Chocolate Lab Facts
by Administrator
Filed under Featured Content, Labrador Overview
Labrador Retrievers are very popular in both Great Britain and the U.S. They are, in fact, the most popular registered breed in both countries. Of the three colors, black, chocolate, and yellow, black may be the most numerous. Chocolate Labs, however, are gaining in popularity, and an increasing number of people seek information about them.
Chocolate Lab Coloring
Chocolate Lab facts often begin with attention to the color. The Labrador Retriever Club and AKC standards for chocolate Lab coloring requires that the dog be chocolate colored from head to tail. It may be medium or dark chocolate, but without white. A small white spot on the chest is permissible, but not desirable. There should be no striping or flecks of coloring. Chocolate Labs have brown eye rims, and brown or hazel eyes.
If you breed two chocolate Labs, you may or may not get chocolate puppies. The chocolate gene is recessive, and only two combinations of genes in the parents will produce chocolate puppies. Chocolate Lab puppies may be born from black Labs or yellow Labs who carry the genes.
Chocolate Lab Temperament
A properly bred chocolate Lab will have a loving temperament, and will be want a great deal of attention and love in return. It will be energetic, but fun to train, since it is eager to please. Its enthusiasm for you will rival its enthusiasm for food and exercise!
Chocolate Lab Grooming
A chocolate Lab does not require a great deal of grooming. You should, however, brush it once a week to keep its coat clean. Labs shed, or “blow” their coats twice a year, and need additional grooming at those times.
Chocolate Lab Origins
Chocolate Labs have been present from the beginnings of the Labrador Retriever breed in the 1800’s. Chocolate Labs have not been popular as long as black and yellow Labs.
Popularity is increased when dogs win shows, and chocolate Labrador Retrievers did not have a bench champion until 1964, in Great Britain. Chocolate Labs are still the rarest Labrador Retriever color in the show ring as well as field tests. Judges and spectators both continue to show prejudice against them. Some find them almost ugly, and not fit for the show ring. Others believe they are stupid and cannot win field trials.
Choc labs are not agressive but mine is not crazy about the mailman. I could see that he comes everyday and its an invasion to his property. They are not stupid too. We adopted Rodney when hes already 5 (we thought he was 1), boy! he was totally untrained. After one year of hell, rodney is now trained and sweet and smart. hey, he is a dog, he will always want more food and curious about the garbage. thats normal. I wouldnt trade him for anything else. He loves children too.
AGE: can anyone help me here? We adopted a choc lab 4 yrs ago. We were told that he was 1 yr old. Three years go by, his face whitten up, paws and belly got white. Yesterday, we had an emergency visit to the vet. He was in pain in his joints and acting lethargic and stiff. Possible arthritis. Now, my question is how old do you think he is? What is the average age to get white on the face and paws? I hate to see him age and it seems he is declining fast. He is taking Rimadal and Rejuvanate. Itll take a couple weeks to see improvements. Im sad!
IHAVE A 9 MONTH OLD CHOCOLATE LAB, HE IS HYPER AS U LIKE AND REQUIRES LOADS OF ATTENSION. I SPOKE 2 A MAN WHO HAS ALWAYS HAD LABS, AND HE SAYS THEY NEVER GROW UP PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ME HES WRONG AND THEY DO EVENTUALLY CALM DOWN.
Our German Sheppard had terrible seizures and often more than one at a time. We finally found a dose of Phenobarbital that worked for him and he was seizure free for over a year before we had to put him down after he fell down the stairs and broke his back. He was eight and we miss him. We have a chocolate lab puppy as a new companion to us and our golden retriever. The lab is 10 weeks old and fully trained; a very intelligent dog.
My son has a female Chocolate Lab.She is about 2 1/2 now. She was an apartment dog for a year and stayed in a huge indoor crate. She actually enjoyed her crate but misssed running and exercising during the day. Now she is in a huge fenced yard and has freedom to run and play which is mandatory in my opinion.
I kept her for 6 months and worked hard to build a nice, large fenced area in the shade. After 3-4 hours of non-stop barking, she became a very happy housedog!! (seperation anxiety) Labs desperately crave a warm body: human, dog, or cat. They hate to be alone. I am not sure there is any way to change this except to have another compantion dog. They are very social dogs and love to interact with others!
I have a 9 year old chocolate lab named mac and he is the best dog that i have ever had. he is very friendly and would not hurt a fly. he loves to be loved on and to play outside. he is always up for a ride in the truck and to go hunting which is his most favorite thing to do. most people say that the shedding of the lab is what turns them away but thats just part of the package when getting a lab. my lab is pretty tall but i have seen labs that are short,tall,and inbetween if you are thinking about getting a lab then chocolate is the way to go!!!
I have a 3 1/2 year old, purebread, female chocolate lab. We’ve had her since she was about 10 weeks old. This dog is the most amazing dog ever. So easy to train and she NEVER has chewed anything,or dug,or shown any agressive or distructive tendacies. Ever!! She meets any new stranger (kid, adult, man, or woman) and the worst she’ll do is lick you all over.:-) Choc labs are by far the best pets ever…I will own nothing else. And I have yet to meet an aggresive one. They are amazing with young children as well.
