Hey Lab Owners

[Rob]

We are going to get a lab when we get back from Alaska.
Shoud I get a Male of female ??
I have been told that the males are smarter .
Is that True ???????????

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Life/untitled-1.jpg

[Hewie]

Rob-
I don't know if I'll get around to answering your question, but I'll share some of my experience with you.
1. Mosey over to some of the hunting or field trial oriented retriever web sites and start reading. Its been a while since I've been focused on dogs, but you can start with http://www.working-retriever.com.
2. To reiterate a point I made previously, call, email, or meet with the members of the Wasatch Hunting Retriever Club (www.whrc.us). These people are amazing. I went to one picinic trial before I bought my lab, met some people, told them I was looking for a dog with certain characteristics. Soon, I had people calling me recommending various kennels with litters on the way. The kennels I talked to were "hobby" breeders with great dogs, really no more expensive than the "neighborhood" breeders, but much more discriminating. (a hint: if the dogs aren't nearly all spoken for before the litter hits the ground, something's amiss)
3. Go to the library or book store and read all you can. I can't remember the authors of my favorite books, but Retreiver Training by the Dobbs, the Monks of New Skeet book, and Richard Wolter's books are all good. Again, tons of recommendations on the dog forums.
4. I ended up with a yellow female. No reason really. I don't know what I'll get next time either, but my "needs" are different now as well since I don't hunt as much since moving to California. But I'm of the opinion that there is more difference kennel to kennel than there is based on sex or color.

Sorry if I come across preachy, but watch my dog work in the field, fish with me, out in public, or with strange toddlers pulling at her ears and poking her in the eyes, I think you'd understand. None of us would buy a new rod without a test cast in the parking lot. Put at least the same effort in finding a dog, and you'll be amazed at what you can end up with.

Dave

[Gregg]

From what I've heard, males are always smarter than females... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Neal Humphrey]

I've owned three dogs and now have a pair of Yellow Lab bitches. They're full sisters, same dam and sire, but there's about 18 months age difference. They're also pedigreed from hunting and field trial lines.

I can't quite put my finger on what the difference is, but I'm going to stick with bitches in the future. The response to training was remarkable. The older sister I presently have is the most solid retrieving/field worker I've ever owned.

[sculpin]

Wind Knot offers some good advice. I have always owned females but that doesn't mean they are smarter. What experience I've had it seems the males I have been around need a stronger hand when training. I'm not a trial person and all my Labs have just been hunting partners/pets. A Lab will be your best buddy no matter which you decide on.

Mark

[Rob]

Thanks for the GREAT info !!!

Wind Nots you reply was not preachy at all and As always full of great advice. :D
We have always had female dogs . Over the years we had 6 basset hounds and One German shepherd. Bassets are great dogs but I want a dog I can take fly fishing and hunting . I am looking forward to the whole training process. I have plenty of time now and a large yard.

Thank again every body-
Rob

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Life/bb5wltblsm.jpg

[Jgoding]

Our first dog was a female lab. Best dog I've ever seen period. Her dad was chocolate and her mom was black but she looked all black for the most part except for some small areas of speckling on her legs.

She was the smarter than most dogs I've seen as far as disposition and just plain personality went. We could take her camping, fishing, and hunting and she never quit out on us as it was her passion to be in the field when she wasn't begging for food somewhere. Also, if she got bored if we were busy fishing and keeping her out of the water she'd just disapear and walk back to camp (even new places she knew how to get back every time)..

She wasn't say the best trained hunting dog (well, she was never trained actually) but she could retrieve pretty well and was mostly an upland game bird dog and not a duck dog anyways. But she was a natural when it came to working cover and staying in flushing distance. She never gave up looking for a downed bird either. She knew what gunshots meant and even if you took out a pellet rifle and pointed somewhere she would start working that area.

But basing my experience on this dog I have come up with the ultimate test for your dog... use the old pretend to throw a ball trick... Our first dog never fell for this even the first day we got her.... throw a ball for them a few times then do a pretend throw and if they keep running down the street looking for a ball... then you may not have the best dog from the litter.....LOL. Or a secondary test.... she was the biggest food hound ever... so we would play tricks on her. One time we were eating really hot chips and salsa and she wouldn't stop begging, so we gave her some... well, dogs react the same way to capscin as we do... hot hot hot... after a couple chips she knew what it meant to dip it in salsa so from that day on she would always sniff test any chip she saw you dip in anything... if you didn't dip the chip, she'd eat it right away, but if she saw you dip the chip, she would always smell it first and if she smelled salsa she wouldn't eat it....

