Labs - yellow v black

[Clodagh]

Is it true that yellow labs are sharper than black? Seeing as they are bred in the same litter quite often is it really that possible?
My brother had a black bitch (steady) anda yellow dog (a lunatic) but they are the only example I know!
We have got a black bitch and am getting a puppy off her yellow sister later this year. We want yellow this time - for a change! - but any reasons against?
My OH says the fact it will have a putty nose - hes not a fan of yellows!

 

[dunthing]

I think it depends on what colour your carpet is!! Sorry, just a bit of fun. I had a yellow bitch some years ago, now have a gorgeous black dog and he is definitely brighter, sharper and more willing to learn. He is sharper than she was but perhaps it's just the difference between dogs and bitches. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that I rescued her as a 6 month old pup, who had never even been on a lead. Our black pup has been with us since he was 7 weeks old, consistency, I think, has been the magic ingredient for him.

 

[BWa]

Either or- they are both more intelligent than a chocolate lab!

 

[Goldenstar]

Yellow but honestly it's what you are used to , my house is a " yellow " one my clothes are ' yellow ' my car interiors are picked thinking yellow.
My brother has black, his wardrobe is ' black ' you get the picture ,
However I have found no difference between the labs , however the chocolates I have known have been nice but dim dogs.

 

[flowerlady]

Either or- they are both more intelligent than a chocolate lab!

^^This with all the labs we've had Yellow and black all bitches all intelligent. I think bitches are better don't wonder like dogs

 

[dunthing]

That's true. Our gamekeeper would never use a choc. He had a mixture of yellows and blacks so I don't think it makes much difference. My son has a choc male and he's an absolute lunatic. He's nearly 9 years old and still hasn't settled down yet. I don't know what it is about chocs but I wouldn't have one. It wasn't until the 1920s that yellows were allowed. They used to be culled before that date.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Just to confuse things, I love the fox red labs.

 

[lottiepony]

Just to confuse things, I love the fox red labs.

oooohhh yes my old boss has one he's gorgeous affectionately know as Chubbs

 

[Dobiegirl]

Just to confuse things, I love the fox red labs.

Haha, I was just going to say the same, a friend has his name down for one, from a working pack, he was so impressed with them out shooting and was told they are sharper than a black.

 

[Spudlet]

Almost all the working labs around here seem to be black, which is very confusing come shoot days Especially when you also chuck a couple of black spaniels into the mix! Don't know why that should be, but I can't think of any working yellow labs that I know.

I don't think you get many choc labs from working lines, so if they are show types then they won't be quite so sharp (can still be lovely dogs though).

 

[PorkChop]

I know a lady who picks-up with labs. She has mostly blacks, but a couple of yellows as well. The black labs are definitely better workers.

 

[Dizzydancer]

well im probably biased but according to my gundog trainer and also locals out on shoots Black labs tend to be better out in the field, then yellow then chocolate.
I do know a couple of very good chocolate labs that are amazing on the field but i think they are few and far between.
I have also been told as i wanted one for shooting that fox reds you are either very lucky and get an amazing one or they are absolute lunatics with little trainability.
Obviously every dog is different and the way its brought up and trained has massive input but it does appear that black and yellow are much better workers- my theory for most ahving black is that they look less dirty after a days shooting than yellows!!

 

[3Beasties]

From experience I would say that black labs are crazy

 

[satinbaze]

Yellows shed more coat than blacks according to a friend that bred labs. She never kept a yellow for this reason and the fox red ones are still called yellow

 

[eatmyshorts]

My parents bred labs years ago and i can never remember yellow being smarter than black or vice versa, although I've often heard of the crazy chocolate gene being a given! There were only three colours of labs in those days - I guess red foxes are just dark yellow?

Mind you, in those days headcollars only came in three colours too - red, black and blue!

 

[Clodagh]

It is to be a gundog, the one we have is a superstar all round family pet/peg dog and beating demon.
I love fox red but I really want to get a relation to our current one as she is so good, and I like the breeders.
Chocolate would be a never, ugly, stocky things with very putty noses!
Yellow would suit our creamish carpets better than the great mat of black hair we have on them at the moment, but my lurcher moults for England and she is yellow too.
Do you think yellows show up more hence you are all more aware of their faults!?
3Beasties...that dog is SCAREY!!

 

[Dizzydancer]

I looked into it before getting ours there is a genetic link to yellows moulting more.

 

[Honey08]

Either or- they are both more intelligent than a chocolate lab!

We have a choc and a yellow, and the choc is waaaay more intelligent. But she woul d never have made a gundog, not athletic enough. She would have been a great guide dog (although would drag them into rivers and ponds!).

One thing about the yellow is you can not go anywhere without yellow hairs on you. I have work clothes that go straight from the wardrobe to the suitcase, yet still come out covered in yellow hairs! Oh and the dogs show every bit of mud, whereas the choc is just as dirty but doesn't look it!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

A mate of mine would probably tell you that chocolate is very popular and sometimes bred by unscrupulous bybs who just want money. Maybe that's why they might be perceived as not over bright by some. She very carefully bred a litter last year after every test available.

