Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ingwe/others in the know about Labradors

We inherited our daughters black lab. She learned commands quickly and is family oriented and protective. We are looking at getting another big dog . Are the other color phases the same ,chocalate, golden . Are they all family oriented and protective as our black. Well get another black if this is common to them, but would like to try another color phase if attitude is the same. What is yall's experience.

Lab is Lab. what you have is most likely what you will get with another color phase. of course each is individual. we have a yellow and a chocolate.. both typical batshitcrazy labs. love them both deeply !!

I'm in NO way as knowledgeable as Ingwe but I can tell you my old yellow lab was everything that you described. When my son was little and in the yard if anything was amiss, that dog was glued to that kid's hip. If someone the dog didn't know was around that dog stayed between that person and the kid. Nothing aggressive or threatening but there.If I had the time and space a lab of any color phase would be in consideration.

I am nowhere near as old as ingwe but he is not likely to tell you call labs are created equal.

The brindle ones get really assy around strangers with beards

It’s about blood line more than color.

Most labs are affectionate, some are skittish, some are not, ...

just a point of order..... there are no "golden" Labs. yellow (which can be almost white), chocolate, and black.
Golden Retriever is a whole nuther dog.

Personality traits are not linked to genes responsible for coat color

"Welcome back, you got the tater tots....right?"

I’ve had em all, except silver and been around lots of others, never seen a bad one...

I have had a couple labs... every one lived for just me... their whole world was me and what we were doing next...

Color was the last thing I was worried about... that being said... I have yet to find a brown Labrador I liked... Some really good blacks... some really good yellows.

If you can, stay away from the field trial lines... they are crazy hyper... goodness how I know crazy hyper....

Don't get hung up on the color... and good luck...

I have a black and a chocolate. The black one was a gift to my kid's from a family member and is incredible. Our chocolate came from Texas and is freaky nuts at times. He is just over two years old and is still just an oversized puppy. Both have proven to be great hunters. Molly (my 5 yr old black girl) has learned the family in and outs and knows not to bark at MOM for any reason, even when she comes back in the house at 5:30am form her exercise class. Bear (the kid's 2yr old Chocolate Male) is nuts. Nothing and I mean nothing comes in the house or around it without him on full alert. God I love them both, they are truly part of the family.

I’ve raised a few. Can’t go wrong with a black lab.

I've got my yellow Lab. He's got some very good field trial dogs in his linage. He's a very good fellow and has never met a stranger. He's got to introduce himself to everybody that shows up,....won't leave them alone.

He's extremely smart. He's also very spirited. He's usually calm around the house when he's just doing his routine, but if something stimulates him,....like a visitor, or the tennis ball chucker getting taken down off the mantle, he's starts bouncing off the wall.

He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I've never seen his display anger. But he can be a handful at times just because he's so excitable.

He'll chase and retrieve a tennis ball to the point of exhaustion,,...so I take him out and run him into the ground once or twice a day just to wear him out.

He's still young,..20 months.

I'm hoping he calms down eventually.

For all of that,...he's a happy boy. His typical demeanor is a wagging tail and a big doggy smile on his face.

For the OP

Ive had chocos, yellows, blacks

I have a female that is extra protective and nippy with dogs outside our pack. She's welcoming to visitors.

Doesn't have anything to do with her coat color. She just has her own personality.

All of my males over the years have been easy-going with delivery people and visitors.

First, cut his nails.


Next, Lab Color is meaningless to behavior... follow the genetics.

I have to call bull. Black is dominant in brains also. go to a field trial, most are black. There are lots of good yellows but darn few good brown ones. If You don't like playing the guessing game get a black. I have had nothing but labs for 45 years and I used to field trial. Black is the way to go if You want the best chance to get a great one.

I have another blk flying in from MN tomorow nite...

Nah. Black is well represented in trails because... There are far more of them. Black (BB or Bb) is the most common allele. Chocolates have only been selectively bred in the last 100 years or less

Don't know,....My Lab's linage is from up North. Lot's of good Yellow field Labs up there. Holzinger Kennels seem to have had their best luck with Yellows. My Lab's linage goes back to their Raider.

Raider's bloodline is all over up there.

http://www.holzingerkennels.com/dogs_of_the_past.html