HI ive got a chocolate female labrador who comes into season in two months time.im looking to breed her but my question is do i breed her with a chocolate labrador or a black labrador. please help.

Never chocolate to chocolate. If you really must breed chocolate then find a black carrying the chocolate gene.

Regards, John

out of interest why do you say never chocolate to chocolate? Max is chocolate and his mother and father are both chocolate and so are both sets of grandparents?

The depth of pigmentation tends to get weaker and weaker with every choc-to-choc mating and you end up with very a disappointing, wishy-washy looking colour, with very light eyes, as opposed to the rich brown and dark eye that is so attractive.

I have been very lucky then as max is a very dark brown his adult coat coming through is very dark. He has a black great grandmother on both sides as I had a look at his pedigree to see where the blacks were.

I know Chocolate people don't like me saying it Katy but Chocolate dogs also seem more hyper than the other colours so doubling up on this will also not help.

As to colour, have a look at this web site. It's about the best I know at explaining it. You will have to do a cut and paste because my attempts at posting links are abysmal!

http://livingwaterslabradors.net/color.html

note the nose colours for choc to choc and choc to yellow.

Best wishes, John

I agree with John go for black carrying choc also we have mega probs with some choc labs via rescue they are mainly from choc to choc matings
Have you researched on breeders if not get a year book Labrador club or similar it will point you in right direction and decent breeders will alwyas spend time to advise you

well i dont have loads of experience so cant really comment onn that john but the reason we decided on a choc lab after 9 years of trying to make our minds uop was because of 2 friends dogs. They both have choc labs Middy a five yr old male and evie a 1yr old bitch. They are the most calm friendly sweet well behaved dogs I have ever met. Middy is downright lazy! Max is from the same mother as evie and 2 of my other friends have bought max'x litter sisters. They are all a delight at the moment but I nmust admit I am a bit nervous about what the teenage period is going to bring!!! At the moment max seems a very amiable little chap.

Try to be very calm in your dealings with him Katy, it does tend to rub off on them!

Best wishes, John

what would you get if you breed yellow and choc?

The colour yellow is carried as a recessive gene, it is never on its own. Depending on whether it is carried with black or choc the litter will contain anything between all black to all yellow to half black/half choc. Have a look at the site I listed in the earlier post and you will see the possible combinations.

Regards, John

what kind of problems do you mean mattie?

There are two choc labs on the shoot that we beat on. Mother and daughter, different owners.  They are totally different  in that one owner is a good trainer and the other isn't and gets stressed when she misbehaves.  Definitely agree with your comment John about it rubbing off.

Helen

I would hope the guest has had ALL the appropriate health tests done on his/her bitch before they attempts to mate her.  Any reputable stud dog owner would require proof of these tests too.
dawn.