I am sorry if this is in the wrong section of the website so please bear with me and thank you for the help with understanding hips and elbows with labradors.  I thought these were more general questions than specifically about someone wanting to breed as such

The litter I am patiently waiting for (yet to be conceived) is between two black labradors and there is the possibility of some chocolate pups turning up in the litter.  My understanding is that somewhere in the family tree there will be chocoalate labradors for this to be able to happen?  Is there any truth to the theory that chocolate labradors are less trainable, and if so would you steer clear of that colour?

The male dog is about 200 miles away is this common?  It seems a long distance to travel for a dog when there are lots of labradors around

Finally we haven't fully decided whether to have a male or female yet and would appreciate feedback on the type of companion they make.  Our home is fairly open plan and the pup once old enough will have lots of woodland walks and trips to the coast.

The breeder travelling a good distance to go to the stud dog that best compliments the strengths and weaknesses of their bitch is a good sign. 
bad breeders don't do this- they use whatever is close, cheap and easy for them without caring whether the pairing will be a good match.

I'd have absolutely no concerns about the breeder you have found travelling.  It shows, or should! that they have done their homework and decided this particular stud dog will 'nick' with their bitch.  We travelled 12 hours, from Toronto to Philadelphia to use the stud dog we wanted (12 hours!).   It's usually BYBs who use the 'dog next door' unless a responsible breeder just happens to live near a dog who will work with their bitch.

As for colour, others will be more qualified to help you re what you might get from black to black matings (or the breeder!!).   Was a time however, when Chocolate Labs became all the rage with 'yuppies'.   My nephew and family bought one at that time but very sadly for all, he had surgery on both hips and one elbow before he was a year and really didn't live to make old bones.  He'd come to me for where to go (and whether to buy a Lab or a Border Collie) but when I got back to him with some names, they were already with a local breeder and had bought.

As for male or female, apart from the obvious (a need, eventually to spay), from my experience with my breed - not Labs - I have found the bitches were usually more independent, with the boys perhaps more 'needy'.  But no two dogs are the same.

Exercise should be limited through the early months (say up to 6 months) with next to no organised walking on hard ground.  After that, you gradually build up the amount of exercise until hopefully, the puppy reaches a year, still sound.  Your breeder should give you all the advice you need about this, together with a diet sheet and maybe a small supply of the food the puppy has been eating, so you don't need to switch immediately (if at all through the puppy stages).

I cant really help u as I don't breed but nice to see someone asking these questions before buying a pup

Agree, many people go further.

I have travelled to Finland and the USA to mate bitches.

Others import Semen (a huge expense and reduced chance of success).

All in order to improve and maintain quality and health of bloodlines.

The colour itself makes no difference.

The idea re trainability is that traditionally the Chocolate colour did not turn up in working litters very often.

The colour became popular with the Public, so breeders who were not selecting parents for mental traits, only colour means that some Chocs were bred for colour rather than any other trait.

Chocolates from litters where the selection has been for parents that fit the breed standard for looks, character, working ability and temperament will be no different in that regard than their Black siblings.

>The litter I am patiently waiting for (yet to be conceived) is between two black labradors and there is the possibility of some chocolate pups turning up in the litter.  My understanding is that somewhere in the family tree there will be chocoalate labradors for this to be able to happen?

Yes.

>Is there any truth to the theory that chocolate labradors are less trainable, and if so would you steer clear of that colour?

Instead of fixating on colour, think about whether the dogs in the pedigree are working bred or show bred. The reason chocolate labs have got a bad reputation as working dogs and thought of as being not too smart and a bit ditsy, is because they were (until very recently) almost only ever bred for the show ring. It was very difficult to see chocolate dogs in the shooting field (that were not show bred dogs there for a day out) and very rare for them to see any competition success in the field.

This has all changed more recently and there are now quite a few really nice lines of chocolate working dogs coming through with some breeders making it one of their goals to bring more working ability into chocolates by breeding to field bred dogs of other colours.

So instead of thinking about whether there are any chocolate dogs in the pedigree, look at whether any dogs (of whatever colour) are working bred or show bred. What are the titles on the dogs in the pedigree? Are they show titles or working/field titles?

>The male dog is about 200 miles away is this common?  It seems a long distance to travel for a dog when there are lots of labradors around

Very common for a good breeder to travel a considerable distance to find the right stud for their female dog. (Although rarely do they travel as far as Brainless LOL)

>Finally we haven't fully decided whether to have a male or female yet and would appreciate feedback on the type of companion they make. 