[Digger]

a dog's intelligence level is directly proportional to the amount and quality of time put in to training her/him.

between breeds there may be differences, between sexes it's more characteristics.

do use a good/reputable breeder which will likely cost more.

one other concern, breeds that are popular at the moment (i.e. retreivers), tend to be overbred to meet demand, and thus can incur some unusual medical illnesses, which is why you should use a professional breeder.

[Mario]

When you are looking for a Lab pup make sure that the parents have a CERF (http://www.vmdb.org/cerf.html) for their eyes and OFA certification for their hips (http://www.offa.org/). Aside from this make sure that the parents have had no other significant medical problems. Make sure that the puppies have been checked out by a veterinarian before you buy the pup to make sure their heart sounds good and that no other obvious medical problems exist. Good luck! I have a golden retriever and a lab...they are great dogs!

[Neal Humphrey]

Any critter who is bred with the expectation of going out and pickingup your food for you, and then bringing it back intact, has got to be a good breed. And rememember, Labradors were first developed for fishing! They retrieved nets.

[Rob]

Now that we are back from Alaska !!!!
Meet our new member of the family.
Jake our Black Lab 7 weeks old. :D :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Jake%20our%20Lab/DSCN0033.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Jake%20our%20Lab/JakeSleeping2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Jake%20our%20Lab/DSCN0031.jpg

[FoothillFlyFisher]

Beautiful pup Rob. Good luck with him. Don't forget to pick up anything up you wouldn't want him to carry off, only to find it later with little teeth marks in it.

"I remember when my yellow lab was a pup she found one of my prize dry fly capes, and let's just say it look like a chicken exploded in my kitchen."

You can't go wrong with a lab. I've had three in my life and they all where great hunting dogs, and wonderful friends.

[Jay Murakoshi]

Rob,

Great looking dog. I've had my black lab for 12 years. I picked him up from a gal who had to get rid of the dog. It was either the boyfriend or the dog. I picked up the dog when it was a year old. And it became a house dog and not a hunting dog since I quit hunting years ago. He is also registered with the AKC and some other breeders assoc.
I did take the dog a couple times to the Forebay and both times when I had a striper to the boat, the dog would jump in after it. The only way to land the dog was to troll it back to the bank.
It's been a great dog and I'm sure it knows how to hunt. It's caught humming birds, black birds, gophers and mice. I would also hide dog bones in the bushes and give him hand signals and he understood them.
He also minded better than my kids on most occasions. As for a guard dog, he would probably show a burglar how to get into the house.
Now that he's almost 13, he's starting to slow down, the black is turning to white and in the cold weather, hid arthritus in the bones flares up. He does swim every day in my swimming pool but I still can't get him to jump off the board

After looking at your pups picture, it makes me want to get another dog but I swore after my dog passes, there's no more pets in my future. Tired of picking up POOP and I think the garbage man will also be happy
:D :D :D

Jay

[Jay Murakoshi]

Rob,

Great looking dog. I've had my black lab for 12 years. I picked him up from a gal who had to get rid of the dog. It was either the boyfriend or the dog. I picked up the dog when it was a year old. And it became a house dog and not a hunting dog since I quit hunting years ago. He is also registered with the AKC and some other breeders assoc.
I did take the dog a couple times to the Forebay and both times when I had a striper to the boat, the dog would jump in after it. The only way to land the dog was to troll it back to the bank.
It's been a great dog and I'm sure it knows how to hunt. It's caught humming birds, black birds, gophers and mice. I would also hide dog bones in the bushes and give him hand signals and he understood them.
He also minded better than my kids on most occasions. As for a guard dog, he would probably show a burglar how to get into the house.
Now that he's almost 13, he's starting to slow down, the black is turning to white and in the cold weather, hid arthritus in the bones flares up. He does swim every day in my swimming pool but I still can't get him to jump off the board

After looking at your pups picture, it makes me want to get another dog but I swore after my dog passes, there's no more pets in my future. Tired of picking up POOP and I think the garbage man will also be happy
:D :D :D

Jay

[Rob]

