I'm getting my fiancee a dog for Christmas and I was going to get one that I could hunt with. We were looking at either a chocolate lab or a chesapeake bay. My neighbor had a cheaspeake when I was growing up and he was an incredible dog. I know it probably just comes down to personal preference like ford vs chevy but I wanted to see what yall thought about it.

Thanks,
Brian

Chesapeake Bay has great crab cakes, duck hunting and fishing. Labrador flat, cold and no resturants.

In the last few years I have read about Chessies . I never hunted with one because theres just none in this area for some reason. Well the other day the opportunity finally came . She was a 71 lb 3 years old ball of fire . Her owner said he was new to hunting and really didn't teach her more than sit. Wow a endless drive to retrieve and a very well mannered pup also . I was very impressed

It seems to me that most people interested in a Chessie are wanting to do something a little "different", just not the same old Black lab.

Chessies have their strengths, ie big strong dogs with very heavy coats. This serves them well in the ice ridden waters of where they get their name. Chessies are also known for their hard-headedness, and are not particularly known for their intelligence. That's not to say that their aren't some outstanding CBR's, cuz there are.

But if you look at the cold hard facts, the CBR's can't hold a candle to the black labrador retriever. And yes, I said black. Look at this years National Retriever Open, only 2 of the 100 qualifiers were CBR, and out of the twelve finalists that made it to the 10th series, 11 of the 12 were black.

Just the way it is.

I agree with 100% . But that ole gal was a sweety and not what I exspected .

Black lab female. If your not going to breed her have spayed as soon as she goes through her first heat cycle. I have never seen a choclate that could hold a candle to black and I don't know why. Same dog just differant color.
Have you ever considered a german shorthair? Great versital dog.

You guys wear me out on the lab color thing. It's nothing more than just that... a color! It's in the blood and training nothing more and nothing less. My chocolate female has almost too much drive to handle.

That being said by buddy has a chessie. He didn't work with her a whole lot, but we've been doing some formal training here lately and hope to get her on a hunt this season. More drive than you can imagine. She is a little hard headed and they are also known for only taking to one person. So she doesn't listen to me very well yet. But they are great dogs and I love the way the deadgrass chessies look.

FowlDreams,
With all due respect, anyone who thinks it's "just a color" is in denial of the truth.

The gene pool of the chocolate labs just aren't as strong. Ask any pro worth his salt and he will tell you that. That's not to say that there aren't some very nice chocolate dogs. But if you look at the facts, it's just undeniable.

In the field trial game, I can only think of about 3-4 chocolate labs that are standouts. The other 500 are black with some yellows.

agree with junfan...except for the new ALL TIME top derby dog happens to be a choco female.

Ammo, who is out of Wing Magic's Cajun Roux (chocolate), is one of the other 3-4 chocolate dogs that can hang.

Though I will say that Ammo only beat Robber's Stray Bullet (black) 1 out of the 7 times they faced each other head-to-head.

I have all the respect in the world for Ammo and their owners, but I personally think she was the 3rd best derby dog behind Emmitt (yellow) and Bullet.

I would rather have a all age competitor anyday over a hi point derby dog. Derby dog as you know does not always mean AA dog.

I agree with that 100%.

That's what I'm shooting for with my young dog.

one litter can can throw pups of black, yellow and choc...all those pups come from the same "gene pool". please explain to me how a choc of the same genetic make up is a lesser dog than a black or yellow? thats like saying that people with black hair are smarter than people with brown hair

the reason there are way more blacks that are great field trial dogs is just a numbers game...way more blacks born than choc.

I'm not gonna argue a fact. If you want to believe that, then be my guest.

One of the reasons you don't have many chocolate dogs in FT's is that many of them get washed out or relegated to hunt tests, gun dogs, or house pets.

I breed and train 'em... Some litters the yellows shine, sometimes the black and sometimes the chocolates. Last year I had no chocolate pups. This year, out of 19 pups, only 3 were chocolate and 11 were black. The rest are yellow. Maybe the sheer number of blacks, which is the base and original color for the breed (they far outnumber the other colors) is the reason you see so many black dogs on top. Maybe it's just that they've got the odds on their side. BTW, ALL Labs of any color begin as black dogs - then the A or B allele kicks in and either mutes black to chocolate (bb) or overrides the black coat with yellow (ee.) So, in this sense, they are ALL black dogs!