However, I do have a question about predisposed genitic health issues. As young as my dog is, she has been exhibiting joint pain since she was about 1 1/2 yrs old. Her front legs (elbow) can become quite painful and she’ll limp for days after exesive running or playing. I am starting to get very worried for her and I don’t know what to do. They say this is a genetic trait in labs. Has anyone else had issues like this and what have you done?
I have a chocolate lab named Coco Santana. She is bright eyed and full of energy. She almost has a humanlike personality and I love her to death.She is loving and very devoted.
Hi, I am very seriously considering a chocolate lab. I recently lost my 1st dog (a Chow) My question is do labs get along with other dogs easily? My Chow never liked other dogs, cats she loved as family but not dogs. I have friends with dogs that I would love to take my new choco around. Any thoughts?
Thanks
My family just lost our Chocolate Lab who was almost 8 months old. She was the best dog ever. I would definitely reccommend getting a Chocolate Lab. If you are getting one though had we know earlier, if you notice any signs of not wanting to eat and not gaining weight, please have them tested for a liver shunt. After numerous trips to the vet and being told it was inflamation in her joints, we lost her last Thursday. It was a liver shunt that another vet found and believes she was born with it. After having many dogs, I think she was the most lovable, sweet, dog anyone could have asked for.
If I breed my yellow male with my chocolate female, what color puppies could I expect?
I have a 4 1/2 year old chocolate lab. He is a wonderful dog. He is very hyperactive. This should be expected.His name is Chett and he weighs around 95lbs, loves to play all the time. Frisbee is his favorite game play. My Wife and I wouldn’t trade him for any thing! Just be patient with them, they are smarter than you think.
take her swimming. this is best for big dogs, low impact.
We have two female 4 month old chocolate lab/rottweiler mix puppies. One of the sisters does have seperation anxiety while the other is just fine. They are wonderful dogs so far and doing fine with the start of training. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all continues to go well!
We have a 3 yr old chocolate lab. He is wonderful. We adopted him about 1 1/2 months ago from a ranch. He is very smart, loving, and playful. He seems to be protective over us which is great considering our lab/beagle is not at all. The only problem we are having is he constantly licks his paws. We tell him no lick he stops for a moment but eventually starts back up. Can anyone help?
My 3 year old chocolate lab grew to be over 120lbs within a year and a half. He is a monster but I have him now under weight control around 100lbs. I have aggression problems with him and have paid extensively to recieve help training him. Has anyone encountered a choc lab be very aggressive when being crated?
I seem to be experiencing some of the same things. It happened roughly a year ago and again in the past week or two. Seems to be something setting him off when we put him in the crate, and about four times it has happened where he just gets this look on his face and he freaks out.
People always talk about certain breeds being aggressive or having bad behavior. The truth is, any dog of any breed can become whatever you want it to be. Go out and buy a pit bull, with the right training it can become the sweetest, most calm dog you know…and vice versa, without the proper training any dog can be misbehaved and overly aggressive. Everyone needs to stop listening to the generic stereotypes they hear about certain breeds of dogs. There are way more bad owners out there than there are bad dogs. They are timid and passive and therefore the dog thinks that he/she is the boss and in control. You cant let this happen.
Any color lab bred with any color lab can have any color combination of puppies…its genetics.
I just had to put my girl down, she was hit by a car. She was by far the most loyale dog i ever had. My family was absolutely devistated as was i.We will be looking to fill that emptyness very soon with only but one breed of dog,the chocalate lab.
I’ll be bringing home an 8-week-old male chocolate lab this Saturday. I did a great bit of “studying” before deciding to get a Labrador. I have a good idea of what I’m getting myself into, but does anyone have any advice they wish to share with me? This will be my first large dog. I’m not worried about the chewing, as I’ve bought plenty of toys for him to chew on and plan on crate-training him in my 8.5 hr absence during the workday. I’m not worried about the excercise either, as I recently quit smoking and welcome more activity in my life, the more active the better. My roommate, however, has an older male toy poodle. Any idea how these two may cohabit in my home until the lease is up at the end of July?
I have a 10 month old choc. lab from a rescue group. He has some white on his chest. Does anyone know if this is part of their genes or could he be mixed with another breed. Other then that he is all chocolate. Loves the beach and loves to chew. And takes up most of the bed..hahaha. thanks Ken
Our Chocolate lab is 2 1/2 years old. When we got her she was 8 weeks old she whined at the door when she had to go potty she never chewed anything up except her own toys. She hinks when people come over they are there to see her it takes her about 15 min to calm down. She loves I mean loves the water we take her to the ocean and she breaks waves and retrieves like crazy. She does anything to please. She gets along with my two cats and is really good with kids very gentle. Protective to a point she just lets strangers know that she is there and will protect me I guess. Labs are very good dogs would recommend
Well, my wife and are very pleased with our chocolate labs disposition. He’s an energetic 8 y.o., loveable and very loyal. There’s just one big problem: he’s dog aggressive. I’m not quite sure how he developed this behavior because he gets along well with the other dog that we have. Anyhow, we wouldn’t give him up for the world regardless, but most labs that I have encountered are very gentle and pleasant. He’s great with people and even young children. What more could you ask for really.