 

[lpeacock]

My son has a choc male and he's an absolute lunatic. He's nearly 9 years old and still hasn't settled down yet. I don't know what it is about chocs but I wouldn't have one. It wasn't until the 1920s that yellows were allowed. They used to be culled before that date.

There are exceptions to the rule, my chocolate lab is 3 and is not loopy in the slightest. She is very responsive and quick to learn, has done all 3 of her kennel club citizen awards. She is also very good at beating/flushing.

My black lab on the other hand is an absolute nutter!! there are a few exceptions but 99% of choccy labs I have come across are nutter butters. My vet can't stand chocolates but adores her.

 

[millimoo]

I'm another one with a choccy bitch who's an angel, very clever, and very obedient.
She was a doddle to train, and is very loyal, never going far.
I've come to appreciate she's pretty unique, and definitely not the norm, having witnessed the fun and games my friend has had with her lab puppy - another chocolate

 

[Willeeckers]

We have had two black girls, mother and daughter. The mother (who is now nearly 16 and half yrs old!) has always been a cunning crafty wotsit, far to clever for her own good and constantly testing you and questioning what's in it for her!! The daughter who we lost at just 10yrs old was the sweetest little thing, thick as two short planks, couldn't catch to save her life and not a bad bone in her. So both black but two extremes of character?!!

 

[Clodagh]

LOL! It sounds like pot luck then.
I will try to upload a pic the breeders sent me of their 'pack', after the school run.

 

[Alec Swan]

I haven't really had that much to do with Labradors for the last 20 + years, and there's no question that with the inabilities of many who today trial or work dogs, so Springers and Cockers have softened, beyond recognition, and I can only imagine that the same has happened to the retrieving breeds. With spaniels, they're almost unrecognisable. The problem with the "Softening process", is that whilst it makes them a little more amenable, biddable and so, trainable, it also reduces the drive and pace and style of a dog. I've watched a few Field Trials over this last season, everyone has a coat on their dogs, and the encouragement that some give their dogs, it's like watching someone push a piece of string!

Right that's the "Things weren't like that when I was younger", out of the way!! Back to the question in hand; again, I can't really speak with much experience of the modern retrievers, but in the mid '70s, there was only one yellow FTCh Labrador, a dog called Staindrop Marksman. Then along came Sandringham Sydney, and yellow dogs now seem to be more popular, with slightly improved Trial results. Back in those days, for reasons that I can't explain, even litter brothers tended to produce black dogs which were amenable, and yellow dogs which could be pigs. Perhaps it was because the Pro handlers only wanted black dogs, so the yellow dogs ended up with amateurs. I don't know, but there was a marked difference, and there still is, in my opinion.

There is a girl who picks up where I shoot, and she has two giants of yellow labs. They could never be considered fit for trialling, because they're a bit strong, but their dead-game finding abilities (which is after all what they're there for), are excellent.

I've never had a Chocolate Labrador, and I never would. There is a FTCh about somewhere, so I'm told, but every one that I've seen to date has been dense, difficult and useless. I'm sure that there are decent chocolate work dogs about, but I've yet to see one. Just why the Breed Society and the KC permitted these colour change is beyond me. They'll be available in avocado, soon.

As always, these are just my views, and there will be many who disagree with me. It would be a sorry world if we all agreed about everything, wouldn't it?

Clodagh, dog for dog, and even litter sisters, I would pick the black bitch, every time.

Alec.

 

[Shanny_mare]

I have a black bitch from a chocolate mother and, whilst in one sense she is the best trained dog I've ever had (she does tricks etc), she has never learnt recall and can be absolutely crazy - we say she's a chocolate in disguise

 

[BWa]

So as I made the original comment about choc labs I would just like to add that my parents have a very sweet chocolate bitch, she isn't stupid as such but very choosy about which instructions to follow! She never made a gundog, as she will try and consume anything dead that she can get her chops round. She did several seasons beating on a long line and was good and she is a very sweet pet.
Most lab owners I know fulfill the stereotype of black labs as gundogs and yellow labs that are just a bit manic. My husband would like a gundog but we are considering a spaniel or a vizsla (his choice!)

 

[howsthat]

Having bred Labradors over quite a few years from correct super temperament dogs/bitches i never found that there was any difference between blacks and yellows,but always found that the chocolates were very much people orientated and super picking up dogs.Think most of the bias that chocolates are manic/loopy comes from buying from parents that are OTT,and most working people are so convinced that a choc won't work that they don't gel with them

 

[Clodagh]

Here is the pack...

And here is sis with her first litter. Looks like we might be going yellow!

 

[SillySausage]

There is a girl who picks up where I shoot, and she has two giants of yellow labs. They could never be considered fit for trialling, because they're a bit strong, but their dead-game finding abilities (which is after all what they're there for), are excellent.

Who do you shoot with? Sounds like my cousin's dogs!

We've got black and yellow working dogs. I would say the black ones are slightly sharper and the yellows slightly more 'wired', but each just as good at their job!

 

[Echo24]

In my experience, black bitches are VERY bright, but males are pretty much the same regardless of colour. I do agree that chocolates are very different! Not the brightest and more on the stubborn side.

But every dog is different and a lot of it comes down to breeding.