What about black Labs? First, calmness is not dependent on color; it is dependent on breeding. If the sire and dam are calm, their puppies will be calm. However, if you have observed that black Labs tend to be higher in energy than Labs of other colors, your powers of observation are not without merit. More black Labs have been bred for field trial competitions than any other color. This means that more black Labs in the United States are typically higher in energy than Labs of other colors.
What about yellow Labs? Are they calmer than Labs of other colors? Again, calmness depends on breeding, not color. More yellow Labs have been bred to be therapy and service dogs, which means they have been bred for calmness. Many yellow Labs come from English Labrador Retriever pedigrees, as well. English Labs are calmer than American Labs. If you are observing that more yellow Labs “out there” tend to be calmer than Labs of other colors, you are probably correct.
What about chocolate Labs? Our chocolates are calmer, because we specifically breed for calmness with an "on" switch for hunting or service work. However, unfortunately, most chocolate breedings in the United States today are what we call "backyard breedings.” From our observation, there appears to be no consistency in temperament whatsoever. Some chocolate Labs are calm; some are higher in energy.
NOTE: Please note that we have nothing against many families who choose to breed their dogs at home and experience the whelping process. If we had not first gained the knowledge and joy of breeding and birthing puppies in our own home we wouldn't be where we are today. We do, however, oppose the unplanned, haphazard, irresponsible manner in which many dogs are bred, due to a lack of neutering/spaying.
What about fox red Labs? There is a combination here. Some fox reds are bred for hunting, which will often have a higher energy, depending on what the breeder wants, but we prefer calmer for our clients, so we've blended in a little bit of English Labrador to get calmer, gentler, more affectionate pups that still have an "on" switch for hunting, but don't have crazy energy.
What about Marble Mountain Kennels Dogs? We personally dislike the super frenetic, hectic, high-energy trait present in your typical field trial Labrador Retriever. They have their place and they do really well in a competitive environment or as detection dogs. However, our clients share our sentiment in preferring a calmer dog. Therefore, all of our dogs are bred for an even temperament—not super high in energy and not so low in energy that they just lie around all day like couch potatoes. We often pair one of our more energetic dogs with a calmer dog, in order to produce offspring that possess a peaceful, more even temperament. This usually results in a dog with the coveted on/off switch, making them relaxed with people in the house, but able to turn on the juice outdoors when it's time to run, play or work.
If you’re still unsure of the difference between a high-energy field trial Lab vs. our hunting and companionship Labs, let me first explain that both our Labs and field trial Labs are bred for high intelligence as evidenced in their strong hunting champion pedigrees. This makes them easy to train for any purpose, whether for basic obedience, therapy, detection work or hunting. But, just to make it clearer for you, allow me to give you an example of the difference between a field trial Lab’s energy vs. the energy of one of our Labs: You can visibly see the high intensity and attention focus in our Marble Mountain Kennels dogs each time we get ready to throw a ball or stick for them. In our dogs you will notice that every muscle in their bodies is tense as they hold still and wait for you to act. A field trial bred Lab, on the other hand, is usually all-out spastic, bouncing and running in circles as they wait for you to throw a ball or stick. Yes, you can train the high-energy field trial dogs to have patience and control on a hunt, but we prefer the natural, instinctive patience, control and intensity in our dogs. It means they require less work for us in the training process. Does this mean we never produce lively, bouncy, high-energy Labs at our kennel? No. They do show up in litters from time to time and they are very easy to spot. However, most of our pups will possess a more balanced, medium-level energy.
I hope this answers one of your top questions. If you need to ask us any other questions at all, please email us. We’d be happy to hear from you!
