# Question about chocolate labs



## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

I was recently told by a dog trainer that chocolate labs are more difficult to train and tend to be more neurotic, and that this supposedly has to do with the gene that produces the liver color. I had never heard this before. I also heard that chocolates are - to put it bluntly - considerably less intelligent than their black or yellow counterparts. 

If this is an idiotic question, forgive me, I'd just like to know if this is true ... and if so, why would the color of the dog have anything to do with its trainability/intelligence?


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## Melou1889 (Feb 26, 2008)

I cant really tell you why or how. But I assume its possible. I know that some "white" dogs can be considered deaf. So i guess color can make a difference.


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## tipper (Aug 19, 2007)

Two Labs Mom said:


> I was recently told by a dog trainer that chocolate labs are more difficult to train and tend to be more neurotic, and that this supposedly has to do with the gene that produces the liver color. I had never heard this before. I also heard that chocolates are - to put it bluntly - considerably less intelligent than their black or yellow counterparts.
> 
> If this is an idiotic question, forgive me, I'd just like to know if this is true ... and if so, why would the color of the dog have anything to do with its trainability/intelligence?


*I'm sorry for who upset you by telling you this isn't the fact at all. I've owned labradors for years. Labrador is as good as a owner wants it to be. Time and effect goes into a puppy, what every the colour is as a baby.,Yellow Choc or black. Yes they can be a handful on the teenage time between 13 -14 months till after the age of 2 but the rewards are great from their loyal, loving nature. Who ever said it to tell them where to go with brass nobs Alot more people who own Labradors will come along who may or may not agree with me. The colour isn't a issue with training at all. Good Luck with your Labrador and enjoy your dog.*


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## reverend_maynard (Aug 4, 2007)

I don't know if those things are true either, but I can offer some insight into how it could be true that color would have a bearing on temperament...

There are at least 2 possibilities:
1) The color was very rare originally, only appearing once out of multiple litters. Breeders that bred for the color had very few choices when choosing which dogs to breed if they wanted to breed dogs of the same color. This can lead to loosening of other requirements such as health and temperament. Also, inbreeding, which is more often done when breeders limit their breed stock choices so dramatically, can cause temperament problems.
2) The gene responsible for the color is also responsible for some aspect of temperament. This is the case with white, deaf dogs. In those breeds, the gene for the color (or lack thereof in the case of white) is also responsible for some aspect of hearing.


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## chul3l3ies1126 (Aug 13, 2007)

I owned all three colors at the same time and to tell you the truth the one that learned the fastest was my chocolate lab. It's a crock of bull if you ask me, each dog is different.
Nessa


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## Jaylie (Mar 5, 2007)

I've had experience with ALL colors, and I have noticed a difference, but nothing that's better or worse about any colors. In my experience, it's as follows...

Blacks are the most hyper, but they're also very focused on the owners.

The chocolates are pretty laid back, but love those rounds of play. They're just as easy to train as the other colors.

Yellows (My favorite!) are "energy savers..." They sleep all day if you're home, but can play for more than a few days if you want them to.

Their intelligence is all the same IME.


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## Shalva (Mar 23, 2007)

Ok here is just my opinion..... 
I too have heard that chocolates are not as easy or smart.... and overall more difficult and while one might want to say a lab is a lab is a lab.... the problem comes with popularity and for many years chocolate labs were very popular which meant alot of people both good and bad breeders started breeding strictly for color without regard to other things such at temperament, working ability, conformation etc. we see the same thing with liver flat coats.... there are very few that are what they should be and people will complain that judges don't look at liver dogs but the reality is that so many are bred JUST FOR color that many are not as nice, not as correct conformationally and all that goes along with it.

I dont think the problem is the genetics of the color but rather the breeding behind the color.... if your dog came from a good breeder who bred for color and all else then likely your dog won't have some of the issues that the stereotypical chocolate might have.
s


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## jdleggans (Jan 26, 2008)

For what it's worth, our chocolate lab is not only one of the most intelligent dogs I have ever met (seriously, I'm not being biased! haha), but she is also extremely good natured, calm, and laid back. I don't think color has anything to do with it.

Oh, and she is a rescue, so we don't know anything about her parents. But since she came from the Humane Society, I'm guessing she was not bred by a responsible breeder....


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

We had a chocolate lab (purebred) who showed up at our house for a few weeks before we found his owners and returned him (long story behind him). Despite being severely neglected and abused immediately prior to coming to our place, he was very sweet and learned quickly. He was from good field lines if I remember correctly.

I can't speak for his biddability compared to other labs though, as I've never spent much time around any other purebred lab.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

I've trained blacks, I've trained chocolates, I've trained yellows. I think you got to find a competent trainer to talk to in the future.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Molly is in the process of writing her own response, but she is compiling her bibliography.

It could take some time.


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## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

Well, I am just so encouraged to hear this. My little girl is such a sweetheart and so responsive I just couldn't see her as neurotic, thickheaded, and disobedient. I have had 6 labs in my lifetime (not including the 2 I have now), but no chocolates, just blacks and yellows. They can definitely be a handful at times, especially during adolescence but geez, neurotic and difficult to train? And stupid? Hardly. I just didn't see how being a different color could make this little girl more difficult than any of the others I have had.

Thank you thank you thank you. I feel better now. 

