This beauty holds the record for the "Most popular dog breed in America" for a staggering 26 years!

With tons of stamina and energy, this water-loving breed actually comes from Newfoundland in Canada, not its' name-sake.

This area of Canada used to be stacked with small water dog breeds which when mated with the Newfoundland dog resulted in a breed called the "St John's Water Dog" and this handsome fella was the prototype of what we now know as the Labrador Retriever.

First introduced into England in the mid-1800s, the Lab soon became a prized hunting companion, especially good at retrieving in water with its' webbed feet and a waterproof coat.

Before long their calm temperament, friendly nature and their willingness to please saw the Lab increasingly becoming a loved family pet and service dog - notable the Guide Dog.

 

With each hour that passes someone in the UK goes blind and with that, many rarely venture outside alone again.

Almost 2 million people here suffer from various degrees of sight loss, 360,000 are registered blind.

A guide dog can help someone achieve independence on a life-changing scale and the Lab makes a perfect companion.

In 1931 the first UK Guide Dogs were trained by two incredible women, Muriel Crooke and Rosemund Bond who began a training programme with just four dogs in a humble garage in Merseyside.

These four amazing dogs became the first British Guide Dogs and by 1934, the charitable organisation, "The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association" was created.

Currently, there are 5,000 Guide Dogs in the UK.

With formal training lasting about 14 months and the selection process straining when the pups are 8 weeks old, the whole lifetime cost of raising a Guide Dog comes to just over £55,000.