So color doesn't affect personality, but what about the other stuff? I've still got to answer the more-important "field or show" question, but I thought I'd start off with an easier debate: what's your favorite color and why? Health and temperament are tops on my "must" list, but I also have to admit thinking that Labs are just really handsome pups. So everything else being equal, which color to choose? When I see a choc Lab on the street, I think "That's my favourite color!" and then when I see a black one, I think, "No, THAT'S my favourite color!!". I've done quite a bit of reading and the general consensus seems to be that the color has nothing to do with health and temperament - so is there anything else that made you choose black over chocolate (or vice versa)? Here are some things I was considering... what do you think? Does a chocolate Lab tolerate heat better than a black Lab? (I'm in Spain part of the year, so this is a real consideration). Is there a difference in shedding or how hard the hair is to brush off? Does the chocolate coat require special care (I've seen some breeders recommending sunscreen!)? Do people on the street react differently to one color over the other? Anything else about color that you think makes one color better for you than another? Again, I know this isn't the most important aspect of choosing a puppy and I'd happily take the right temperament and health in ANY color, BUT I thought I'd toss this out there as I am curious! (Oh, and by the way, I think the yellows are beautiful too - I've just been a "big black dog" person for too long so always lean towards the darker coloured pups.)
I have a yellow, and a choccie. I think most of your questions still come back to the line and the type of dog, rather than the colour - apart from the one about sunscreen. My choccie boy is very excitable, and gets hot extremely quickly. I don't think it's because he is coloured chocolate though - other things have more influence. How much a dog sheds depends on its coat, which is largely genetic, not about colour. A chocolate coat doesn't require special care, but a lot of choccies do get 'blond highlights' in the summer, which doesn't matter and they grow out at the next coat change. You can use sunscreen if you don't like this. People 'on the street' tend to like my choccie boy very much, professional trainers tend to dislike him, and come with a bias that he will be silly, untrained and very boisterous (unfortunately, I can't get on my high horse about this, because it's all true! ).
I agree with the things Julie says. People's reaction to my black dog are generally because of his temperament rather than his colour. He does have lovely deep brown eyes which are harder to come by in choccies who often have lighter eyes. My personal preference is for a darker eye. I think it's a gentler expression. His coat isn't as thick as a show dog(many choccies have more recent show line ancestors than my boy) but he does get hot. If he's out in the sun his black coat warms up quickly. For what I want to do with my dog I am spoiled for choice if I want a black dog. I'd have to search long and hard for an equivalent chocolate dog.
I have a yellow and a black and one day, will add a chocolate to the mix so I have one of each People tend to get a bit confused about my dogs' names, because the yellow one is called Shadow, so I've tried to make it clear below! Willow (black) sheds a lot less than Shadow (yellow) and, when she does shed, it shows up a lot less than his. Their parents (mum yellow, dad black) are the same. Willow (black) tolerates the sun far better than Shadow, and will lie in it all day, given the chance. Which she doesn't get, because I make her go inside when it's hot, because she'd frazzle before moving herself! Some black dogs bleach quite badly in the sun, and get brown patches. I'm not really a fan of how that looks, but the most it's happened to Willow is a bit around her muzzle. I'm not sure why she hasn't bleached when others do. I know mine are yellow vs black rather than choccie vs black, but I find that some people on the street are drawn more to Willow and others more to Shadow. Lots of people still hold the rather old-fashioned view that Labradors should all be black. I know from posts that have been made on here that people with chocolates still get a lot of "all choccies are crazy" comments, which I'm sure must get frustrating after a while. Another point is how difficult it can be to photograph black dogs for the point-and-shooter, like me. Point a camera at Shadow, and it'll come out well, but when I want to photograph Willow, I have to set her up with the light just so etc. As you can see from my avatar,if you don't compose the shot properly, you just end up with a black blob! I don't know how this compares to choccies.
Charlie is very easy to photograph - but, I find it very difficult to take good photos of Charlie and Betsy together. Either Charlie is too dark, or Betsy too light. Which is a shame because they are both lovely colours, and look stunning in a cream and choccie contrast together.
