My husband and I are looking for a chocolate labrador late April 2002.
We had been looking and decided on a breeder - however the bitch has not come into season!!
We have a good sized, secure garden, lovely sized home and the time to look after a puppy.
Please can you help?
We would both want to see the mother, possibly when the puppies are a few weeks old, so we can view and you can obviously meet us.
My contact number is 0118 9509 215
Thanks Charlotte

Hi, I am curious, as I have seen a lot of enquiries such as yours, why Chocolate. Certainly I would be wary of buying a puppy from someone who bred primarily for the colour. As I understand it to get good chocolates one of the Parents should be black, with no Yellow ancestry.

This of course means about half (or is it more, with chocolate being recessive, right) are going to be black. Does that make the blacks less desirable as there is a fashion for the chocolatees?

Looking at old photos it would seem that most of the Labs were black. when I was a child I hardly ever saw a black pet lab, as they all seemed to be yellow in the 70s! :D

The yellow Labrador Retriever club was established in 1924 (I think) but there were yellows around before that time of course although for years only blacks were accepted. When the yellow finally got accepted by the KC that was the only two colours and that was it! If it wasn’t black it was yellow! I well remember that in the '60s and '70s a yellow was quite a bit cheaper than a black, also bitches were cheaper than dogs!!!!! Blacks tend to find more favour in the field working although there is little to choose in performance. Chocs tend to be well behind the others in development, (We reckon around a year behind in their training for work!) my main complaint is with the present desire to produce a particular colour, the problem being that in order to do this the breeder is forced to restrict the available gene pool to the few lines which throw this colour.

Regards John

Yes that was my thought, it is a shame in some ways when a breed has a choice of colours as it becomes subject to prejudice and fashion. In our breed only grey is acceptable, and you still get some people who have a colour thing. Some being in favour of very light and silvery, and some preffering a stronger colour (amount of black tipped hair)! I think breeds should not be bred on colour consideration, other than it being a correct breed colour.

Glad you posting again!!

Sorry folks - have to stand up for chocs! I dont see why one shouldn't breed for colour, as long as all other things are equal - quality, type soundness, temp etc - after all many breeds have several colours and some breeders prefer one of the colours - like the part-coloured cocker and solid colour cocker breeders. The gene pool for chocolates is much wider now, not like 20 years ago, and many black stud dogs carry chocolate. I remember even Sandylands bred a lovely chocolate bitch - cant for the life of me remember her name sadly, but she was a corker . Welcome back John, no offence intended, I am just helplessly in love with chocs and thought there should be a positive post for them! :-). Every spring I think - I'll get one this year - and then I remember the house that was eaten and nearly everything in it by my last lab puppy, and wonder if I could cope with a great big bouncy lab again. If I leave it too long I shall be too old,
:-( wish I could make up my mind.

I also don't see why one shouldn't breed for colour. My breed come in three colours, red, black and black and tan. A few years ago black and black and tan almost died out, but not completely. Some breeders decided to improve the blacks and they are now almost as strong as the reds. This was done by careful breeding, using reds where necessary to improve on other aspects and we are now in a position where some of the best Griffs are blacks, and there is a much greater gene pool.

I started on a campaign about 5 to 6 years ago to try and do the same for the black and tans which were in a very poor state in this country. I have had to include a trip to Belgium to mate a bitch, and hope in the future to take another bitch abroad to mate her, to improve the gene pool for black and tans. I don't sacrifice other things just to get the colour (if I did I wouldn't need to go abroad) but am trying to get all round quality. It is coming, slowly, and there is much more interest in this colour now with I am always overwhelmed by the amount of support and encouragement I have been getting from the most respected breeders in the breed. This colour is one of the original colours of the breed and I hate to think of it dying out.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth.

I too have no problems with people breeding for a colour just so long as the realise that they will have to use other colours in their breeding programme in order to ensure a large enough gene pool and that it wont happen overnight. As Joan said it is sad to see colours dying out.

Do wonder why chocolate seem to be more popular that liver, wonder why?

Gosh, Bec, we agree again! **winking** My only problem is those that breed exclusively for color without taking all other points into consideration. For example, breeding for chocolate (or pink or purple or whatever color) without considering that the best match to improve upon the standard for that particular dog may in fact be a color which would not produce the desired chocolates. Just an example and one is welcome to insert any particular color they fancy into the equation.

Just had this same discussion on the telephone today. As breeders we should set our priorities on what is and is not acceptable in the general scheme of things. I have become exceedingly color blind and 'pattern blind' in judging as long as the colors and patterns are acceptable and not faulted or disqualified within the standard.