We feel your pain Karen. That sounds like our Graham to the tee. Except he was supposed to be 2 y.o., but was actually 6 mos. and untrained. Crazy.
Our black lab would have grandmal seizures. He would race through rooms with a terrified look in his eyes, fall over and thrash arounjd while on the floor, loose control of his bowels. His epilepsy was controled by medication. Years later the medication stopped working and compassion dictated putting him to sleep.
yeah i know what you mean i have had my dog for almost three years he is a mess but i love him
We have a seven month old chocolate lab Sassy! We love her to death and she is such a great listener. We are trying to train her to hunt quail and she is doing wonderful. The only problem we have with her is that she “tinkles”. She will get so excited and worked up that she will leave a trail of pee across the living room. What can we do about this? It’s driving us crazy!
I would recommend a chocolate lab to anyone!! I have my first lab who is now 6 months old, and she is the smartest, sweetest most loving little girl. She will lick you to death but that’s the only thing she will do to strangers or friends we have in our home. We haven’t had any problems with her chewing yet. When she was really young she had a lot or toys and her favorite were nylabones. Extremely helpful when she was teething. She loves to cuddle in bed and play outside in the snow. She either gets a walk or we run around with her in our back yard everyday. There are certain days in the week where we leave her for 7 hours and she does great in her crate. She also loves her crate, often puts herself to bed at night when she is tired. Have never experienced any aggressive behavior with people or dogs.
One thing I would recommend when your pup is young is taking them to a dog park nearby. We have taken her numerous times and she sometimes likes the people more than the dogs, but eventually just runs with all the other dogs. I would only take them once they have all their shots though, there might be a slim chance of them picking something up. Other than that it’s a great thing for your lab if they are the only dog in your home.
If you are having any doubts on getting a chocolate lab, don’t hesitate. I would recommend females, but heard males are just as sweet. We love Kaia for than anything in this world, and spoil her rotten.
I have a chocolate lab and he is one. He was so hyper when he was younger and I have noticed lately that he is only hyper in spurts now. He is also extra protective. Why is this with my dog. Why is he hyper in spurts and what made him so protective of me?
Hello, I just want to say that I have owned many different breeds of dogs but my all time favorite now is my Chocolate Lab. I got him when he was 6 weeks old and he is a dream to train.. He was housebroken at 3 months old and he learned many tricks at a young age. He is very smart and loving. The only draw back I have found so far is they do not like to be left alone (seperation anxiety). He loves children and is very protective of my step children if he thinks they are being hurt. I would recommend owning a lab to anyone!!!
Hi Andrew, Sorry to hear about your problems with your lab. Our choc lab dog, Jed is nearly 3 and he has been having fits since he was 6months old. Vet said at first it was excitement-try more excerise keep him away from stressful and excting situations not exactly easy when they are pups.He was finally diagnosed with canine epilepsy and it was a huge relief to know what the cause was.He is on 2 types of medication epiphen and potassium bromide, there are known side effects of these drugs but the benefits far outway the cons. His fits are much less severe than they were before – he has one roughly every 6-8wks. I know it is not is not nice to see your beloved pet having a seizure but in time you learn to cope with them. He is a very healthy dog in between times and he has brought so much happiness into our family. I suggest you read all you can about canine epilepsy and talk to your vet about it.need anymore info please reply.
I am going to be getting a chocolate lab puppy soon,,,Do i get male or female and why?
my lab has shown some well its not aggressiveness but she will nibble when i leave the house for a while. when i come back she barks and wants to nibble your fingers
I have a 1 year 1 month dog and I am writing a book about him but it will be fake and I need some help, if you have some funny memories with your puppy can you tell me.
we just got a puppy at 6 weeks but now he is 11 weeks really nice a little mouthy but i would reccomend a choco lab to anyone
my famly got a chocolate lab about a month back and i am teching him to be a bird hunter . he is a pain but wirth it.
I raised my nephew and his choc. lab for over 10 years. when I got there the lab was fairly untrained, hyper and lived outside all year unless it was too cold for his heated house. He was allowed to come in the home to live when he was about 5 or 6 and has been quite the little ham. He thinks he’s a 10 pound chihuaua and wants to be a lap dog but his 75 lbs dont register to the light house if you know what I mean. They are just like most dogs/kids when they are young they like to run and play and get into a bit of trouble we call it “dumpster diving” no matter how much he eats if something is in the can and no one is watching Its HIS! he has had a couple seizers that scared the heck out of me but if you get to them and just calm them dowm and hold them down so they dont get hurt and pet them and everything will be ok. My newphew has since graduated and has moved on his own with his dog that I miss dearly. There is no better dog to own than a chocolate lab. My nephew is pretty good kid too!