staffiretrieve 2 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hi, now for a while i've been toyin with the idea that i would like to get a gundog, at the moment i do a very small amount of shooting with an air rifle and as you may have noticed from the name i have a staff that does a little bit of retrieving. I have also trained him to do a little bit of sniffer work ie, i'll show him a tea bag then go hide it somewhere out of sight, garden/in the house etc then tell him to go find it which he is gettin relatively good at, at which point he gets his ball as a reward, i do this as just a fun thing as me and the dog enjoy this. Now last week i sent my application form off for my shotgun license, also my other half is absolutely mad on chocolate labs, so seeing as this dog will be as much her pet as it will be my shooting companion this seems the way to go! Now I'm going to be very new at the whole shooting and gundog scene so have a few questions. 1 Will this breed be suitable for what i'm looking for 2 Are there any good breeders of nice heavy working choc labs 3 Any good books you could recomend 4 Does anyone here work them ( any pics would be great ) Thanks in advance SR Quote Link to post
Dawn B 212 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hi. A Lab will be perfect for retrieving, its exactly what they are bred for. A heavy one? forget it! They lack stamina and wont do an hours work let alone a days work. There are a few breeders that breed working chocolate Labs but not many, if you are genuinely interested I think youd be best getting a black or yellow because its the DOG you want NOT the colour. Of course make sure BOTH parents are hip scored (ask to see certs) and BOTH parents must have current eye test results, renewed each year. Quote Link to post
Yokel Matt 918 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 My other half wants a chocolate lab and i'm quite keen on the idea .. a retrieving / flushing to gun dog for me and a 'pet' for her (well... a pet for both of us really ). I've heard that keeping labs fit can be a bit tricky but i know very little about dogs. I'm sure if you walk them as often as you should and go running with them (as i would) and feed them properly (and not too much!)they will stay in good nik. I'm harboring a pipe dream of getting a lurcher and a lab when i get out of this feckin city and back to the sticks. Would be interested to hear of any breaders out there and whether and dog or a bitch would be best Quote Link to post
landrover 6 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 our vet advised to keep away from chocolate labs because alot are highly strung ,but its the same with anything you might get a good one,we have a black lab fully trained ,she was trained by ourselves and was very easy, she comes from the drakeshead lines Quote Link to post
Big bald beautiful 1,231 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Ask how many choc labs have won field trials and are there any at all at stud( not in the admag) yet to see one on a shoot and ive known lads pts choc pups when there born Quote Link to post
Dawn B 212 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 There isnt any difference in temperament in any of the colours. Chocolates however, were at one time culled as they were considered not acceptable. Of late they have become popular and some people breed them just for colour, cosequently you get poor pigmentation and eye colour which looks awful! :sick: To breed good chocolates, with dark eye colour and pigment, you need to keep breeding back to black, the dominant colour, never ever breed chocolate to yellow, the yellows will have orange eyes and brown pigment and the chocolates the same, often with wishy washy brown coats. A couple examples. This is a very good choc with very good pigment and dark eyes, lovely. Some with poor pigment and eye colour. Quote Link to post
SNAP SHOT 194 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 haven't seen many in eire but, think they are lovely. lab's great gundog. good luck Quote Link to post
Hob&Jill 258 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hi.A Lab will be perfect for retrieving, its exactly what they are bred for. A heavy one? forget it! They lack stamina and wont do an hours work let alone a days work. There are a few breeders that breed working chocolate Labs but not many, if you are genuinely interested I think youd be best getting a black or yellow because its the DOG you want NOT the colour. Of course make sure BOTH parents are hip scored (ask to see certs) and BOTH parents must have current eye test results, renewed each year. Quote Link to post
coasty 0 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 Hi.A Lab will be perfect for retrieving, its exactly what they are bred for. A heavy one? forget it! They lack stamina and wont do an hours work let alone a days work. There are a few breeders that breed working chocolate Labs but not many, if you are genuinely interested I think youd be best getting a black or yellow because its the DOG you want NOT the colour. Of course make sure BOTH parents are hip scored (ask to see certs) and BOTH parents must have current eye test results, renewed each year. I have a 16 week old choc puppy. She is from working stock and her parents had great hip scores http://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeder/4629.html Check them out to early to say how ours will develop but she looks great so far Quote Link to post
wyllie 1 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Ask how many choc labs have won field trials and are there any at all at stud( not in the admag)yet to see one on a shoot and ive known lads pts choc pups when there born got to agree. never seen one at a shoot. you never really see that many at the game fairs either. Quote Link to post
Dawn B 212 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Ask how many choc labs have won field trials and are there any at all at stud( not in the admag)yet to see one on a shoot and ive known lads pts choc pups when there born How stupid, what possible difference could the colour make to him carrying something? There are plenty of chocolate stud dogs, its just that years ago the chocs were not seen as an acceptable colour, thats why they were culled, no ther reason, colour alone. Some people think they arent as good as the blacks or yellows, yet these are the so called "good trainers" that will never give them a chance. I rehomed 2 choc Labs to the prison service, one general drugs dog and one passive detection dog, and one to the police as a drugs and explosive sniffer. No difference in their working abilities at all. Dawn. Quote Link to post
pockets 0 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 Choc Patterdales are no hinderance if from working stock so why would labs be any different? Quote Link to post
wyllie 1 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 i spoke to a guy at a shoot a few years ago and he said it was because they were that closely bred off of they had bad temprements Quote Link to post
dogga 1 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 There isnt any difference in temperament in any of the colours. Chocolates however, were at one time culled as they were considered not acceptable. Of late they have become popular and some people breed them just for colour, cosequently you get poor pigmentation and eye colour which looks awful! :sick: To breed good chocolates, with dark eye colour and pigment, you need to keep breeding back to black, the dominant colour, never ever breed chocolate to yellow, the yellows will have orange eyes and brown pigment and the chocolates the same, often with wishy washy brown coats. A couple examples. This is a very good choc with very good pigment and dark eyes, lovely. Some with poor pigment and eye colour. if you took an average of all choc yellow and black labs you will actually find there is a difference in the temperement in all three .blacks are generally the easiest to train yellows are generally faster and possible harder to control and chocolates are generally not as quick to pick things upas the other twoie trainability .this however is a generalisation and you will get godd and bad dogs in all three colours.hthere is only one trainer i know of thast uses chocolates to very good effect but even she says they are difficult and there are more bad than good.stick to black or yellow and keep only to working lines from a reputable breeder not anything with show blood in it as they are generally heavier and lacking in stamina.hope this is of help Quote Link to post
Dawn B 212 Posted October 16, 2007 Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 See I dont agree with that The BIGGEST percentage of Labs bred are black, then yellow, then chocolate. So, it stands to reason that blacks will be more popular for any work really. Chocolates were frowned upon years ago and were culled just because they were chocolate, if they were used as much then, I expect you would see them working in stronger numbers now. Dawn. Quote Link to post
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.