I've stopped short of giving it five stars because in parts I just wanted to shout: "get on with it love - stop rambling! Faithful friend: Ben chose to take his Labrador Inca as his luxury when he appeared on Castaway in 2000, pictured. Ben visits Canada, discovers hair-raising stories of early Labrador exploits and uncovers stories of RNIB Labradors and Labradors at war, Labradors as working dogs and every other manifestation of the Labrador's character. The one big difference between me and the breed is that while I am shy and lack confidence, Labradors are naturally outgoing; they greet all strangers and then sit confidently next to them.

They also appeal to politicians; Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, French presidents Mitterrand, Chirac and Sarkozy, Vladimir Putin and even Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu have all been on one end of our favourite breed’s lead. I’m not sure if this is done in the hope of food and affection or if it is simply their nature to please, but it is a universal trait. I thought this book was well read but it jumped around too much between the history of the Labrador and ben's own history with Inca.They are naturally easy to train and intellectually superior to many other dogs, but their love of food makes Labradors particularly fast at learning tricks and being able to perform. I have always taken a keen interest in dogs and their health and as a dog owner we have a responsibility. Maggi had reached the grand old age of 14 and Ludo and Iona, now five and four, were both desperate for a young dog with energy. So in recognition of the world’s favourite dog, Ben Fogle celebrates the loyal, companionable, honest and ever-hungry lab we all know and love.

However, as a small book it’s still worth reading for a Labrador loved - I particularly liked the stories about his own Labrador, Inca. Contrastingly, I did find the book very pretentious and the subtle snide remarks to other breeds were very off putting. This was far from the first time he'd used the word 'bitch' and he'd not expressed this sentiment before. I'm not sure when I first met Labradors but I think it was Poppy and Oscar, who belonged to a dear late friend of mine, Alice Benkert.

I’m not sure if we consciously choose a dog because it reminds us of our own appearance or personality – it’s more complex than that – but there is something in it. By the early 1880s the original Buccleuch strain had died out, just five or six decades on from the original purchases from the fishermen on the Clyde. Love Island All Stars viewers praise Sophie Piper for 'snitching' on scheming Georgia Steel during secret flirty chat with Tom Clare: 'He's gonna tell the villa!

Would you consider the audio edition of Labrador: The Story of the World's Favourite Dog to be better than the print version? It projects happiness – the tail-wagging and the overall body language project a euphoria that I find contagious.I’ll never forget the joy and happiness on Marina and the children’s faces as we sat clutching armfuls of yellow and black labradors from a litter. So the Labrador has gone from being a fisherman's companion to a specialist wildfowl retriever to the world's most popular domestic dog. Fogle repeats himself a lot, and throughout, so I was reading the same piece of information two or three times.