. Open a listing to see the puppy, then ask its breeder for both parents' heights and weights.