This may soon become Ohio's state dog, and it couldn’t be a better fit

Ohio has a state bird, a state flower and even a state prehistoric monument.

Now, state legislators are looking to add a state dog to the Buckeye State's lineup of symbols.

State Rep. Jeffery Rezabek (R-Clayton) last week introduced House Bill 539, which would designate the Labrador retriever as Ohio's official state dog.

The bill, which was referred Tuesday to the state and local government committee, may seem odd for some, and that's what Rezabek was going for.

“We were looking to do something that was different and noticed there was no state dog," Rezabek told The Enquirer on Wednesday. “So, we looked at what breeds would represent Ohio the best and came to a pretty quick decision.”

So, how did it eventually come down to the Labrador?

Aside from being immensely popular — the American Kennel Club has named the Labrador the top breed for 26 years straight — the breed physically embodies the values of the state of Ohio, he said.

"It's a sporting dog and a working dog," Rezabek said, adding how those qualities reflect the state's passion for sports and the work ethic that defines its communities.

The breed also can be trained to be rescue dogs, police dogs and therapy dogs, all vital services that Ohio provides to its residents, he added. It's also a great family dog.

"When you talk about Ohio, we always consider 'The Heart of it All,' and the Labrador is like the heart of your home," he said.

Rezabek should know. He grew up with Labradors, after all.

“It’s the only breed of dog my family has owned,” he said. In fact, he was the first to defy that tradition by owning a Rottweiler.

But he never strayed far from Labradors.

For about four years, he and his former girlfriend fostered several of them through the Greater Dayton Labrador Retriever Rescue Mission. They even ended up succumbing to "foster failure" after becoming smitten by a good boy named Tucker.

While he ironically has no dogs of his own at the moment, Rezabek does have plans to get another furry friend in the future after he gets more settled in his on-the-go lifestyle.

And, of course, that dog will be a Labrador. A silver one named Barrister, in a nod to his law background.

Rezabek's bill is the second in Ohio trying to designate a pet as a state symbol. State Rep. Laura Lanese (R-Grove City) introduced last year a bill that would designate the shelter pet as the state pet in an effort to raise awareness for shelter animals.

While that bill is similar to Rezabek's — it's even before the same committee as the Labrador bill — Rezabek said his bill will not interfere in any way with Lanese's bill. Rather, they'd work in tandem to recognize all pets, something Rezabek supports.

Should Rezabek's bill become law, Ohio will become the 13th state to have a state dog, and the first to recognize the Labrador. (Maine in 2015 also proposed to recognize the Labrador as its state dog, but a committee voted 9-2 in favor of rejecting the bill.)

The other 12 states that recognize state dogs are: Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.