The labrador: Good dog

So obedient. So handsome. So soothing. So very appropriate (so long as they're not yellow or brown). Such a shame that everybody else has got one...

There was a choice of three colours, but Charles Cooper-Stockbridge knew that yellow or chocolates were considered by grander types to be slightly infra dig. So the labrador that he is proud to accompany on his morning constitutional around his west London park is, of course, black.

He's called Louis, which Charles thinks has the correct ring of nobility about it, and the really wonderful thing about Louis - apart from his beauty and his intelligence, of course - is his sheer eagerness to please. Things at Charles's City accountancy firm haven't been going too well for him lately. He's feeling a bit marginalised. But walks with Louis help to restore his self-esteem. Louis doesn't ignore Charles's instructions. On the contrary, he does everything he's told with boundless enthusiasm. Charles is convinced that Louis really does smile at him.

He had considered other breeds. A woman he knew had a gorgeous cocker spaniel. But it was so highly strung. Alsatians, Charles felt, could be a bit threatening. Pointers had undoubted class, but they needed miles of open country to exercise in. Charles has an ex-wife and two children who live in Hampshire, but he only gets down there once a month. Under the circumstances, it's hardly surprising that Louis has become so important to Charles. There is just something utterly loveable about labradors. About the only drawback is that everybody else thinks so too ...

Confirmation that the labrador is Britain's favourite breed came last week when, for the 10th year running, it was voted top dog in a survey conducted by Country Life magazine. A century on from when labradors were first registered in this country, they have, it seems, got their paw prints everywhere. Out of a dog population of just over six million, labradors are reckoned by the Kennel Club to number well over half a million, more than double the number of the second most popular breed, the alsatian.

The Andrex puppy probably has a lot to answer for. The Andrex puppy ad, now in its 32nd year, is the longest running campaign on British television. And it all comes down to that labrador puppy - or rather labrador puppies, of which over the years more than 100 have performed for the cameras.

"It's the ultimate hound," says the Kennel Club's Phil Buckley. "There's nothing it can't do. Nobody it wouldn't suit. They're intelligent, biddable, they've got lovely temperaments. Whether you're young or old or wherever you live, you can't go wrong with a labrador. Their appeal is universal."

It is also, it seems, very contemporary. As the stresses of modern life take their toll, pets' therapeutic qualities count for more than ever, says the composer, broadcaster and labrador-lover Michael Berkeley. "Just as people have turned to the consoling sounds of John Taverner and Arvo Pärt, so people have turned to patting sessions with a dog. And there really is nothing quite like a labrador's soft face nuzzling up against you."

Non-dog-owners may be unaware of the nuances of canine character to which those who love dogs are sensitive. Take Berkeley. He says he used to have mongrels. He thought they had more personality than pure-bred dogs. But he and his wife have had a labrador for the past two years, and haven't looked back.

"He's a wonderful dog," Berkeley says. "Labradors seem to have a profound desire to please you, and they have this incredible effect on other people. I've often thought that walking a labrador puppy in the park takes the place of an escort agency. The number of young women who come up and talk to you is amazing. I've often thought of hiring my labrador out to people who want to meet people." A big moment in the life of Berkeley's labrador came when he won a tail-wagging competition at a dog show held in the Welsh borders.

Labradors are much more than mere adornments, however, as the legend that lies behind the dog indicates. In 16th-century Newfoundland, there was a breed of dog called the St Huberts Hound. They used to accompany sailors on fishing trips between Canada and England, helping to drag in the nets. These hounds are the nearest blood relative of the modern-day labrador.

The role played in labrador history by a 19th-century earl is also significant. He was the Earl of Malmsbury, and he was instrumental in keeping the breed alive when it had all but died out in England. Labradors have gone on to enjoy huge popularity among the landed gentry, whose shooting parties are not complete without labradors to retrieve the kill.

"They are expert at picking up game that's been shot," says Buckley, "and because they have such soft mouths they bring them back exactly as they found them. Labradors also have a lot of stamina, and they are quite untroubled by the sound of guns going off. There aren't many dogs like that."

Labradors' skills don't stop there. David Blunkett's labrador, Sadie, is only the most high-profile of thousands of labradors whose gentleness, reliability and obedience make them ideal guide dogs for blind people. Customs and Excise use labradors to sniff out contraband. They are also deployed in bomb disposal operations. And although the labrador is known for its lack of aggression - indeed it is one of the reasons why they are so popular with families with young children - they will guard their owners when they need to.

These owners - notable ones have included Prince William, Bill Clinton and George Michael - tend to divide along colour lines. Berkeley has a yellow labrador. Blunkett's labrador is black. Dorothy Walls is a lover of chocolate labradors, to the extent that she is the secretary of the Chocolate Labrador Owners' Club, and when she says that "professional trainers tend not to think of chocolates so highly", it's clear that the labrador world has its rivalries, prejudices and snobberies just like any other.

With A Dog's Life, a new book by Paul Bailey about the dog he owned for 16 years, and Will Cohu's Urban Dog: The Adventures of Parker, dog ownership and the canine experience have received perhaps long overdue literary attention. Bailey has observed labradors and their owners at close quarters. "I did notice that all the well-heeled walkers in the park tended to have black labradors," he says. Labrador owner Max Hastings wrote last week that "we black types are sniffy about other colours". It's clearly a world one enters at one's peril.

Country Life's survey, meanwhile, revealed that while the labrador's overall popularity was growing, the trend was less marked among the owners of country estates. Berkeley says he thinks that the labrador's potency as a status symbol is diminishing "in the way that your plumber nowadays will quite likely arrive in a BMW".

It remains something of an anomaly that no labrador has been Crufts supreme champion since 1937. "I'm not sure there's really anything in that," says Buckley. "When it comes down to it, the decision is just that of one judge." Not that labradors need Crufts to be sure of the nation's affections.