OH... Getting back to the original question - call me biased (I am) but I'd go with the Lab.

I had a Chessie many years ago. I never field trialed or did hunt tests, but that dog was the ultimate hunter. I hunted every day of duck season and every day of pheasant season. I was living on the farm and that lifestyle made it possible to hunt that much. I've never had a dog with that much drive and intelligence. He was good with kids and my family, but he was the ultimate guard dog too. Chessie's are one man/family dogs and they don't put up with anyone messing with their family. The bad thing about them - they will fight, no question about it. Maybe mine was an exception, but he didn't know the word quit. He was 96 lbs of muscle and he didn't let me leave the house without him - he slept on the top of the cab of the truck. Great dogs if you can find the right breeder. I'm so tempted to get another one, but I'm afraid with the all the other dogs I have one more breed and I'd be sleeping with the dogs.

I'd take the ford.

Your not argueing a fact your agrueing a myth. Period. No differant then Brown eyes or Blue in people... One is rescessive one not. There are more brown eyed people then blue eyed people so if 100 people took an IQ test and only 10 percent where blue eyed and 10 percent green eyed and there rest brown... Naturally Brown will have a better chance to score higher just do to the numbers of them.

Had a couple of labs growing up and loved them, like others have said though I wanted to try something different so I got a chessie. He is an awsome dog that has a huge drive better than my labs. He is not very hard headed but does have his stubern moments. Like others have said he is protective of my familly but mainly his yard. He doesnt start fights but if a dog bites him its game on and he wont get off till we seperate them. Also look at the parents some get a good deal bigger than labs, mine is curently 7 months old and weighs 86 pounds already. Labs are great dogs but I think I will stick with the chessies for the rest of my time. Something I find funny is you always see lab people asking about getting a chessie, but you dont see to many people going from a chessie back to a lab.

A couple of things. Are you looking to train this dog yourself? How educated are you about both breeds? What breeders have you talked to about each breed? The AKC web-site along with the specific breed club web-sites are a wealth of information to help you make the right purchase...

For the first timer I would say lab... But I love a chessie... I love the breed so much,,, I'm looking to co-own the next dual champion of that breed....

But they are not for the faint of heart... I mean that in a good way...

Angie

On the OP's question. I was told long ago that you train Goldens with a finger, Labs with a switch, and Chessies with a 2X4. My hunting partner has a chessie and he is a great dog. He hunts hard and is a wonderful friend to the kids.

All this other talk about color making a difference is foreign to me. Genes will play a role sure, but like my genetics prof at A&M said, "you can do more with average genes and above average enviroment than you can do with above average genes and average enviroment. Point is that all dogs are individuals and you can predict but not guarantee what they will do. Had a big yellow male that I trained and he was every bit as good as any dog I ever hunted around. I loved taking him to Rochester to hunt around all those high dollar dogs. He was an old country dog, bought him in MP for 100.00 and never paid a dime for his training. We learned together and what a blast it was.

The Field Trial game is the most competitive of all the retriever games, period. Don't you think that if chocolates were as good, or better than many of the traditional black lines, that they would be sought out? Of course they would. Particulary given the fact that chocolate dogs are so desired because of their beautiful color. This is a huge country with 300 million people and tens of thousands of chocolate labs. Surely they could be found for competition if the players wanted to find them.

Give me some facts. Give me the % of FC's or AFC's that are chocolate versus their black and yellow counterparts. Give me the number of Chocolate NFC's or NAFC's, or the % on average of finalists of Choco dogs.

You guys are talking about opinions. I'm talking about skins on the wall.

Let the facts speak for themselves.

I think you are speaking a little above my simple head. All I can say is my dog will go get what I shoot and will play catch till my arm falls off.

Mike,,, slow down... Stick with the original post please....

Angie

I'm all for the labs! Own a chocolate one myself and what a butterball! Although drive enough to get whatever I shoot and no qualms with training him anything.