People forget that dog breeds weren’t developed just for an adorable variety of appearance, but for specific jobs. From the hound group, which was made to follow scents or detect movement while hunting, to the cattle dogs group that are excellent at managing livestock, to the terriers, who were accomplished at pest control, each breed has a special skill they bring to the table.
It’s not hard to guess the original function of the retriever dogs, who, as their name suggests, were used to collect flying game shot down from the sky. As a result, they are accomplished swimmers, and have become very comfortable away from dry land.
Labrador retrievers have webbed feet, which help them navigate water with power and speed. But due to the large size of labrador paws, they have a distinct advantage over some other breeds when swimming.
We’re not sure how deep we can dive, but it’s a good bet it’s not as deep as the adventurous lab in this video. His name is Jordy, and he has been teaching himself dive progressively deeper in his quest to retrieve rocks.
Maybe one day Jordy will return to the surface not with just a rock, but a sunken treasure.
