Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Lab owners, Black /Yellow, drive?

I've had three of each. I realize this isn't much of a sample. What's been your experience? All six of mine were good hunters but the blacks seemed to have a little more drive in the field and male or female were also more prone to fight. The yellows would defend themselves if necessary but none of the ones I had ever started a fight and had a pretty much live and let live attitude toward other dogs.

I read somewhere blacks have a lot more field trial championships but I don't know if this means they have more drive. I like both equally.

I think if there were a quantifiable difference between colors, one or the other would totally dominate field trial competitions.
I've had both, and to me, they are equal in all respects except color.

I've had both also, only one of each though. Both seemed equally great at doing what I wanted as far as a hunting dog or family pet. Flip of a coin.....

The only difference I noticed is the blacks took colder weather a tad bit better.

And hot weather a lot worse.

The only major difference I've noticed is yellows shed far more, and no, that's not because paler hair's more noticeable. A long-time breeder/trainer I know finally admitted as much a couple years ago!

Tough to say from here but it seems to me very generally speaking yellows are a read more laid back,blacks are a little more 'drivey' and chocolates are pyscho. There are of course exceptions...
Only seen two nice, well behaved chocolates, and BOTH belonged to Mule Deer!

I've had a male black and currently have a female chocolate and she had as much drive in the field as any black I was ever around. Now she has had selective hearing for the past couple years..can hear the fridge door open when she is sound asleep but if she's walking out the drive way to see if the neighbor left cat food out and I holler and whistle she doesn't even twitch an ear like she is totally deaf..she's 14 and thinks she can do whatever she feels like.


She is still quite stable at times.

"she's 14 and thinks she can do whatever she feels like"

Our 13 year old black female has the same attitude. She's always been kind of like that but it seems to have gotten progressively worse with the last two presidential elections.

Jeff, Ive seen chocolates with drive, for sure! Most have too much! I helped trained two as drug and tracking dogs, both excellent, one is a regular phenom. Living with them in between deployments is another matter�..

Yep, she could be tool inside the house but outside looking for birds she was nothing but business! She had brought me birds I didn't shoot, best one was the fish she stole out of another guys creole down the river while he was busy with a fish on line, LMAO over that one...don't think he ever knew what happened...

I think it's hit or miss just like any breed regardless of the color.

I've had three Labs over the years.
1) Black female that was a wonderful dog but average hunter.
2) Big yellow male that was the best dog I've owned and would make retrieves that you just knew he'd run out of gas and drown before making it back. He was a fighting SOB though and not very popular at the duck club.
3) Big black male that was the son of my yellow dog. Not half the hunter his father was but a great dog none the less.
He didn't fight like his old man did but shed twice as much.

Never had yellows just black and chocolates.All have been great gun/family dogs with their own little quirks I still miss every one of 'em. Both black males were great hunters but would fight at the drop of the hat with another male even when they hunted together often.

The chocolates on the other hand have all been female and a total pleasure to train although one had a stubborn streak a mile long.Doubt color has much influence one way or the other just individual personalities.

These are my son's present two girls I helped raise and train love 'em both.

It's a breeding issue not color. If they are bred to be high powered trial dogs they will be the "English" labs are usually more laid back. I like a dog someplace in the middle for a gun dog. Trial bred dogs can be a bit of a nucense in the blind wanting to be going instead of waiting. and some of the more laid back strains lack the drive I'm looking for. there are really 4 kinds of labs

Meth lab, looks like a silver!

Agreed!

Semi-colons matter.

True dat....


The Meth Lab cracked me up

My black lab has a pinch of meth lab in her for sure!