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 ???????????

[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...

[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.
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

[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.