silpig5 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 a strange but important question for lab owners . has any one had bad experiance with chocolate labs ? just picked our new home / gun dog from a mate , readt in 6 weeks , all good . but some of the older shooters have said to me that they dont make good gun dogs . they are too highly strung and loopy ? any one shed some light on this ? i know chocolate isnt a true lab colour , but as its in the house she who must be obeyed had some say in what we got . have we made a duff choice ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boromir Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) Chocolates are a true labs, its just that there less common than Black labs and golden labs. I have seen chocolate Labradors work just as good as any other Labradors. I dont think its true that they are loopy, people probably aint seen one work or have never owned one themselves. Edited October 11, 2009 by The BFG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v-max Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 As said they are a true colour but once again man has done the breed damage & bred the brains out of them. Good chocolate labs are very far & few between & personally the ones i have seen i would just put them in a hole to stop them being bred from as some owners cant see there dog is **** & bred from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silpig5 Posted October 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 a bit more info , father black , mother yellow . 3 black,3yellow inc runt and this chocolate colour pups . im hoping that if it aint a true choc it might be ok ? i only know gsd's so labs are a new one on me . i will be here a lot for training tips ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 IMHO the reason a dog is good or bad rests purely with it's breeding & training. If you have aquired a pup who has parents with good working ability, then it is likely to have the potential to become a good worker, with the correct training of course. If the parents are useless, then you may find the pup has less potential whatever colour. I suspect most Chocs are from show lines and that could account for the reputation they have gained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dangerzone Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Good chocolate Labs are few and far between, they have a very limited gene pool, some are so line breed they are loopy. If your's is mentaly stable, put the work in and ".....the man makith the dog...." should hopefully work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magus69 Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) I work a Chocolate Lab bitch and she's absolutely fantastic.The first things I tried her on were pigeons which a lot of dogs have probs with on account of their loose feathers no probs. From them she has gone on to retrieve everything I've sent her for including multiple blinds and being able to stop her and send her for a totally different bird than the one she was heading out to pick. I can't remember her ever missing anything even off the Humber when the tide has been really going some. I keep saying but never seem to get round to it that I need to video her and get her on you tube just to show a chocolate can be as good as owt else. My brother field trials a chocolate dog and does fairly well with him. He doesn't shoot but does a bit of beating now and again and it is a lot more steady and less loopy than most of the springers. The thing I will advocate though is if you've never trained a gundog is once it's old enough and you've done the basics is to take the dog to a pro trainer (a good one) and have the dog evaluated it aint expensive well not for what you get out of it,and follow their advice. Mike... P.S. I will add though that in her pedigree there are 8 FTCH and 0 whatever the code is for show dogs so probably makes a difference. Edited October 11, 2009 by Magus69 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delbert Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Heres a thought Remy our black lab ( improving all the time retrieving from day 1) is one of a litter all of which were black . Since then the breeder has had another litter (some still available PM for contact details nr Beverley Yorks) and all have been Choccies Sire is black, Dam is Choccy both are solid working dogs used to beating and rough shooting. So what would you want black or choccy >99% genetically the same, same background , same parents but differently coloured. I haven't heard of a genetically linked to colour problem with labs unlike cockers. Just a recessive gene in the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 http://www.vetgen.com/canine-coat-color.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Some can do it... mine's a potlicker (my springer's my working tool) with a certain amount of natural ability. There are no FTCh's or SHCh's in her pedigree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mft135 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 silpig5, I have had several chocolate labs over the years, and i have had no problems, if you choose a working stain from a good breeder this should be fine. All the people that Say chocolate labs are no good, the fact maybe that they are not very good gun dog trainer's, and listen to to much rubbish branded about by people that do not know what they are talking about. I personaly work with chesapecks and chocolate labs, they are all great dogs in the field it is all in the training. At the moment I have one chesapeak one lab and one pup coming in three weeks the son of my own lab. Hope this helps. mft135. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silpig5 Posted October 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 thanks for all replies. :blink: put my mind at ease for the time being , i gues the proof will be in the pudding . up to me now to train her right , well as right as i can ! thanks again guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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