Posted: 9/9/2009 7:52:18 PM EDT
| What's their temperament like? Are they like goldens? Anything I should know going in? |
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we currently have a golden and a chocolate
the choco is so laid back and mellow an amazing friend, we have had two since the year started unfortunately one died but they were both the same. The newest choco loves our family but hids from newbs though I like my golden but she is a lot more free will but then again she is a lot older when she got her, but she is still a great dog. Most people tell my fam she looks like a lion though which is weird |
I had mine till he died right after Ike.  His name was Baxter.
Fantastic dog. He was very mellow. I could let him off the leash and he'd stay close by all the time and would always come when called. He was very much so a pack animal. We use to call him the ninety-pound shadow because he'd follow you anywhere, even if it was just to the kitchen and back. If you suddenly stopped walking you stood a good chance of having him bump into your legs. Very attached to his family. My neighbor has a yellow lab. She's more hyper than my chocolate ever was. HTH. |
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We have a 3.5 year old female Chocolate (Bella) and a 9 month old female Golden (Yella). Bella was the only dog for a while and is very set in her ways and independent, but is an awesome dog. I can't begin to say all the good things about her but the things that come to mind are that she's very loyal, very gentle and affectionate with children and her favorite people, and is very protective when she needs to be. She hasn't calmed down much yet but has gotten to where she'll chill on her bed or on the couch for the day, hasn't chewed up things in a long time, and doesn't bark much at all. When she does, she's got a bark and growl that should be on a much bigger dog than she is at 75lbs..so she's quite effective at keeping strangers away if she doesn't feel good about them.
I could go on and on about her but she absolutely loves the water and the daily run to the P.O. Man's best friend for sure.. Yeller...well, we're still working on her. She had a rough puppyhood with some complications after being spayed, that put her back a long way. She'll be a good dog too, eventually. If I were going to get another Lab, I would look at getting a male since they're supposed to be less hard-headed than the females. Bella was really hard to train and has spent lots of nights outside when she wouldn't come home. Somehow she wasn't shot by crazy, AK-wielding neighbors. I guess it's harder to shoot a gorgeous dog in your yard if she doesn't touch your trash. Now that we have a bit of an understanding, she's a really good dog to have. |
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alot of professional retriever trainers wont take Chocs to train. those that will, do so after looking at the pedigree. most Veterinarians cringe when one walks in the door. Why on the trainers and why on the vets? They' have been known to steal your wallet. |
| My chocolate female is great. She is a little bit of an attention whore and will but her nose in if you pay attention to my yellow male, but great temperment and great with the kids. She is gun shy and not super active. My yellow male is now pushing 10 yrs old, not an ounce of fat on him and acts like he is 6 months old. Great upland bird dog and great temperment. |
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We have a 3.5 year old female Chocolate (Bella) and a 9 month old female Golden (Yella). Bella was the only dog for a while and is very set in her ways and independent, but is an awesome dog. I can't begin to say all the good things about her but the things that come to mind are that she's very loyal, very gentle and affectionate with children and her favorite people, and is very protective when she needs to be. She hasn't calmed down much yet but has gotten to where she'll chill on her bed or on the couch for the day, hasn't chewed up things in a long time, and doesn't bark much at all. When she does, she's got a bark and growl that should be on a much bigger dog than she is at 75lbs..so she's quite effective at keeping strangers away if she doesn't feel good about them. I could go on and on about her but she absolutely loves the water and the daily run to the P.O. Man's best friend for sure.. Yeller...well, we're still working on her. She had a rough puppyhood with some complications after being spayed, that put her back a long way. She'll be a good dog too, eventually. If I were going to get another Lab, I would look at getting a male since they're supposed to be less hard-headed than the females. Bella was really hard to train and has spent lots of nights outside when she wouldn't come home. Somehow she wasn't shot by crazy, AK-wielding neighbors. I guess it's harder to shoot a gorgeous dog in your yard if she doesn't touch your trash. Now that we have a bit of an understanding, she's a really good dog to have. Yea, I'd probably get a male too but I'm not set in stone. |
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My chocolate female is great. She is a little bit of an attention whore and will but her nose in if you pay attention to my yellow male, but great temperment and great with the kids. She is gun shy and not super active. My yellow male is now pushing 10 yrs old, not an ounce of fat on him and acts like he is 6 months old. Great upland bird dog and great temperment. I had a golden. Great dog. I loved him. Funny thing though. He was on a timer. He hit 11 years old and then everything went at once. The eyes, the epilepsy, the hip problems, the arthritis, losing his mind and not knowing which end was up. Oi vey
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Had 2 generations of chocolates as bird dogs. The older one retired when we got the son trained. He was always excitable and energetic until you told him to sit still and shut up so as not to scare the ducks/geese. On half a dozen occasions, the younger one would disappear underwater for as much as 15-20sec, diving after the duck/goose that went under. A couple occasions we thought he drowned. On 2 occasions he came back up with it, the rest would pop up a few feet away. He never gave up. He jumped off the back of the boat once before daylight at about 30 mph and we didn't notice until i turned around about 200yd later and WHAAAA??? Turned around found him with the spotlight still swimming towards the boat. We figured he jumped at the wake in the water, but he never did it again... They were both big puppies...
Sadly they are both gone now , and we have a mutt and a papillon...
