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50 free Labrador Retriever trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Labrador Retriever trivia quiz covers the most popular dog breed of the last half-century from every angle: where the Lab really came from (a British breed built from an extinct Newfoundland fishing dog), the aristocrats who founded it in the 1880s, the first yellow and chocolate dogs on record, and the physical kit that makes it a water retriever, from the otter tail and webbed paws to the soft mouth. There is a full section on famous Labradors too: Endal, the most decorated dog in the world; Zanjeer, the Mumbai bomb-detection dog buried with state honours; Salty and Roselle, who led their blind owners out of the World Trade Center; Frida of the Mexican Navy; Marley of Marley & Me; and the pets of presidents from Bill Clinton to Vladimir Putin. Health, genetics and guide-dog statistics round it out. Questions run from easy to expert with a difficulty score on each, so it suits a family quiz night or a serious dog-lover's challenge. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and breed references and each question carries its citation. Fans of the breed should also try our Dogs and Golden Retriever quizzes.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Labrador Retriever is named after a region of which former British colony?
Newfoundland
The Labrador region is the mainland part of today's Newfoundland and Labrador; the dogs themselves came from the island's fishing ports.
Q 02In which country was the Labrador Retriever developed as a breed?
Britain
British aristocrats crossed the imported colonial fishing dogs with local hunting dogs to fix the type during the 19th century.
Q 03Labradors descend from which now-extinct landrace of fishing dog?
St. John's water dog
The landrace was gone by the early 1980s, but the small white chest 'medallion' some Labs carry is a leftover of its tuxedo markings.
Q 04Yellow Labradors range in shade from creamy white all the way to what?
Fox-red
Fox-red is still registered simply as yellow, though breeders sometimes market it as if it were a separate colour.
Q 05The first yellow Labrador on record, born in 1899, was named what?
Ben of Hyde
He came from the kennels of Major C.J. Radclyffe, only four years before the Kennel Club recognised the breed.
Q 06Which nobleman gave the Duke of Buccleuch the stud dogs Avon and Ned, ancestors of every Labrador?
The Earl of Malmesbury
Three families collaborated in the 1880s to establish the breed, and the two dogs were mated with bitches carrying the blood of the original 1830s imports.
Q 07In which year did the UK Kennel Club recognise the Labrador Retriever as a breed?
1903
The breed's first recorded yellow dog had been born just four years earlier.
Q 08In what year did the American Kennel Club record its first Labrador registration?
1917
Within a century the breed would hold the AKC's number-one spot for 31 consecutive years.
Q 09By which year had the name 'Labrador Retriever' become common in England?
1870
Colonel Peter Hawker had described the type decades earlier: not larger than an English Pointer, usually black, with a short smooth coat.
Q 10Ships trading with the colony first brought the breed's ancestors to England in the 1830s via which Dorset port?
Poole
A local earl with an estate nearby was among the first to breed the newcomers for waterfowling.
Q 11The Labrador's characteristic tail is compared to that of which animal?
Otter
Thick at the base and tapering to the tip, it works as a rudder when the dog swims.
Q 12Which physical feature helps a Labrador swim?
Fully webbed paws
The slightly oily, water-resistant coat sheds water so the dog stays warm on winter retrieves.
Q 13A retriever's 'soft mouth' means it can do what?
Carry game without damaging it
It is a gun-dog trait: a bird crushed by hard jaws is useless to the shooter.
Q 21A Royal Veterinary College and University of Sydney study found which colour of Labrador lives about 10% shorter?
Chocolate
The colour was originally called 'liver', and liver pups were recorded at the Buccleuch kennels in 1892.
Q 22Roughly what share of guide dogs in the United States are Labradors?
60–70%
They are also the most popular assistance-dog breed in Australia and many other countries.
Q 23In a 2006 study of four guide-dog breeds, which was most likely to fail training?
German Shepherds
Given longer training, though, both Shepherds and Goldens went on to a higher success rate than Labs.
Q 14How many genes are primarily responsible for determining a Labrador's coat colour?
Three
They are MC1R, Agouti and CBD103, and puppies of all three colours can turn up in a single litter.
Q 15A loss-of-function mutation in which gene makes a Labrador yellow regardless of other colour genes?
MC1R
Dogs with working copies of that gene and Agouti plus the black allele of CBD103 come out black.
Q 16Along with the tail, what do the Kennel Club and AKC call a 'distinctive feature' of the breed?
Coat
It should be short and dense but not wiry, with a natural water-resistant oiliness.
Q 17Which of these eye colours is appropriate for a Labrador under the AKC standard?
Hazel
Brown is the other accepted colour, and the lining around the eyes should be black.
Q 18A 2011 study found 13 of 245 Labradors carried the M264V mutation for which trait, invisible in the breed?
Melanistic mask
On a solid-coloured dog the dark facial mask is invisible, so the trait cannot be judged from appearance.
Q 19In the United States, field-bred and show-bred Labradors are often mislabelled 'American' and what?
English
In fact both lines are bred in both countries and every Labrador descends from British stock.
Q 20A UK study put the Labrador's average life expectancy at how many years?
13.1
A Swedish insurance study found only 25% of Labradors had died by age 10, against 35% of dogs overall.
Q 24Labradors are the most popular dog by ownership in the UK, New Zealand and which other country?
Canada
In 2006 both the UK and the US had well over twice as many registered Labradors as the next most popular breed.
Q 25Which breed ended the Labrador's 31-year run as the AKC's most popular breed in 2023?
French Bulldog
In 2022 the Lab had already slipped to second in the AKC's registration rankings.
Q 26Which British assistance Labrador, 'the most decorated dog in the world', first rode the London Eye?
Endal
He answered over a hundred spoken commands plus hundreds of signed ones, and could put his owner in the recovery position after a fall.
Q 27Allen Parton, owner of the 'most decorated dog in the world', was injured in the Gulf in 1991 serving with which force?
Royal Navy
In 2010 Parton founded the charity Hounds for Heroes in his dog's memory.
Q 28Sully, the service dog at George H. W. Bush's 2018 funeral, was named after which person?
Chesley Sullenberger
After the funeral he joined Walter Reed's facility-dog programme and was given the rank of Hospital Corpsman 1st Class.
Q 29Zanjeer, the detection Labrador given a state funeral in 2000, served which city's police?
Mumbai
He was nicknamed 'Ginger' for his coat colour and helped avert several follow-up attacks after the 1993 bombings.
Q 30How much RDX explosive is Zanjeer credited with detecting during his police career?
3,329 kg
He also turned up 242 grenades, 600 detonators and 175 petrol bombs before dying of bone cancer.