Which colour is best?

[duxbac]

:confused: I almost replied to Blackys' tread, "There are yellow Labs?" (Tongue firmly in cheek) The thread reminded me of a debate at one of the Hunt tests. Some well respected lab trainers were of the opinion that black labs were easier to train than yellows, or chocolates. I have a hard time believing hair colour has any bearing on trainability. I know most winning labs are black but 75% of labs are black. It would be interesting to see the per capita winning percentages. Any opinions?:fencing: :rolleyes:

[Misty Marsh]

Sure black is the dominant gene, thus more blacks out there. It's about breeding and quality traits, coat color has nothing to do with it. Now that more reponsible breeders have put time/effort into the resessive coated labs (yellow & chocolate) you will see more of them with FT titles as time goes on, your already seeing it with yellows.

[Jojoe]

I think the golden and silver labs are the two best. I'd make a doodle comment here but I've been warned...(:ban: )

I've got a yellow and a black (enough brown dogs in my training group already)...I'll let you know in a few years which one was easier to train.

Cheers,

[Misty Marsh]

Blond labs, or blond goldens are afflicted with the "blond" gene, and will most definatly be the hardest to train!

[ducksoup]

The easiest colour to train is the colour that wants to; the best colour is .... ???? -- and really that can be any colour -- I've had yellows and blacks (no chocolates as yet) and good ones in each -- Maxx is a BLM; and he just happens to be one of the hardest going high driving dogs I've ever owned -- maybe he just doesn't know what colour he is -- any more than most dogs know what colour of ribbon they may win -- whatever colour you like as there are good ones in each -- but then they say when you BLACK there's no going BACK (must be hard to do a blind I guess -- EXTREMELY WEAK ATTEMPT AT HUMOUR)

[kawarthalabs]

Blue !!!!!!!!!!

[Retrievers ONLINE]

Blue !!!!!!!!!!

Well Tony, what field trialer could argue with you that Blue isn't the best colour?

Now I've never heard of a choclate or a yellow lab named BLUE. But, I do know of several Blacks that were named BLUE.

I figure that proves that Black labs are the best-whaddya think?

[Misty Marsh]

Whatever color picks up that long retired bird to win the trial:clap2:

[Gurgle]

I too read that black was easiest to train, yellow next and chocolates were hardest. I thought it was some kind of doggy racism but several people bore this out, our Vet and our boarding kennel included, who see way more of the dogs than I do. On one website the following explanation was given to support it. It may be out of date now, this was some time ago. But the reason was that when chocolate became so popular disreputable breeders sacrificed temperament, health concerns and conformation just to get the chocolate. The same thing happened when yellow became more popular but over time yellows "caught up" so to speak. This seems like a reasonable explanation to me and serves to highlight the benefit of carefully researching the breeder of any prospective pooch. As we all know, Labs are about the most popular breed of dog around and there are lots badly bred ones out there.

[Misty Marsh]

Pretty hard generalize that one as they come stupid in all colors as a result of poor breeding. I agree with the poor breeding practices in the resessive gene'd dog's (choclate/yellow) as being a problem over the early years especially in the companion/show market, but have see much less in field lines as a result of performance based breeding. When you think that you can have a lab that is tri-factored and throw all three colors of puppies the black one's are not smarter. Also with black being the dominant gene there are many more black dog's out there verces the others, so it's not really a fair generalization in my opinion. With the number of qulaity labs of every color out there is no reason to breed for color today, or settle for a stupid dog!

[quackaddict2]

hey,they say gentlemen prefer blonds

i say once ya go black,ya never go back:angel:

[eden beardsall]

I only see black when it comes to choosing a dog but that does not mean a thing . The reason there are so many good black dogs is simply that there are more black dogs . I've seen some great working ,successful yellows and there would be more if there were more yellows in the game . Chocolates have just started and there is a much lower number running trials . I think if studies were done it would probably indicate that the ratio would indicate that for their numbers the other colours are doing all right . Then comes the discussion ...are females more successful than males ?:worms:

[Misty Marsh]

Since the advent of the adjustable e-collar I think that you have seen a trend over the past 15-20 years of more and more females making a big dent in the once perdominantly black field, with the top 10 national FT dog's as almost a 50/50 split.

