Toby my fox red lab was at the vet’s today for his annual MOT. All great on that score. He was much calmer than he has been previously(helped by a very well loaded Licki mat!)which led to a conversation about behaviour. The vet mentioned that they are seeing a lot of very reactive fox red labs, more so than other shades of yellow. Chocolate were the calmest followed by black then yellow. What are other owners experiences? Having had a black lab before they are like chalk and cheese. And in a slight aside I took him wearing a harness which I only use if walking around a town or with lots of people. I wonder if that acts like a comfort vest because he was definitely different.
Interesting question! I wonder if partly what the vet is noticing is a difference between working lines and show lines. In the UK at least, there is a definite trend for chocolate labs to come from the typically more placid show type (what Americans call an 'English Lab) whereas working lines dogs are more likely to be black, for example. Perhaps there is a similar trend with fox reds and yellows in your location... It's also fun to speculate on whether the vet's preconceptions are then influencing his perceptions of the dogs he meets... For my own experience... I'd have said the fox red labs I've know were less likely to be reactive than the black labs. But it's a small sample of fox reds.... and a biased one, because almost all the Fox Red Labs I've known were either Pippa's own, or related to one of hers. (You can see her gorgeous Bonnie, here https://www.thelabradorsite.com/5-month-old-puppy/ )
The show/working theory could be right. I have not seen any show fox reds around here. They all look very similar and on the leaner/smaller side. Toby is bigger than most at 33kg but still working lines and in good shape according to the vet. Bonnie looks beautiful and possibly different again being a girl and very well trained!
Our chocolate bench Lab has always been very laid back. A breeze as a puppy and now a very polite adult. She gets a bit overly excited in the vet's waiting room (all those enticing new smells) but very calm in the consulting room. Her mother and half sister (black) are also quite calm. Her niece (black) however, is a right little Miss. Always up to mischief. All three of the blacks belong to my breeder friend and have been raised and trained the same way so it is interesting to note the different personalities of all four of these close relatives. On a side note our girl's chocolate son is like his mother, very calm. However his chocolate litter mate sister is a handful. So whether or not colour affects behaviour is an interesting question.
I train a lot of labradors. I see no difference in the blacks and yellows, but significantly more issues with 'fox reds'. No necessarily reactive, but more 'wired' and challenging.
I am not sure that I believe what the vet said to be true. Here in the USA I’ve heard people talk and say chocolate are known to be more energetic than the other colors. My boys dad was red and his mom was yellow. He is very relaxed. My most energetic girl is a yellow. I always wish they would do a scientific study on the color and the energy level. Wouldn’t it be nice to know for sure?
All four of our Labs have been chocolates. Three field and one with a field dad and bench type mom (dad was a field trial champion, mom a master hunter). Cooper had field trial and senior hunter parents. Jenny’s mom was a national master hunter, dad was a field trial champion and both had pointing retriever titles. All have been very energetic dogs that loved to run, swim, catch and retrieve tennis balls. All of them were easy dogs to live with, easy to train and smart. They all got along with other dogs and loved to play and rough house. Jenny, our current Lab is only about 57 lbs but 22” tall. She is usually the fastest dog in the park and extremely athletic. She is a great looking girl, but would certainly not do well in a bench show. Two of her siblings had their junior hunter titles before they were a year old. For us, Jenny is just a companion
