I've trained dogs in the past but with work picking up and time being restricted, I decided to send my newest pup to a trainer. The guy made the comment before hand that he would be willing to give it a try with this pup as he is one of the most laid back labs I have ever owned. This is also the first white lab I've ever owned, but the guy made the comment that next to chocolate labs, white labs are the next hardest to train as they are not usually as motivated as black labs. Specifically, he said that chocolate labs were "dumb." I know a lot of it has to do with the specific breeding, but has anyone ever heard anything similar to this? Just want to know how much truth there is to the statement that chocolate labs are dumb and black labs are the best to have. All my previous labs have been black labs so this is my first experience outside them. All of my previous ones have been great dogs.

I've heard the same thing and that chocolate labs r hard headed and that black labs r the best but everyone has his/her own opinion. That being said I own a male chocolate lab that can be hard headed at times. He is 15 months old and last year he pick almost 150 birds and he is ff, OB, blind retrieves, marks very well (and better than a black lab that's the same age) and is getting pretty good at hand signals. I've seen really good dogs in all the different colors of labs but also seen different color labs that sucked.


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I'd look for a different trainer, especially one that's willing to "give it a try". Either you can train dogs or you can't, and there's good and bad dogs of every color. Speaking of colors, labs come in black, yellow, and chocolate...

Any dog can be taught to sit, lay down, the word no, quiet and roll over it takes a very willing hard charging athlete to play the hunting game from what it sounds like u ended up with a house pet and the guy is being honest with u and now ur questioning his honesty


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My lab is very laid back also until I grab a bumper, shot gun or anything that means he gets to retrieve. Then he turns into the hyper wide open dog that most ppl r use to. So your dog might be fine.


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I have always thought that people say Black Labs are "smarter", "Better hunters", etc. cause there are more black lab field trial/hunt test champions. There are more black lab FT/HT champions because there are more black labs.

I have hunted over fine dogs of every color and dumb dogs of every color. I have a driven 10.5 year old yellow and my buddy has a yellow want to be lap dog at 2 years and 95#. Same color but completely different dogs.

First off , good luck with your pup . If the dog has papers , then it will say YELLOW on AKC or UKC papers . The color is deluded and really undesirable by the parent body standards . As far as color goes for whats best , comes down to breeding . I've seen some laid back dogs that flip a switch and become retrieving machines when its time to work . I myself look for a firebreather , but most of the time that's to much dog for the avg trainer . I hope you didn't jump on that boat and brought a special lab that cost more money because of it being white , if so , your stuck now .

look on the bright side, you could have got a "silver" or "red" lol!

not saying its true, but i have always heard about choc labs being dumb...

I have heard rumors that one color is smarter than the other,i have a chocolate that is pretty damn smart imo and picks up my ducks when told to do so, sits, lays, heels, blind retrieves, and will obey hand signals as far as left right or back goes. i have a buddy who has a chocolate that is dumb as a box of rocks, so its hard for me to believe that color has anything to do with how smart or driven they are, they either are hunters or they aren't and you have to remember the dog can only hunt as good as it was trained too weather its smart dumb black, yellow, or orange!

two of the best dogs ive ever seen were a choc female and a white female..just saying all in the dog and how it adapts to a trainer and the willingness to learn and hunt

http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/vi ... 1&t=479825

This is interesting:

Here's a list of the dogs in the Retriever Hall of Fame (NOTE the dates--not from the British 100 years ago):

http://www.birddogfoundation.com/retrie ... _of_fa.htm
Of the 130 dogs

83.8% Black Labs
3.8% Chocolate Labs
3.1% Yellow Labs
9.2% Golden Retrievers

http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/vi ... &start=100

wonder what the population difference is black vs choc vs etc... though

Silver is not pure breed lab

I've got a buddy that hunted with a guy that had trained a doberman. .... He said it was one of the best dogs he has hunted over and his dog is bad ass. All dogs are different. Some need a soft approach, some need to be hit over the head repeatedly with a 2x4 to learn.... Some just get it right away some don't. Some can be trained at 7 months, some need to wait for some maturity..... males and females are different as well as a bitch that's had a litter will change some..... I've seen dumb dogs of all colors and badass dogs of all colors.... and some of the best labs are black flat coats..... my opinion is based on my experiences.... individual dogs are different..... even with good pedigree. That's why so many dogs washout. ....

Yes I believe if you or breeding for color only you need to advertise puppies as pets I'm sure people have silver dogs and love them and if you breed for hunting breed two dogs that are proven hunters and you will have hunting labs and if you don't know shit about breeding please don't do it because they have lots of abandoned dogs already and shitty breeding will just make things worse

Agreed . Genetics give pup the ability to do certain things , but genetics don't make it happen . Proper training makes it happen , and allow's pup to reach his genetic capabilities .
We breed the best dogs we can , and then we train them !

That's the way to do it

My yellow lab started off more laid back than I cared for. My wife started working with the trainer and started bringing my dog home daily and working extra on her every single day. Literally picked up several thousand more dummies in 3 months than any other dog being trained. Turned her into an absolute BEAST. She is far ahead of the rest of the dogs she is in training with. She will lay around the house all day and when u put a collar on her she is all business. She is only 15 months old and I really wish we would have turned up the heat on her b4 she was a year old.
This is the first dog I have been involved with training, but I would think that just about any lab that is intensely worked with will develop into the strong retriever u would be looking for.

Most Dogs can be trained to be a GOOD dog. The natural drive, instinct and desire is what sets the GREAT dogs apart.
I heard the black is better from a trainer in AR probably 20 - 25 yrs ago. I am also of the opinion that breeding for color has weakened many breedings. I have hunted with excellent chocolate, yellow and black labs.
They are just like people. Some of us will go further & harder to kill a duck while others decide to stay home and watch cartoons & football because the weather or not wanting to get up early or some shit. There has been a lot of good posts made above and most are in agreement on the topic.
Good luck with your pup.

If u want a good hunting dog that is good to train look at pedigree not color.. I would much rather have a good bloodline behind my dog than the color or its fur... myself personally have 2 blacks that came off different sets of fc afc dogs that had yellow parents... all depends on parents grand parents so on and so forth... If u don't think your white lab is gonna be any good do your homework buy off good stock and build the dog..

I don't understand the statement I'll give it a try... If your dog runs the opposite way from a mark the trainer knows it will be a struggle... at least he's being honest and the dog doesn't work he at least was honest in the beginning saying hell do his best but he can't promise a perfect retriever like aka said some dogs just aren't cut out to be duck dogs...

I've see. Some awesome labs of all colors but I've got a soft spot for a Chessie

My dog has a good pedigree ( choc ) Iv seen blacks that weren't worth wasting a bullet on from great pedegrees. Iv seen a yells lab that blew my freak ing mind that has her grand. Iv seen good and bad dogs of all colors. Iv seen good and bad dogs out of the same litter. To me the trainer is most important part of the process . It's a combination of things . Luck, pedegree , and training. My dogs biggest setback is me , not him.