The Labrador Retriever (also Labrador, or Lab for short) is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States (since 1991). It is also one of the most popular assistance dog breeds in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States and many other countries, as well as being widely used by police and other official bodies for their detection and working abilities. Typically, Labradors are athletic and love to swim, play catch and retrieve games, are good with young children, elderly, and for protection.

The modern Labrador's ancestors originated on the island of Newfoundland, now part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The founding breed of the Labrador was the St. John's Water Dog, a breed that emerged through ad-hoc breedings by early settlers of the island in the 16th century. The forebears of the St. John's Dog are not known, but were likely a random-bred mix of English, Irish, and Portuguese working breeds. The Newfoundland (known then as the Greater Newfoundland) is likely a result of the St. John's Dog breeding with mastiffs brought to the island by the generations of Portuguese fishermen who had been fishing offshore since the 16th century. The smaller short-coated St. John's Dog (also known then as the Lesser Newfoundland) was used for retrieval and pulling in nets from the water. These smaller dogs were the forebears of the Labrador Retriever. The white chest, feet, chin, and muzzle - known as tuxedo markings - characteristic of the St. John's Dog often appear in modern Lab mixes, and will occasionally manifest in Labradors as a small white spot on the chest (known as a medallion) or stray white hairs on the feet or muzzle.

Cesar Millan, (born César Millán Favela; August 27, 1969) is a Mexican-born American dog trainer. A self-taught expert, he is widely known for his television series The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, now in its eighth season and broadcast in more than eighty countries worldwide. Prior to The Dog Whisperer series, Millan focused on rehabilitating especially aggressive dogs and founded the Dog Psychology Center in South Los Angeles (2002–2008) — under construction in a new Los Angeles location as of late 2009.

Millan's first three books, including Cesar's Way, all became New York Times best sellers, have cumulatively sold two million copies in the United States, and are available in 14 other countries. In 2009, in conjunction with IMG, Millan introduced a monthly magazine also titled Cesar's Way — with The Wall Street Journal reporting at that time that half of American consumers recognized Millan. With Ilusión Millan, his former wife, he founded the Cesar and Ilusión Millan Foundation — since renamed the Millan Foundation. He is working with Yale University to create a children's curriculum based on his work.

Nicholas Radbourn "Nick" Hewer (born 17 February 1944) is a British former public relations consultant turned television personality, who lives in Northamptonshire, England. He is probably best known for his role as Alan Sugar's advisor on the UK version of the BBC television show The Apprentice. In January 2012, he replaced Jeff Stelling as the host of the Channel 4 television programme, Countdown.

Hewer was born in Swindon on 17 February 1944. He lived in Old Town, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College, an exclusive Jesuit boarding school, located in County Kildare, Ireland. Hewer moved to London in the 1960s His Irish Catholic mother, Patricia Hewer née Jamison and English Protestant father, John David Radbourn Hewer (who studied veterinary medicine) had met as students at University College Dublin. He has two sisters and two brothers. His grandfather, John, began as a vet in Swindon on Drove Road in 1912.

He started his own PR company in 1966. He spent 21 years in the Amstrad management group. His PR company was hired by Amstrad to represent them in 1983. He sold his PR agency in 1998.