Author Topic: Labs (Read 2121 times)

harley · « **on:** December 18, 2002, 04:30:38 AM »

I've heard people attribute different personality traits to these dogs based on color. Choclates are lazy, yellows have better noses ect. Is there any truth at all in these claims?

freddogs · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2002, 03:21:50 PM »

you can have individual dogs with different personalities but I doubt if traits are linked to color. Some breeders do breed for certain personality traits but the Labs I hunted with seemed pretty much alike no matter what color.

Daveinthebush · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2002, 04:10:44 PM »

When I sold my puppies I always asked the people why they wanted the pup. Some of my labs were very inquisitive, some laid back and some just plain old labs. I would try to match the personality to the buyers needs, as I have had them for 3 months or so and observed their personalities every day. Never had one complaint.

Training is everything......the more you put into them, the more you get out. Love those labs.

harley · « **Reply #3 on:** December 20, 2002, 04:46:44 AM »

Thanks guys

We raised paint horses for years and color sure had nothing to do with disposition in those beasts.Dogs have been selectively bred a little longer( i think) so thought it possible that while breeding for color some traits may have been strenghthen within color lines. Tx Harley

jdbe · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2003, 10:16:55 PM »

Color has nothing whatsoever to do with personality or huntability. Many old timers tried to claim that only black labs were any good as hunting dogs, but that was bunk as well, and probably found its roots in the heredity of the labrador (came from mostly black coated ancestors).
When choosing a pup, play with them all, see who has the best persaonality ( dominant dogs are a pain to train and shy dogs take a special kind of person to train them), but above all just watch the parents work a field. If the parents are crappy hunters(key thing being thier instincts not some silly field trial or how well trained they are), then the chances of them having strong hunting instincts are lessened.

JACKNZ · « **Reply #5 on:** July 21, 2003, 01:18:26 AM »

Iv,e had a number of lab,s over the years an just like you I have heard all the storys.Color has nothing to do with anything out side the owners prefrence.When ever I hear stuff like that I just place the talker on my list of fools an carry on with life.Its amazing the stuff that comes from the mouths of folk who know sod all.
THE MORE I HEAR FROM PEOPLE THE MORE I LIKE MY DOG..LOL.
JACK.

Huntrap_MT · « **Reply #6 on:** August 28, 2003, 10:59:32 AM »

I help work bird dogs for an Upland outfitter and he keeps a variety of dogs at his kennels. The Chocolates, the Yellows, the Blacks, and even the lab mixes, which will all hunt the earth to it's core. Why? well for one thing most of his dogs are obviously picked for certian traits and one is "trainability". If you get a dog, no matter what brand, that wants to learn and please you, than you have the world! Another, that means little to me, is bloodline backgrounds. I have seen unknowen "Mutt" species that have outperformed multi-thousand dollar dogs. It all depends on the individual animal and not as much the species. If a pup likes to keep itself hidden or likes to keep seperated from it's litter mates than it may not be the one to choose. If a pup is alert to the snap of your fingers or a hand clap etc. then that is an extremely positive sign! If a pup is eager to approach you and play with you that is a great sign as well. You just have to pick em right or be a little lucky and don't give any thought to the color of a any lab. Trust me, there are Grand Champions born amongst all the lab colors! I myself keep just one Black Lab now and She has been trained so little and only on basics. She is completely natural and will listen to me and obey and she watches my feelings closely to understand me. That alone has made her a top dog for to hunt everything I choose to with. She is all natural and is low matenance. So no matter what color you pick, look for that dog that seems to pay attention to you an watch you. :grin:

Huntrap_MT

encore31 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 02, 2005, 12:03:15 PM »

the one thing that people seem to forget in regards to any dog is that there is a dominance issue every litter of pups no matter what kind of breed,color, or gender is that in every litter there is a dominant pup the most dominant pup in a litter would be great canadidts for your field and hunting trial dogs and shouldn't be bought by someone that doesn't know anything about training simply bbecausetraining these dogs is a never ending process eespeciallyin labs kinda like give them an inch and they will take a mile every time and if they are not ccoerectedevery time you are gonna have problems in terms of oobedienceThe most easy way to test ddominancein a pup is to take each individual and gently lay them on there back and hold them there the one that fights the most to get up and get away is most ttypicalgonna be the dominant pup.those are the dogs that should be in a trainers hands and not someone that doesn't know allot about training.the ones that don't struggle allot to get up believe it or not are the ones that are gonna be most easy to handle and if all your looking for is a good companion and one that will hunt the more less dominant pups would be a better choice unless your a trainer in which case i am not telling you anything you don't already know the more dominant pups are sometimes the choice at hand every trainers opinion will varie.

Graybeard · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2005, 12:43:53 PM »

Huntrap_MT you have requested e-mail notification of new posts to this thread. BUT you have an invalid e-mail address on file at GBO. Either correct your e-mail address or stop asking for e-mail notice and fix it on this thread SOON.