Labs

[bronczilla]

I would like to know your opinions:

Male vs. Female

Yellow vs. Black vs. Chocolate

I'm looking at getting a Lab pup soon for duck hunting, I'm leaning toward a female yellow lab.

 

[Gobble]

I've owned labs my entire life, I currently have a 7 wk old Black Male. I have had chocolates and Blks, never had a Yellow, and never had a female. I don't think it matters a bit. All my labs have been great.

[vandeman17]

Go for the pup with the best disposition and the one that shows the best interest in birds and retrieving. I personally prefer choc or black because of the shedding for yellow labs and I also like females because they don't have to pee on everything all the time. The one big downfall of a female is they are brutal on your yard.

[BD1]

I have always had choclates and females.  I just have always liked the look of the chocolate better, totally a personal preference.  Van makes a good point on the shedding    I have enjoyed the female labs because in my expereince they stick closer to me and mine have always kept close tabs on each family memeber...sort of a mother complex I guess.  I have no idea if that holds true with others, just my expereince.  I have a 10 week old female chocolate now and it is a full time job but having a dog is so special.  If it is a lab I think you made the right choice (the only choice in my mind). As someone once quoted on another hunting site..."If there isn't room for my dog, there isn't any room for me". Good luck and if you want any ideas/imput on breeders or selecting a pup, I spent a year researching and there is a lot of info out there...also a lot of helpful people on this site.
Mike

[buglebuster]

I have 2. A black 1 year old female, and a chocolate 4 year old male. Color wise I don't think it matters 1 bit. People say 1 color has this trait, the other that. I call BS, one litter can have all 3 colors. Both my dogs are great family dogs and excellent with my kids. My male is more pushy and will test his limits with me more, but listens very well. The female is much more timid and seems to care for me more. She doesn't listen as well as the male but is by my side 100% of the time while I'm outside trying to win my affection, while the male is running around doing his thing. Both excellent hunters. This is just my experience between male and female, tho I expect each dog is different.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

Its all personal preference.  Love the breed in general, they can be used for a lot of game birds.  I wanted a Chocolate Male and that's what I went with.  When his time is over I might switch it up with a different model.

 Just be careful who you buy from, lots of people breeding labs who don't know anything about breed or breeding in general for that matter.

[ghosthunter]

breeding matters.

The rest is what you put into training.

If your wife gardens, than I would go female just to get away from the leg lifting.

[Goldeneye]

I agree with the breeding matters statement.

Training and consistency is a must.

Color-wise I've always leaned toward the darker colors for the shedding reason.

I've had both males and females over the years.  I much prefer the females.  They don't lift their leg on everything, they seem to always want to keep tabs on you, size-wise you can gauge to a point based off parents and the littler itself.  My girl was the biggest female by far in the litter she was in.  Her sisters took after the mom's size and are 45-60 pounds.  My girl took after the dad's size and is a solid 80 pounds.

[JJD]

I have always had blacks.
Years back they charged more for yellow and Choc than blacks in the same liter and I never could see paying more for a spacific color.  Never had an issue in taking a black if I could get it a bit cheaper.

Yellows may handle the heat of upland hunts a bit better due to less heat absorbtion in their lighter coat.

Have had males and females.  I have always found the males a bit more eager to please.  I have also found that the males will eat anything and will eat themselves to death if allowed.  All my females have had a bit of a stuborn streak in them.  I'm not counting my FM CBR as they can bring a whole nother level of stuborn as well as a whole nother level of tough.  I agree that smaller dogs are better in some instances.  I think more along the line of taking up room in your boat.
I have an 80 lb male who will keep up with your little FM stride for stride, all day long.  It's not about size, it's about conditioning.
I like the fact that my bigger male has no problem with larger honkers on land.  My smaller FM's have struggled a bit with bigger birds on land, but they never failed to get the job done.  On the water where all they had to do was push them in, they are equal. 
Find a good breeder, one who is interested in the breed and your needs.

[vandeman17]

I agree that I prefer labs that are a bit smaller in stature. Both mine are in the 45-50 lb range which is big enough to handle most of what duck hunting can throw at them but small enough to not knock me over and take up my whole blind. My uncle and cousin are long time trainers and my cousin said he likes smaller dogs because they tend to have less risk of joint problems down the road because of less strain on them. I tend to agree as well 

[AspenBud]

If you want the best possible hunting dog that you can get, don't buy based on color and don't limit your search based on it. Buy for performance. Assuming things are equal once you have found a littler you want a dog from and if you have a choice between two colors then you can use that in your decision.

[Happy Gilmore]

Better to discuss the difference between $200 and $1,000 breeding than color

[Ruger]

We have had labs for the last 17 years and have had all 3 colors and have always had males. 

I think the most important thing is breeder, sire and dam, history and health of both sides

With that said if you think of it in terms of this, if you were in your office a male would have more tendency to be in the room with you and a female would more likely be in the other room and come check on ya every so often.  The female just has a bit more independence typically not all the time for sure...that said both are great so again go back to my above comment.....

[buglebuster]

Personally I am not for $1000 dogs. Just don't see the point. I $500 total for both of my labs, purebred option to paper but I wasn't worried about it. Some of the best hunting dogs I've hunted behind and very healthy. To each their own I suppose.

[Happy Gilmore]

Seen 5+ dogs from one popular "hunters breeder" with bad hips at 5 years old. Dude keeps breeding knowing they are unhealthy and dudes keep buying $500, no health clearance dogs.