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Had 2 generations of chocolates as bird dogs. The older one retired when we got the son trained. He was always excitable and energetic until you told him to sit still and shut up so as not to scare the ducks/geese. On half a dozen occasions, the younger one would disappear underwater for as much as 15-20sec, diving after the duck/goose that went under. A couple occasions we thought he drowned. On 2 occasions he came back up with it, the rest would pop up a few feet away. He never gave up. He jumped off the back of the boat once before daylight at about 30 mph and we didn't notice until i turned around about 200yd later and WHAAAA??? Turned around found him with the spotlight still swimming towards the boat. We figured he jumped at the wake in the water, but he never did it again... They were both big puppies... Sadly they are both gone now , and we have a mutt and a papillon...A daredevil. 
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They are very loyal dogs, much like their GR cousins. They love to chew on things and like water. Watch out if you got a kid, cause the dog will jump in the tub. Get them a kiddy pool to cool off in and drink from. All mine have drank from the toilet. Chocolates are awesome dogs.. FYI it is my opinion that feeding them human food leads to diabetes. Maybe it is a certain category of food.. i dunno. |
| We found Rusty wondering around the woods three years ago. He was about two and weighed 20 pounds. It took him about three weeks to realize he was part of the family. I house trained him in 10 seconds. Showed him the doggie door and that was that. He's a great watch dog, a loyal friend and a awesome hunter. We'll always have us a Chocotate Lab. |
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They are like any other dog. They have their own personalities. Some are stubborn and some are just laid back. My 7 1/2 year old male is stubborn.Voices his displeasure when I make him do something he doesn't want to do. However he is a GREAT DOG. Very smart, and extremely protective of my wife and daughter. Let's those who do not live at my house, that it would be better if they did not come in the yard. Now if I invite people over and tell him it is OK, then he is a lap dog. As mentioned, mine loves water, and if there is water within a mile he is in it. He also freaks when the tailgate drops on the truck. It is his truck and I just made the payments. |
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Quoted: alot of professional retriever trainers wont take Chocs to train. those that will, do so after looking at the pedigree. most Veterinarians cringe when one walks in the door. This is true. A nationally known trainer did my CLF, and he said the day I brought her in that I shouldn't have high hopes, and he'd call me in a week and let me know if he'd be able to do anything with her. I called a week later and he told me I should've bought a lottery ticket the same day I picked up the pup.  |
Mocha on the left Jessie on the right Mocha is super mellow she's 12.5 now and has gone blind from diabetes and we give her insulin shots daily but is still chuggin along like there aint nothin wrong. Jessie is super smart and very lovable but can turn into a pipe hittin &*%%$# on another dog if she gets pissed. Saw her brawl down on this Great Dane when it wanted to play with Mocha but Mocha didn't want to. Made me real proud of her sticking up for her big sis like that.
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I adopted my chocolate at 2 1/2 years old from a family of a lady my mom worked with. Their kids played soccer (which they somehow taught the dog to do, and he does it most of the time on command) and were never home due to various tournament schedules. He was trained well and listens to whatever I say. Good watch dog (just barked at something outside and I went out there to investigate but it was the neighbors close to our fence out back) and loves kids.
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| Mine was great. I got him when he was about 7 years old. He ended up getting full of tumors before I had to put him down. I have talked to several chocolate lab owners since then and it seems like a lot of them had the same problem. When the dogs got up there in age, they'd start getting tumors. Don't know if that is a common trait for chocolates or not. |
This is my buddy Fletcher...
I got him when he was about a year old, and he's going on 6 now. Up until about a year ago, he was a real handful. He would chew shit like crazy, and was always going 110%. I'd walk him twice a day (aside from small walks for him to do his business), and he'd still be full of piss and vinegar. Now that I've got a house with a decent sized, fenced in yard, he stays outside to burn that energy. No more chewin' or other general shenanigans. I don't know if it's due to him getting older or the yard, but I am happy as hell he's settled down. I wouldn't get rid of him for anything. He listens to me very well, and is awesome with children, and people in general. |
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Our is female, 8 months old. Friendliest puppy ever, super excitable. Demands attention of she'll chew things like mad. Did I mention really excitable? And needs full attention? And when she chews stuff, she does *good* damage....
(Having kids watch her turns out to be pretty expensive) So...if you can give em attention, and LOTS of exercise, but at least ours isn't a dog for the lazy... Keith |
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Chocolates are known for being more stubborn and hard headed than black or yellow labs.
Golden Retrievers to me aren't as bright as Labs, and there's something about their disposition which I've never taken to but then I'm really just biased towards Labs. If you want a similar dog that puts Labs to shame in the intelligence department, are extremely tough, very very protective, then look at Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. Only problem is that most tend to be one person dogs and can be stubborn as hell, and difficult for the novice to train. You can easily force train a Lab, but Chessies don't respond well to force training at all, you have to understand the dog and use psychology to train them, by making them want to do what you tell them to, then it just becomes expected and habit. Mine even pees and craps on command, heels off the leash and won't budge from my side unless I tell him to go on, knows all the normal commands, ect... and he knows too damn many words to where it's hard to keep him from knowing what your talking about. Has a great personality that cracks me up at times especially when he gets his evil grin and I know he's about to do something. For instance while walking him through the neighborhood, two Lesbos wanted their dog to meet mine and I nor my dog was really in the mood to stop and be social. The dog started sniffing Bisley's privates, so Bisley got this evil grin and I knew what he was about to do, but couldn't get No out quick enough. He heisted his leg and pissed all over the Lesbos dog's head, lol. Great dog. Edit to add: I've had Black Labs and they have been great dogs, eager to please and easy to train. Very high energy, but I found Chessies and haven't turned back. |