Lab color

[BLACKJACK]

Interesting article in the sunday Star Tribune concerning lab color by Dennis Anderson. His point is that black labs are superior to yellow and chocolate labs, that too many breeders breed just for color. Interesting read. In my life I've had two blacks and two yellows and I have yet to notice a difference in desire and performance between my blacks and yellows....

[GotOne]

It made me think. I have a yellow-11-1/2 years old, bought from a guy in Faribault. He had the dog's in a friends garage in town-said he lives in the country and was easier to show them in town. Had both parents-they looked good. Well, anyway, after 4 years, dog starts itching and scratching bad after duck hunting. Thought it was the mucky water or something related, turned out to be allergies-very bad allergies. Went thru the allergy testing and shots for 1 year-shots didn't work. Now give med's daily that don't really seem to work half the time. Changed dog food several times-no help. Tried the B.A.R.F. method of feeding-no change. Changed vets-per recommendation on this site-no change. It's been an on- going battle trying to keep the dogs ears clean. Now she is loosing her hearing. Oh btw, been licking and chewing herself for years. I think this is a great example of what he is talking about. Sometimes, I think my dog's quality of life is not that good and I should put her down-but it's too hard. have learned my lesson and my next dog will come after lots of research.

[wallmounter]

I don't think his point was at all that blacks are superior to yellow/choc. I think his biggest point was that the lab as a breed is beeing overpopulated, and that color is taking precedence over inherited health and performance traits no matter the color. His biggest point is to make sure you do all your due diligence in researching a litter before making a purchase decision based solely on the color of the dogs coat.

[lawdog]

I would hope he wasn't trying to claim black is somehow superior, because that's just absurd. Its a gene, like hair or eye color, it doesn't determine a dog's abilities. There are GREAT yellow and chocolate labs as well as inferior black ones. The point is, I think, that breeding for a specific trait (eg color) is not what you want, while breeding for overall quality is.

[snowman678]

Read the article (it's right on their HSOforum). Thats exactly the point he was making (that too many "backyard breeders" are breeding simply to get a desired trait, in this case color without putting enough consideration into the overall quality of the breed). He even mentioned that some of the best have been yellows/chocolates.

[PikeBayCommanche]

This is what I know about Lab breeding.

Black labs have the strongest of the Lab bloodlines out there right now. This is only because people have be selectivly breeding the best of the lines for years now. This means that there are more of quality bloodlines out there to choose from.

Yellows are not far behind the blacks and there are many great bloodlines out there for great yellow labs.

Chocolates are the farthest behind but is getting better everyday. Sometime ago when ever a black would throw a chocolate they would get rid of it and not train it or breed it again. A lot of breeders thought that they were bad luck. Now there are some great Chocolate Bloodlines and I would have never gotten a chocolate if I would not have had first hand contact with one from the same bloodlines and is the best dog I have ever had.

In the end it takes responsible caring breeders that are not in it for the money in the end but producing world class hunters along with the best companions anyone could ask for.