We have had Jake 24 hrs now and I can't believe how smart he is. He slept with Cody last night and never made a sound until 6:30 am when he need to go out. To night we will see how well he does on his own in his dog crate. :?: Mt wife said she did not want another dog after we had to put the last one down. :cry: Well she changed her mind before we even got home with Jake last night. :shock: :D And she took the Lab book I bought to work today. :) Today she has been on the phone letting all her friends know we have a Lab. :shock:

Thank again for all the great info and kind words.
Rob.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Jake%20our%20Lab/DSCN0006.jpg

[Mario]

Cute pup! Look at that cute innocent face.....he is already plotting his "attack" for those terrible two's.... :-) Congrats on the new family member.

[bonish]

You might want to check out a retriever puppy training video titled "Sound Beginnings" done by Jackie Mertens of Topbrass Retrievers. Lots of good stufff to set a sound foundation.

[Rob]

Bonish

I Just looked at some reviews of her DVD and ordered It.
Jake is the smartest dog I have ever had. He knows how to sit, lay and shake already. One smart Puppy !!!!!!!! :thumbsup:


Thanks Rob

[bkobrin]

Sounds like you are well on your way. I always thought that the phrase "man's best friend" was just something cute that people said. Ever since I got Arthur as a puppy, however, I knew that a more true statement has never existed. Since you have had other dogs, I'm sure you understand the importance of training, but I don't think it can be said enough! People that don't take the time to properly train their dog simply don't get as much out of the relationship. Congratulations on your beautiful lab, no better breed exists!

-Ben

PS: Sorry about the pictures. My wife and I don't have kids yet so we find ourselves showing pictures of our dogs instead!

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/ArthurStare2.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/PC250008.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/0ben000-R1-028-12A2.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/0ben000-R1-032-14A.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j35/lazychuck1/BenArthur2.jpg

[Darian]

Hmmmm,.... Just for my clarification, can any of these dogs tie or cast a fly :?: :?: :?: I know they're smart but c'mon :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I guess I'd like to get one to go with me as a fishin' pal. :) :) :)

[Rob]

Nice Lab Ben !!!

I never thought I could love a animal as much as I love this Dog.
I have had 8 other dogs in my life but there is something very special about this one. :shock: I have never had a dog that learns as fast as Jake. He has me wrapped around his little paw. :wink:

I see your dogs has boots on. When do you need them ?
Are they for the Rocks ?

ThANKS -
Rob

[bkobrin]

We spend almost every weekend of the summer backpacking up in the Sierras north of Yosemite. When we go through long stretches on the granite then I will put his shoes on, otherwise he does just fine. Carries his own food and water without complaint!

[bonish]

Rob:

Don't how "serious" you want to get into the training, but let me know if you might be interested in some other resources such as the Mike Lardy videos. Though it's geared more for the field trial/hunt test games, the basics are really the same for a sound gun dog, especially if you want one that will handle for blind retrieves.

There's also a specific retriever training area, with technical ponds, in the SLC area. I'll see if I can look that up somewhere. I plan on checking it out, along with the Lower and Middle Provo and the Strawberry, when we fly out to SLC for a family party this weekend.



-Bo

[Hewie]

Bo-
You're probably thinking of the Lee Kay Center. It's about 5600 West 2100 South. You'll learn more there during a WMR picinic day than by watching every DVD ever published. Highly recommended. I sure wish I could find a resouce like that in N Calif.
Dave

[mikenewman]

Here are my constant fishing companions. Not Labs but I figured pointing the fish would be more useful to me than just retrieving :lol:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a317/Mikenewman_/fishmarch06004.jpg

Cally & Lulu - German Wire Haired Pointers.

[Jgoding]

My lab used to point fish, especially dead stinky ones.... but she would point live ones holding next to the bank too...and she liked it when you hooked up with a "toy".

[bonish]

Dave ("Wind Knot"):

You're right, it is the Lee Kay Center. I believe the State of Utah also has several other wildlife areas available for dog training in Weber County, which is much closer to where I think Rob is.

Around here, though certainly not free, Lakeview Farms in Lincoln and their association with the Calif. Retriever Training Association (CRTA) has some training resources available with some really good technical water. Also, I think the Grupe Ranch in Lodi still offers day-training use, though I'm not sure.

www.lakeviewfarmsinc.com
www.crtaonline.com