[captainjack]

It sounds like people just want to get me into this discussion. For the longest time and I am still of the opinion that it is easier to find a well bred black field trial puppy than yellow or chocolate.

I am very careful with my dogs and pups since I prefer yellows to make sure that they think that they are black. I keep them away from mirrors so that they never see that they are yellow and have them train and run with black dogs in the hope that they grow up thinking that they are black.

Case in point, last night Shire was in the house watching tv with me and to my surprise his hair went up and he started to growl - I had left the curtains up and he could see this yellow dog in the window - you're right it was his reflection. Since he did not know that he was yellow he carried on and it was funny to see. To reward this behaviour and to encourage him to continue thinking he was black - I said - "sic him" and when he continued to bark I gave him a cookie and said "good dog".

There is no way I am going to let my dogs think that they are yellow if black dogs win more often. Who knows the next field trial judge I run under may be judging on colour! And as was previously stated - there is only one colour - blue! Right Scott?


Peter

[eden beardsall]

Ok Captain , I saw you with some nice Black females wearing yellow coats and I am sure they were girls . Did you call your new dog "him " in the last post . what is you opinion male or female easier to train?

[Labber]

It sounds like people just want to get me into this discussion
Yeah, that took alot of prodding!

I am still of the opinion that it is easier to find a well bred black field trial puppy than yellow or chocolate.
I think this is the best point made so far.
I think that the more Black in the pedigree, the greater your chances are of having a smart dog.
We work so hard, to train these dogs that you have to increase your odds of getting a good one as much as possible.
I believe in the theory of genetic traits being passed from generation to generation, so I would be foolish to dismiss the impactof dominant and recessive ones. I think more than one trait is carried on genes. Since Black is dominant, Black = Blue!:idea:

I want someday to own and compete with a yellow, and a chocolate, without a doubt!

When I do, there will be as much black in the pedigree as I can find.

Do yellow dogs need to be shampooed more often?

[captainjack]

In all honesty, I really have no preference in dog's colour or dog's sex. I prefer a dog that shows some talent, tries and learns quickly. Being an amateur trainer, I will leave the hard heads to someone else. This game has enough heart ache without spending alot of time and energy on a dog that you have to fight with.
When judging, I love to see the dog that wants to be there and will work with their owner to please him or her and not themself. Colour or dog's sex never enters into it and I have no preference to which I own or train.
I prefer the labrador retriever, but enjoy watching all good dogs no matter the breed.

Peter

[duxbac]

"hey,they say gentlemen prefer blonds"

Quackster that may be true but the Ladies Love Chocolate!

Chocolate all the way!!:rockon:

[Anna Scott]

Just read a story out of Texas where a chocolate lab stepped on a loaded shot gun, gun went off and the owner ended up dead. Apparently he had shot agoose and went to get the dog out of the back of the truck, laid the loaded gun in the bed of the truck, dog stepped on it discharging it through the tailgate hitting the guy in the femeral artery. He bled to death before he could be gotten to the hospital.
What are the lessons here?

[Frog]

I think the lesson is that failure is more often caused by handler error than to the type or colour of dog?

[Misty Marsh]

That chocolate dogs are smart enough to help remove stupid people from our gene pool? OK harsh considering the outcome, but in a gun culture like the US where there are 3-4 guns for every person I don't think gun saftly is taken as seriously as we do here in Canada, although plently of stupid gun deaths like this occur here also.:boink:

[Bryan.M]

"hey,they say gentlemen prefer blonds"

Quackster that may be true but the Ladies Love Chocolate!

Chocolate all the way!!:rockon:

HaHaHaHaHaHa......GENIUS!!!!!!!