Following the guidance, this is me saying Hello. We have reserved a chocolate Lab dog puppy and are going for a viewing in 2 weeks’ time when he will be just over 4 weeks old. Can anyone give us some tips as to what we should be looking for? He is from fully health-tested parents, with all scores and results verifiable, we are told. We found him through the Champdogs website. He will be our first Lab puppy. We have been told by a dog trainer that the chocolate colour is prone to greater bounciness a s excitability than the other two colours. However, I can see no proper scientific basis for this in anything I’ve read online. All views/advice welcome. Thanks in advance. Ed
Hi Ed, welcome to the forum! Congratulations on finding a puppy, you must be very excited to meet them There's no proven direct link between coat color and temperament in Lab. Which is to say, none of the genes responsible for coat color have ever been successfully linked to behavioral traits too. However, I think a lot of people feel that an indirect link has nonetheless been established over time. For example, breeders favoring black coats and good working qualities (which is a lot of breeders!) end up with with breeding lines that have both traits. Whereas chocolate Labs have been traditionally less sought after as working dogs, so perhaps less effort has been put into refining and maintaining a 'perfect' working temperament in chocolate lines. It's important to bear in mind though that color is only one factor linked to temperament in Labs - their parent's temperament and the way you raising them will also have a large bearing on how they turn out. Hopefully some of our members with chocolate Labs will also contribute here too - I'm tweaked your thread title slightly to draw them in, I hope you don't mind!
Hi Ed, I’m new on this forum but hope I can help. I have a seven month old chocolate lab ( only ever had chocolate labs.) I personally think choc labs are more boisterous but I love that about them. They are silly, naughty, loving Intelligent and so funny. Once you get over the first few months of puppy’s teeth constantly attacking your skin or clothing, he will grow up to be your best friend. You won’t regret getting a chocolate lab. Good luck x
Thanks Bexi. This is really helpful and reassuring. We have two Bengal cats, age 5. They are full of personality and very far from the conventional cat - aka extremely naughty at times! But we adore them both. So we suspect a chocolate Lab will fit right in on that basis, from what you say.
