Hi All, New to the forum and looking for some advice. Myself and my partner are looking to get a Lab around June time, we love both types but are leaning towards a field type (love fox red colour and as we live in a large terraced flat are concerned about when the boy gets old/weight for the single set of stairs). He will eventually be left on his own a max of 4hrs in morning and 3 in afternoon with me home for an hour in between. The question is, would a show type style better/be less stressed as I have read in some articles? He would be getting on average 2hrs exercise a day (beach 5 mins walk away!) Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance.
I would stay away from a hyper crazy pup. We have a new pup. He is 1/2 show/field. He looks more field to me. So far he's a fairly laid back puppy. He just laid on my lap when we picked, wife looked at me and asked witch one. I said , the one setting on my lap. The other puppies were running around chewing each other to death.
I don't think it makes a lot of difference, and the actual temperament is usually not that obvious in a 7 week old pup. That said, some are noticeably more assertive and curious at that age. Two of our Labs are/were field dogs, while Tilly is a mix, with her dad a field style dog and mom a bench dog, but both of them had field or hunting titles. All of our dogs have been fine left alone in the house, once they were over a year old. I personally prefer field style Labs, but a bench dog should not have any more issues with stairs than a field dog, as long as he is kept trim. In town, we have a fairly large fenced back yard, with a dog door, so our dogs can go in or out anytime. At our cabin we can't have a fence, because the snow depth is too great in the winter, so we have to take them out. We and the dogs really like the fence and dog door, though I realize that is not as common in the UK. Cooper who is not quite 4 still gets some exercise on her own outside and will play with a dummy hanging on a bungee in the yard.
Thanks for your replies guys, think we will probs go with the bench type. We have a decent size yard and had considered a dog hatch but I am concerned about the pooch being taken when left out whilst I’m at work. Due to holiday commitment we can’t get a puppy until mid June which feels like ages away!
Dog theft seems to be a bigger concern in the UK than in the USA, at least in the Suburbs. The kennel we got Tilly from years ago, was a Century Farm, and anyone could open the gate and drive into yard. You could walk into the barn where the pups were in a pen. All four of their labs had the run of the place, and would come up to you when you drove in. I don't think most kennels are that open, but lots of dog owners let their dogs loose in the yard unsupervised.
We have a Field Lab, Fox Red. She was a bit of a handful as a puppy but coming up to 1 year old now and she is very well behaved. She weights around 25kg and won't grow much bigger now the vet said. I personally prefer the lean Field Labradors, plus there's less weight on there joints etc.
My boy is a Field lab, but he is probably the laziest Field lab you'll ever meet. He is ON when we are out at the park or the water. However, he has an amazing off-switch. At home he is a lump! However he was NOT like this as a puppy....he was a crazy puppy and drove me crazy. I think it's all individual and also how you raise them and what you'll allow when they are very young.
My lab has a working line mother and show type father. He looks more like the dad but has the drive of a working lab. He could play fetch for hours but when he gets home even if he only gets a short walk he will sleep all day. Hope this helps! He weighs 34kg and is now 4 years old and has always been super lazy at home even as a puppy.
