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Labrador Retriever — BetterBred Breed Page – BetterBred.com
BetterBred Breed Profile

Labrador Retriever

Temperament: Friendly, outgoing, patient. Ideal working or therapy dog.
Height: 21.5 t0 24.5 inches
Weight: 55 - 80 lbs
Life Span: 10-12 years
Outlier Index ?
0.32
Born before 2016: 0.35 Born after 2024: 0.29
Avg Genetic Rel. ?
-0.01
Born before 2016: -0.04 Born after 2024: 0.04
Internal Relatedness ?
0.08
Born before 2016: 0.07 Born after 2024: 0.05
Labrador Retriever
#NameGender OIAGRIR
1 Broadmead Blue Agave M 0.27 0.04 0.05
2 Broadmead Lucky Charm F 0.25 0.06 0.10
3 Broadmead Calliope F 0.25 0.05 0.14
4 Broadmead Kaiya F 0.29 0.05 0.14
5 Broadmead What's it all about Alfie M 0.21 0.08 0.00
6 Broadmead Bailey M 0.24 0.10 0.07
7 Broadmead Rainforest Maiden F 0.46 -0.06 -0.07
8 Broadmead Keep Your Eye On The Prize F 0.30 0.04 0.00
9 Canoecove Fly The Sky M 0.32 0.06 -0.02
10 Canoecove A Love Supreme F 0.31 0.07 0.04
The traditional waterdog of Newfoundland was discovered by visiting British nobles who brought this sporting dog
back to England in the early 19th century. English breeders refined the breed in the latter half of the century
to the sporting dog it is today. The do-it-all, gentle, loving nature of the breed made this a popular breed the world over.
View Official Breed Standard →
Generally diverse and populous, the Labrador Retriever's most common breed-wide health risks are hip and elbow dysplasia and patellar luxation. They are also known to suffer from distichiasis, exercise-induced collapse, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, tricuspid valve dysplasia, and entropion.

Average metrics by birth year for dogs with recorded birthdates in the BetterBred database.

A 3D genetic map of enrolled Labrador Retriever dogs in the BetterBred database, based on allele-sharing distance across 33 STR loci. This is not a complete picture of the breed — it reflects only dogs whose owners have enrolled them. Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · hover for dog names (public profiles only).

Historical founders — oldest 25% of enrolled dogs     Current gene pool — most recent 50% of enrolled dogs
Building plot… this may take a minute for larger breeds.

The Dog Leukocyte Antigen (DLA) region controls immune function and is the most polymorphic portion of the canine genome. Every dog carries two sets of DLA haplotypes — one from each parent — which almost never recombine across generations. Frequency percentages reflect how often each haplotype appears across all allele copies in the breed, not the percentage of dogs carrying it.

Class I Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
1065
37.1%
1165
20.8%
1008
9.9%
1054
7.8%
1030
7.5%
1105
4.2%
1068
3.0%
1017
2.7%
1006
1.8%
1062
1.8%
1045
0.6%
1243
0.3%
1226
0.3%
1176
0.3%
1142
0.3%
1070
0.3%
1046
0.3%
1033
0.3%
1016
0.3%
1134
0.3%

Class II Haplotypes

HaplotypeFrequency
2048
34.3%
2080
20.8%
2052
9.0%
2022
7.8%
2023
7.5%
2024
4.2%
2005
3.9%
2053
2.7%
2007
2.1%
2021
1.8%
2003
1.2%
2127
1.2%
2032
0.9%
2046
0.9%
2039
0.6%
2031
0.3%
2049
0.3%
2083
0.3%

Class I & II Combinations

Class IClass IIFrequency
1065 2048
33.7%
1165 2080
20.8%
1008 2052
9.0%
1054 2022
7.8%
1030 2023
7.5%
1105 2024
4.2%
1017 2005
2.7%
1068 2053
2.7%
1006 2007
1.8%
1062 2021
1.8%
1065 2127
1.2%
1008 2003
0.9%
1065 2046
0.9%
1065 2032
0.9%
1045 2039
0.6%
1065 2083
0.3%
1046 2005
0.3%
1068 2003
0.3%
1070 2005
0.3%
1033 2048
0.3%
1134 2005
0.3%
1142 2049
0.3%
1016 2031
0.3%
1176 2005
0.3%
1226 2048
0.3%
1243 2007
0.3%

The Canine Diversity Test from UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is the foundation of BetterBred’s breed management tools. Testing your dog adds to the breed database and gives you access to the full suite of breeding analysis tools.

Order from UC Davis VGL →
OI
Outlier Index

The Outlier Index (OI) measures how unusual a dog’s allele combination is relative to the tested population of its breed. A higher OI means the dog carries alleles at lower frequencies across the breed — genetic variants that are underrepresented in the population as a whole.

Dogs with high OI are genetically valuable because they carry diversity that most other tested dogs don’t share. Breeding them thoughtfully into the broader population helps redistribute lower-frequency alleles rather than allowing them to become even rarer over generations.

The breed average shown here reflects all dogs tested in the BetterBred database. The senior and youngster comparisons show whether diversity is trending up or down in recent generations.
AGR
Average Genetic Relatedness

Average Genetic Relatedness (AGR) measures how similar a dog’s DNA is, on average, to every other tested dog in the breed. It reflects the dog’s mean kinship — how closely related it is to the population as a whole.

A lower AGR means the dog is more genetically distinct from the majority of the breed. Dogs with low AGR carry alleles at lower frequencies across the tested population, making them higher-priority candidates for inclusion in a well-managed breeding program.

AGR is conceptually related to mean kinship used in conservation genetics for managed species populations. A declining AGR average in younger dogs suggests the breed is successfully redistributing genetic diversity across generations.
IR
Internal Relatedness

Internal Relatedness (IR) measures how much identical genetic material an individual dog inherited from both parents. IR is a useful indicator of inbreeding: lower IR generally reflects lower inbreeding, and it is widely used and reported in the scientific literature.

A high IR is not the cause for alarm it might appear. Elevated IR can often be resolved in a single generation by pairing with a dog whose ancestry is less represented in the breed. It is a signpost, not a sentence.

BetterBred reports IR for reference, but it is not our primary breeding guidance tool. OI and AGR together give a more complete and actionable picture of a dog’s genetic value to the population.

AGR tells you which dogs are genetically unusual relative to the population. OI tells you which dogs are most valuable to preserve. OI specifically weights mid-frequency alleles, identifying dogs whose ancestry is underrepresented in a way most likely to benefit the breed.