Having lost my black lab I'm thinking about getting another pup to keep my golden lab company.... I want a chocolate but the other half is dead against chocolate as he reckons that the temperaments aren't as good as golden... I don't agree with this.... Does anybody have any opinions on this.....

I think temperament comes down to how the dogs are bred, so if you're thinking of getting a pup, find a good breeder, and it won't be a problem.  It may well be that chocolates are worse wherever he's from - where I'm from down in Kent, black labs were usually reactive and unpleasant (almost always owned by idiots) and I avoided them but up here, they are lovely.  The few chocolates I knew down there were smashing - my bridge girl Opi's first adult dog friend was a chocolate lab, she was awesome.  Opi was a very nervous up with other dogs and Kizzy really helped her overcome it.

Fashion is a lot of it - the more demand there is for a colour of any breed, and indeed demand for any breed itself, the more unscrupulous breeders will start producing them with disregard for the temperament.

That's why finding a good breeder is so important :-)  Or, find an older rescue - that way you'll know what you're getting straight away :-)

I think it does depend on how the dog is bred, if a chocolate occurs in a litter bred for temperament, health & type then it will have the same temperament as the other puppies, but if it from a litter bred solely for the colour, then you can have problems, because of the parents temperaments.

Apparently you don't see many working chocolates & most are black or yellow.

Just a thought is your golden Labrador a Golden Retriever x Labrador or a yellow Labrador as there are only yellow. black & chocolate Labradors ;-)

She's actually a yellow lab then.... Not golden :$ Opps

LOLOL was written in jest hence the ;-)

I remember reading a study some while ago where the most regular visitor to the vets were Chocolate Labradors....

I remember reading a study some while ago where the most regular visitor to the vets were Chocolate Labradors....

This could be absolutely true and still the same today.  It's the same here.  BYB who choose colour over all else are likely to have sacrificed health and temperament to get the colour they want.  The most important thing to consider when picking a puppy is picking the breeder.  Ask to see health clearances.

If I was buying a Lab puppy today I'd want to see on the parents hip and elbow clearances, actually see them and maybe take a photo copy of them.  Also eye's cerf's, heart, EIC and CNM.  The breeder would be competitive in some venue, and I'd inspect the health guarantee very carefully.  Your Labrador Retriever club probably sets out expectations for it's members and you can likely do better than the bare minimum they suggest, at least you can here.  I think here the bare minimum is two years of health guarantee but mine is four and five on eyes. 

Good luck, even though you want chocolate when we all know black is best.  LOL, kidding, my boy is black.

If I was buying a Lab puppy today I'd want to see on the parents hip and elbow clearances, actually see them and maybe take a photo copy of them.

No need in the UK as you can look it up on the KC website in seconds and you can be sure the results are correct. :)

> Apparently you don't see many working chocolates & most are black or yellow.

Very true, although I suspect that has more to do with trend/tradition than working ability.  Similar to how in farm collies, many farmers think that red or merles are untrainable.  There's a gundog breeder not far from me who spent years working on her working chocolate breeding lines, and last I saw her she was about to head off to mate her top bitch to the first ever chocolate FtCh.  She said it was the litter she'd been working towards right from the start.  I think at the time - a few years ago now - he was still the only one, not just the first.

>If I was buying a Lab puppy today I'd want to see on the parents hip and elbow clearances, actually see them

We are fortunate here now that you can look up a dogs health clearances on the Kennel club website,  http://thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/test/Default.aspx so saves any embarrassment, as you can pre-screen/verify some breeders/litters as long as you know the parents details.

There are absolutely, definitely good breeders of Chocolate Labradors out there, I think even more so now because of the previous bad reputation since they became a 'must have' colour and where breeders supply met the demand...

There are a few chocolate breeders who breed for colour, but do not forget type, health, temperament and workability... and have put as much time money and effort into getting it right.   Just because someone breeds for colour, does not make them a bad breeder, we all have preferences, mine is black, but will keep the best, which may be yellow or chocolate..

