Labrador Retrievers are well known for our amazing sense of smell, even compared to other breeds of dogs. Our breed was recognized as a good hunting dog in England, and many Labrador Retriever breeders began to highlight hunting-related traits when breeding. As a result, today's Labrador Retrievers have an excellent sense of smell! Labradors are also known for being wonderful retrievers, which is another trait highly regarded for use as a hunting dog.
Labrador Retrievers are frequently used for many important jobs in society. Some Labrador are used by law enforcement, especially for jobs that require a sensitive sense of smell. Us Labrador Retrievers make great detection dogs, being able to identify for police substances such as explosives, illegal substances, and human scent. We are also able to identify a specific human scent and follow it, much like a bloodhound. We can assist in missing persons cases, since our smelling abilities help us to discern human scent from other scents.
Along with being used by the police, us Labradors are also used extensively as search-and-rescue dogs. This is another job that requires our sense of smell, as we are able to direct rescuers to rescue people that may not have been obvious to the human senses. We have even been known to detect trapped avalanche victims that are underneath over 18 feet of snow! Because of our superior sense of smell, us Labrador were used by many rescue workers after the twin towers collapsed in New York City. We were able to help save many people trapped under the debris, and there are now many dedicated organizations that support search-and-rescue Labrador. Since we can detect human scent so efficiently, many Labrador Retrievers are used for rescuing hurricane victims as well.
Source by Sean Green