Any labrabor experts in here?

[tk2kewl]

I want to get a lab as a birthday gift for the Mrs. 2kewl. I prefer yellow labs but she seems to like chocolates.

The only chocolate lab I ever knew was very odd. I think it may have been autistic or something. When this dog wanted to go out it used to circle a particular piece of furniture repeatedly, as if in a trance, and would not stop until let out. It also would do a couple of spins as if chasing its tail as it ran to retrieve a ball or a stick.

Maybe this dog was just a bit strange, but is there a greater chance of problems with chocolate labs because of some genetic traits associated with the recessive color gene?

[Flaxbee]

1. We had a chocolate lab - she was an AMAZINGLY

good dog. Smart, intuitive, gentle yet protective. I loved her to bits. But overbreeding/inbreeding for specific traits/colors/etc. has ruined many breed. Golden Retrievers didn't used to be idiots with skin problems, but the damn AKC prefers a certain "look" and many many dogs have had their best qualities bred out of them. Perhaps the chocolate lab you knew just came from a line that had been f*cked with too much.

Do your homework about breeders. Be very, very, very careful. Perhaps ask a vet you trust about the best way to find a healthy chocolate lab pup.

Or, better yet - look at lab rescue associations, or just get her a loving mutt from the shelter. Best dogs in the world are those who know they've been saved.

[lukasahero]

2. Chocolate are more rare

I have never heard of any physical / genetic reasons for them being at higher risk for oddness. Labs in general have a high risk of oddness (of the good natured kind). They can be obsessive-compulsive and are prone to separation anxiety. Of course, they are also prone to arthritis, hip issues, seizures, etc. But they are the best dogs in the world and worth every possible issue whether they come to fruition or not.

My yellow is just about 13 and he has been the best dog I have ever had (and I'd say in total I've lived with about 10 dogs over the course of my life).

Make sure you read "Marley and Me" first to make sure you know what you're getting into. :) (FTR, my American Lab who looks just like Marley, has never suffered from separation anxiety.)

[dropkickpa]

3. Anecdotal experience

I'm a vet tech and, after speaking with many other vet techs, we've all noticed traits for many breeds. With labs we've collectively noticed that black labs have ear problems (from fungus, infection, mites, allergies, and hematomas), yellow have skin issues, and chocolates tend be "nippy".

ALL labs are more likely than other breeds to eat a non-food item (I saw one that ate an entire apple pie, including the broken glass baking dish he'd knocked off the counter, another that just LOVED to eat lava landscaping rocks, etc etc). The emergency clinic I briefly worked for had a code they'd put on calls: "LAS" Lab Ate Something, which usually signalled x-rays, ultra-sound, and to get one of the ORs prepped for surgery if it actually caused problems (you'd be very surprised at what a lab digestive tract can pass).

I have a black lab now. She is dumber than a bag of hammers sometimes. But very sweet. She will eat anything that's in a ziplock bag or tupperware container, because anything in ziplock or tupperware is automatically food, duh. Last week, she ate a bunch of twist-ties (in a ziplock). A couple months ago she ate a small tupperware container full of nuts (the hardware, not the food). These are in addition to all of the other random acts of consumption that she's committed. She is a rescue (was about 5 when I got her a year ago). Lila will talk when she has to go out. She will sit on her bed and mumble to herself incessantly until someone lets her out if it's number 1. If she has to go number 2, she sits in front of you and talks (not growling or barking).

Take a look through the pet ads in papers and at shelters in your area. There will be a LOT of 1-2 year-old labs. Labs seem to have an extended puppy-hood that seems endless. Look into area rescues and shelters, there may be a fantastic (already housebroken - BONUS!!) lab just waiting for you.

[lukasahero]

5. "LAS"

"Lab ate something" :rofl:

Sorry, but yes, I believe my vet has had an occasion or two to write that on my Beau's chart. LOL. He ate a bee once. That was a rather costly bee after a visit to the emergency vet... again.

[dropkickpa]

6. Yeah. We had "regulars"

They'd come in a be all excited to see everyone again, "Hi!! I'm back!! Miss me?"

[tk2kewl]

7. Ha!

Yeah, my family has had yellow and black labs. Both would eat anything. The black was a rescued dog that could actually open refrigerators and would take anything from the counter if you turned your back for a second. And yes he would eat food, packaging, bones, etc.

The yellow was an eater too, but much better behaved.

My favorite trick was to feed these guys grapes. It was the on food they had no idea what to do with. They would roll them around in their mouths and spit them out until I crushed the grapes. Then they would eat em :silly:

[xchrom]

4. all labradors are rambunctious youngsters -- full of life.

chocies are or can be more rambunctious than the black or yellow.

and they are all very, very strong.

but any lab will always believe in their inherent goodness and they over flow with love.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. Best breed there is. And DO look into rescues. The foster "parents"

will be able to tell you what quirks the dog has before he gets a chance to steal your heart.
When my yellow wants to go out he continually noses the fanny pack I wear when *I* go out for a bike ride-- it hangs on a closet doorknob and he probably assumed my fussing with it was just some sort of ritual I go through. Labs are also especially into praise so the chocolate one who circles the furniture might have associated that with some sort of positive reinforcement.