Flat-Coated Retriever
Learn about the temperament and personality of the Flat-Coated Retriever. Discover what he's like to live with, his traits and characteristics and how he generally behaves. And look at lots of Flat-Coated Retriever photos.

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Flat-Coated Retriever Temperament
The Flat Coated Retriever is an excellent family companion and versatile working dog. He has boundless energy and requires regular vigorous exercise. Obedience training is a must for this active breed. He needs his mind engaged in something and he enjoys obedience, tracking, and agility competition. He is athletic, agile, and fast, and loves to jog and swim. The trouble with swimming is that he loves to do it in mud too. If he finds a suitable mud puddle, he will roll around in it, dip his head underwater, and then glance up at you with a proud look. He also thinks it is his job to carry things in his mouth and will frequently surprise you with gifts of shoes, underwear, sticks, and dead things. This breed also has a tendency to eat dog poop. While this habit can be managed by denying him access to this treat, it is still a risk some families don't want to take. The Flat Coated Retriever has been called the Peter Pan of the canine world, because he seems to never grow up. He is always ready for fun and play, even in his senior years. The breed is bright, responsive, stable, and confident. He wants to please those he loves and forms a strong attachment to his owner and family. He is a sociable dog who craves human company and thrives as part of the family. They do not do well if left alone all day. If he gets bored or lonely, he will probably dig or chew. They are excellent with children but they can be a bit rambunctious with play so bonding time should be supervised so no one gets squashed. Most Flat Coat Retrievers do well with other pets, including cats. The Flat Coat will bark at strangers, but once you let a guest into the home, he will greet them by jumping up on them. This is a devoted, happy, enthusiastic dog whose tail never stops wagging.
Flat-Coated Retriever Training
The Flat-Coated Retriever is very intelligent and easy to train. He learns new commands very fast.
Flat-Coated Retriever Shedding
The Flat-Coated Retriever sheds a fair amount of hair. You'll find hair stuck to your couch, carpets, clothes and everything else in your home.
Flat-Coated Retriever Grooming
The medium-length coat of the Flat-Coated Retriever only requires an occasional brushing. But because he sheds you may find yourself brushing him once or twice a week to remove loose hair. (What you get out with a brush doesn't fall out in your home!)
Flat-Coated Retriever Photos
Rating: Ease of training
Tells you how easy or difficult a breed is to train.
A higher rating means the breed is easier to train, a lower rating means the breed is harder to train.
An easy to train breed require less time and patience to train.
Rating: Intelligence
Tells you how intelligent a breed is in terms of how quickly it can learn commands from humans. A higher rating means the breed will learn your commands faster (and is therefore generally considered to be more intelligent), while a lower rating means the breed will learn your commands more slowly (and is therefore generally considered to be less intelligent).
Keep in mind that this is only one way to measure a dog's intelligence and a low rating might still mean the breed is highly intelligent in other ways.
Rating: Shedding
Tells you how much hair the breed sheds. The higher the rating the more hair the breed sheds.
Rating: Watchdog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a watchdog and raising the alarm when a stranger approaches. A higher rating means the breed will bark vigorously to warn you of a stranger's presence on your property. A low rating means the breed probably won't bark much if a stranger enters your property.
Rating: Guard dog
Tells you how good the breed is at being a guard dog due to the appearance, size, and strength of the breed. A breed with a high guard dog rating will make an intruder think twice before stepping foot on your property.
Rating: Popularity
Tells you how popular the breed is in terms of ownership. A higher rating means that more people own the breed. The more popular a breed is the easier it is to find and purchase one because there are more breeders breeding it.
Rating: Size
Tells you how large or small the breed is. A lower rating means the breed is smaller and a higher rating means the breed is larger. It gives you a quick idea of how physically large or small the breed is compared with all the other breeds.
Rating: Agility
Tells you how agile the breed is. A higher rating means the breed is fast and nimble on its feet while a lower rating means the breed is heavier and slower on its feet.
Rating: Good with kids
Tells you how good the breed is with children. A higher rating means the breed is good with children. Note: all breeds are generally good with kids when they're raised with them.