Travel to find a good breeder, they are out there.. even if you don't show, or have no intentions of showing/working and simply want a well bred companion, go to some shows and talk to people, some may not be breeders, but if you are happy with what you see, you could ask to be put in touch with their breeder...

Contact the relevant Labrador breed clubs.. google will bring many of them up.. most, if not all hold puppy registers of members and again, will be able to point you in the right direction...

Any dog of any colour can be loopy if not well bred/brought up in a loving environment/well socialised as a puppy.. Colour does not determine character

This is how We got our first Labrador,we went to northwest Labrador club shows and never looked back I have seen beautiful labs in all colours,we have a black and a yellow,Annie our black is from very sound temprement and prob related to yours Kay,yes we did have to travel and get grilled by the breeder for a while,and now we know a lot of good breeders with beautiful dogs.Black,yellow and chocolate

Sheila

I have had chocolates for 27 years and definitely down to the breeding and also nurture as well.

The last two I have had are rescues and one from a 'puppy farmer' type outfit and Betty is very hard work although very biddable and Bog (unknown breeding) is a challenging lad but but very rewarding as is full of character ! His previous owner didn't really socialise or train him so we took over an 18 month old hooligan. He is a 3 year old hooligan now but is now trained to the whistle for recall but given any opportunity will do a runner if the gate is opened and needs constantly entertainment !

My first ever girl and her daughter were wonderful girls then Puds who is from a working kennel has just been a perfect girl !

My MIL has 2 litter sister yellow labs, one is extremely friendly the other is very timid and submissive. My husbands aunt has 2 litter sister chocolate labs, one is extremely friendly and the other has quite bad fear aggression and barks at everyone. I think both sets of sisters come from working lines. 

I have never had labs but the ones I have met have been a mixed bag in terms of temperament, it might be more sensible to meet some good breeders of both colours and meet the dogs they have and judge the temperament for yourself.

My husbands aunt has 2 litter sister chocolate labs, one is extremely friendly and the other has quite bad fear aggression and barks at everyone.

American guide dogs did research into keeping two pups of the same age, such as littermates but also unrelated pups of same age, and found that in every case where they sent two pups together to the same puppy walker, one always turned out nervous, regardless of how confident it had been to start with. This has been my own observation as well with littermates, so chances are that in the example above, being littermates had at least something to do with it. (I'd give a link to the article but am not on my home computer so can't access it.)

That's very interesting! I had 2 puppies the same age from different litters, and though neither turned out nervous, most people on here will remember we had a lot of trouble with them fighting. The tendency to become nervous is another good reason to space the ages out I guess!

Another reason we on here always advise against someone having two pups or similar age together.

We are fortunate here now that you can look up a dogs health clearances on the Kennel club website,  http://thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/test/Default.aspx so saves any embarrassment, as you can pre-screen/verify some breeders/litters as long as you know the parents details.

Oh, that's nice you can do that.  Is it OFA and PennHip?  I think we can check OFA on line but not PennHip.  I can't check your link to see, just for curiosity, without having a dog in mind.  Can you check other clearances too?

They have all the ones recognised by the Kennel Club, so you don't have to check with the organisation that does the testing (they didn't have databases you could access anyway).

Unfortunately they don't recognise overseas schemes other than Optigen DNA results which are the same internationally.

I can't check your link to see, just for curiosity, without having a dog in mind.

If you want to see what it looks like, feel free to type in names of some of my dogs as a test. You could use
Goldmali Bohemian Rhapsody
Goldmali Fabulous
Cymry Penny Wise Goldmali

as current breeding dogs of mine (all Malinois).

Thanks Goldmali.  I got a brainwave and looked up one of Oban's British antecedents Kupros Master Mariner and got a look at what is available.  It means more to me to look up my own breed.  Too bad we can't do this with our Canadian Kennel Club. 

Kupros Master Mariner is on all the pedigrees of my labs past and present,also of course Sandylands,Rocherby and ballyduff,these are wonderful lines.Have a look at Mardas Roman Republic he is a stunning chocolate show dog.

Sheila

FYI - Mardas Roman Republic is black not chocolate.

Sorry of course he is black,what a stunner xx