Understanding the genetics of Labrador retriever obesity may help dog owners mitigate their best friend’s weight gain.

We led a study to find out how genes have such a significant influence on why humans (and dogs) become overweight. It was their reputation for greediness that led us to focus on labrador retrievers.

rh2010 - stock.adobe.com The team found several genes linked to canine obesity while studying British Labrador retrievers ... They measured each dog’s body fat and compared their obesity ...

Researchers studying British Labrador retrievers have identified ... the researchers recruited owners with pet dogs in which they measured body fat, scored "greediness," and took a saliva sample ...

The poor Labrador certainly isn't a fan of freezing ... Certain breeds, usually smaller dogs with low body fat, are more prone to temperature-related shivering, Dr. McKinley explained.

Normally they wouldn't interest us, but the dog results told us they can have a big effect on body weight and made them worth investigating. That was true of our top labrador obesity gene ...