Ron, tell Molly I'll be waiting on her inspired writings.


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## TeddieXRuxpin (Sep 11, 2007)

I don't think it's an idiotic question, but I will say it's false.The color of the dog has nothing to do with it's training ability.

And the comment about the white dogs and being deaf. You do see a lot more dogs that are white and deaf, but the fact of being white has nothing to do with it. Most of the time like with great danes and Aussies they come out deaf because they are a product of two merles being bred. It's not because they are white that they are deaf.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Two Labs Mom said:


> Well, I am just so encouraged to hear this. My little girl is such a sweetheart and so responsive I just couldn't see her as neurotic, thickheaded, and disobedient. I have had 6 labs in my lifetime (not including the 2 I have now), but no chocolates, just blacks and yellows. They can definitely be a handful at times, especially during adolescence but geez, neurotic and difficult to train? And stupid? Hardly. I just didn't see how being a different color could make this little girl more difficult than any of the others I have had.
> 
> Thank you thank you thank you. I feel better now.
> 
> Ron, tell Molly I'll be waiting on her inspired writings.


Two Labs Mom
Teddie is right about the question, when somebody who is suppose to be somewhat of an expert (dog trainer) tells you something, it can spook you a bit. I wonder was trainer that stupid or did he have an ulterior motive of some sort. I would like to have been there when he explained the lab issue to you.


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## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

wvasko said:


> Two Labs Mom
> Teddie is right about the question, when somebody who is suppose to be somewhat of an expert (dog trainer) tells you something, it can spook you a bit. I wonder was trainer that stupid or did he have an ulterior motive of some sort. I would like to have been there when he explained the lab issue to you.


Thankfully, this is not my trainer, but a trainer I happened to run into at Petsmart when I took Sadie (my girl) in with me. He asked me how her training was going, and that's when he gave me this information. Interestingly, he says he also has a chocolate lab and that the females are even more neurotic and difficult than the males? 

I didn't get deep enough into the conversation to ask where he worked, what his experience is, etc., he just said he had been training dogs for 20 years, blah blah blah, and this had been 'his' experience with the chocolates. I was too stunned to ask any questions.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Two Labs Mom said:


> Thankfully, this is not my trainer, but a trainer I happened to run into at Petsmart when I took Sadie (my girl) in with me. He asked me how her training was going, and that's when he gave me this information. Interestingly, he says he also has a chocolate lab and that the females are even more neurotic and difficult than the males?
> 
> I didn't get deep enough into the conversation to ask where he worked, what his experience is, etc., he just said he had been training dogs for 20 years, blah blah blah, and this had been 'his' experience with the chocolates. I was too stunned to ask any questions.


Was he a Petsmart trainer or a free lance.


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## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

I can't say for sure - he didn't say he was a trainer with Petsmart, but that doesn't mean anything I guess. I actually found him to be kind of creepy (as in he was rather flirty), so I tried to cut off the conversation. Now I wish I'd asked him more questions ...


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Two Labs Mom said:


> I can't say for sure - he didn't say he was a trainer with Petsmart, but that doesn't mean anything I guess. I actually found him to be kind of creepy (as in he was rather flirty), so I tried to cut off the conversation. Now I wish I'd asked him more questions ...


Maybe he was not a dog trainer at all, but a player. curiouser and curiouser. Oh well no harm done and you got the info needed here.


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## Two Labs Mom (Apr 10, 2008)

Hard to say but I guess anything is possible. He seemed to know what he was talking about ... he had a very polite GSD with him, seemed knowledgeable ... but I guess you never really know with people, huh?

I'm just glad I came here and asked. I feel much better about my little Sadie now. I'm wondering now if it was more of his personal prejudice against these dogs than anything else.


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## kat777 (Apr 10, 2008)

I'm soooooo sorry that you got some bad advice!! I will tell you that I was raised with a chocolate lab. He is my mom's dog, and I have never seen a smarter dog in my life! He has soo much personality and character. And he was potty trained in a week! I love him so much that I wanted a chocoloate lab myself and in February I bought Duke (also a chocolate) and he has already learned a lot. I can tell him "no" and he listens to me (after he argues). LOL He has a great personality too. I also have a black lab named Tasha and she is a little hyper. But my moms dog (who is 11 yrs old) is very mellow and always has been. I have never owned a yellow one but I really love the chocolate ones! (and my Tasha girl). 

So don't worry! I see the picture of your little one, WHAT A LITTLE CUTIE!!


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## WAgal (Oct 13, 2007)

That's an "old wives tale"!!! I have had both a black and a yellow and I can remember hearing the same thing about the blacks. Rubbish!! In fact my trainer said it has nothing to do with color but with the dog itself and the owner and how much work you are willing to put into it. Please don't look at your precious pup and think you are doomed to fail right off the bat. No way!!


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## tipper (Aug 19, 2007)

If it was a petsmart shop staff, pretending to know all about Labradors. I love to have the shop telephone number. I'm happy blow a UK £1 a minute just to find out what this person know in his thick mind

Shop staff are surposed to help, not scare the life out of customers when they visit the shop Maybe he was wanting you to give up your dog so he/she could buy it off you. I'd make a formal complaint to the shop owner, Taking a print off from all the comments made here to show him what other Labrador owners think of his so called helpful staff.


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