Yes, this is the hardest. And, for me, photographing Willow in the snow is a nightmare! Maybe I should invite @heidrun on a skiing holiday...
Black is my colour. There's a saying someone has on a gundog forum, "All dogs want to be Labs and all Labs want to be black." When I win the big lottery I will have a rescue for black horses, black dogs and black cats. When I think about chocolates I am not a fan of the liver coloured eye rims and noses. I don't like how their coats fade in summer. If I found one and couldn't find the owners, like all dogs I've found, I'd be prepared to keep it though.
Well, you get all sorts of variations in chocolate, from light eyes, light noses, and saggy eye rims (which then look very visible) to dark eyes, dark noses, and tight eyes....just like blacks can vary from having dull, too dark eyes, and look flat and totally characterless, to rich and vibrant...
So funny you mentioned this! I considered putting it on my list of considerations but then thought, "Naawww... I can't admit that I'm so into taking pictures of my dog that I'd consider that before choosing a color!" But actually...I'm REALLY into taking pictures of my dog. I travel a lot and honestly, the traveling plus the dog thing just combines gloriously in the taking photos of the dog in great places. My avatar is Brogan in Dingle, Ireland, with our favourite beach behind him. It's one of about 10k I have of my boy. He got to the point around age five that he would stop and pose every time the camera came out. In fact, I have almost no movies of him as he just wouldn't move as soon as he saw the camera, which kind of takes the "move" out of "movie". It was challenging enough taking photos of a Rottie, but I have had the thought that if you made him solid black he would indeed end up looking like a "black blob". All this has made me think that if I end up with a black Lab, I'd better invest in some really good camera equipment as well as some lessons on how to use it!
That's a great saying! I wonder if the preference for black is more a UK/field work thing? In the US, it seems like everyone has yellow (to the point that yellow is the 'default' Lab color). Here in Germany, the preference does seem to be black, though there are a couple very handsome chocolates frequenting my town.
Hi Barbara - this is getting back into the field/bench question which I'm bound to ask at a later date, but what do you do with your dog? Just curious. I'm guessing actual field work vs. "belly rub and walkies" work?
My OH has a thing about black labs...he likes them best. I was open to any colour and find them all adorable. Our black girl has a very friendly face/eyes and I like that her black fur doesn't show up much on our floors and clothes (I wear a lot of black!). There are lots of labs in our area and I would say equal amounts of yellow, black and chocolate. We meet the odd silver as well. Our girl gets quite warm in the heat but I don't think it's because she's black per se...it's very humid here in the summers. We have a cooling scarf, and bring water with us everywhere. Don't go out with her in the middle of the day and take breaks etc. I doubt a chocolate would be any cooler in the heat. As snowbunny above mentioned, she has some currently has some brown patches on her coat around her hind legs from the sun, but you can only see it in certain light. She's also very calm for a lab puppy...she was not rambunctious in training, was never overly jumpy and at 8 months settles at cafes/restaurants nicely and has been doing that for a couple of months. She was with us at the beach all day over the weekend and relaxed under an umbrella for most of the day, despite all the action going on around her. I don't attribute this to her colour, just her personality. Our next pup will be black again or chocolate
Mostly it's belly rub and walkies but we do go gundog training and last season we probably did about a dozen days actual shooting
Black for me! I met a four month old Black Lab pup on Saturday afternoon and she was so laid back, no bitey, bitey. I have met some Chocolates, some working ones, but never thought of having one.
Wow, kudos to you and Quinn for her being so chilled out at only seven months. Is she considered field or show? She's got a lovely sweet face in your photos (hanging out with her stuffie!).
Field or "American" as we call them here. She's very ball motivated...she is not chill when there is a ball to be retrieved! She loves watching birds, planes, squirrels etc. (even on TV).
Oh, you're killing me - "Pup", that's too cute. My first Rottie had all sorts of stuffies, knew the names for each, and never so much as ripped a single stitch. He's take them outside, let them have some fresh air, then make sure they were all back inside safe and sound at night. My second Rottie ripped the squeakies out of HIS new stuffies in 10 seconds flat, then started on pulling the cotton wool out their their eviscerated noses. Sigh.