Instead of thinking about which dog would meet your needs, I would turn it around and ask whether you will be able to meet the needs of either sex. I'm not a huge fan of neutering unless there is a clear medical or behavioural reason to do it (and let's just say there are much fewer of those reasons than the majority of vets would have you believe!).

An entire male Lab is likely to go through a slightly testosterone fuelled adolescence, which many find challenging - but if you can weather it, you will emerge out the other side into adulthood and all will be ok in the majority of cases. If you think you are going to be troubled and rush into neutering your dog at the first sign of adolescent challenging behaviour, then please don't get a male dog. Because *you* won't be best meeting *his* needs. On the other hand, bitches tend not to go through such adolescent turmoil on average - but you will have heat cycles to deal with. You will need to ensure you can keep her away from other dogs for at least 3 weeks every 6 months (on average), exercising on leash or long-line in locations where you are not going to run into other dogs. It's not difficult but requires some thought. You will also have some blood spotting on the floor to clean up, which is pretty easy if you don't have carpets, can cover the sofa with a throw, and can put rugs away for a couple of weeks. I don't find it difficult to deal with, but I do know that some of my clients are slightly ridiculous about it - and again rush out to spay their bitches at the earliest opportunity.

So please think whose entire-ty you can best manage and whose needs you can best meet - and make your choice about sex based on that, if you don't have other dogs in your house to consider...

Just to add there are more health positives to neutering a bitch by middle age, whereas there are more health negatives in neyering males.

In foid motivated breeds like mine and Labradors, the need to reduce food
once neutered to prevent the weight gain caused by the change in metabolism can be difficult.

Neither sex should be neutered before full maturity at the earliest, and the males preferably not at all.

I spay all my girls between 5 - 7 to avoid the risk of the life threatening womb infection 'Pyometra' that is most common in older bitches.

I have owned 10 bitches over 5 years old of my breed, and have only encountered 1 with Mammary tumour, removed at pea size at 5. Another pea size lump was remove along with the gland at 10, and she lived to 13 1/2 dying of Kidney failure in old age.

The studies that pointed to high incidence of Mammary tumours in entire bitches were found to be flawed based on a small related sample of one breed.

> The male dog is about 200 miles away is this common?  It seems a long distance to travel for a dog when there are lots of labradors around

Yes, a good breeder picks a male based on who best matches their girl rather than just who is nearest or easiest.  Of course the best match might just happen to be close or one they  brought in  but the location isn't the consideration only how the male matches their girl.

>My understanding is that somewhere in the family tree there will be chocoalate labradors for this to be able to happen?  Is there any truth to the theory that chocolate labradors are less trainable, and if so would you steer clear of that colour?

Both of the black labs would have to carry the recessive chocolate/liver gene to produce it yes, they may have recent chocolate dogs behind them or just have blacks that carry it.  As to the variability of chocs I can't be any help there I'm afraid.

> Finally we haven't fully decided whether to have a male or female yet and would appreciate feedback on the type of companion they make.  Our home is fairly open plan and the pup once old enough will have lots of woodland walks and trips to the coast.

I'd say alot is  personal preference realy. I prefer males, I find them more cuddly and the girls more independent but that could just be the dogs I know ( various breeds). But if you consider a girl you will need to learn about seasons to prevent any accidents until old enough to spay when mature if your planning to neuter (at least 1, I'd say prefer 2) as early neutering has been linked to increased chances of some issues. Although if your open to either sex it increases the chance there will be a puppy for you. Something I would tell the people on my lists that if they only wanted one sex or a specific tail type that I couldn't guarantee what came out there may not be the sex or tail they want.

Hi Mr Boots

A breeder travelling to use a stud is a good thing. Shows that they are not led purely by convenience when it comes to decision making. I have used my own stud dog before but my next planned mating is hopefully going to involve a trip to Italy to use the stud that I want.

I don’t know enough about genetics to get involved I t he colour question I’m afraid.

As to whether boy or girl there isn’t really a simple answer I’m afraid. I have both. My girls there is mess during season time and with my boy there is also mess during season time as this is the only time he marks in the house!

> The male dog is about 200 miles away is this common?  It seems a long distance to travel for a dog when there are lots of labradors around

If anything, that would reassure me.  When the are a lot of any given breed around, it generally means that breed has been subject to lots of people breeding for profit, which then means a drop in quality of the animals being produced.  So for a breeder to travel 200 miles means they've taken care to really search for a high quality dog, not just taken their pick of the abundance nearby.