Black Labs, Male vs. Female

[blueboy]

i own a male black lab,and he can be a hand full,but he,s a great freind and a hell of of a hunting dog ,his parents were feild trail dogs so he,s hyper even at the age 9,but i think it,s genetics . if i would do it again i would get another male

[Freshtracks]

I had a female .... as a pup .... well puppies are puppies. When it came to hunting ... she gave it everything a male would. I'd stay with a female.

[ohno]

I've have to add my experiences with Labs as well. Growing up we always had male yellow labs. They were good bird dogs, but high strung.

I have a 7yr old female black lab. She is great with birds both ducks and upland birds. In addition I've never had an issue with who's boss.
She mellowed fairly quickly in about a year, but that was before we had kids and we spent a lot of time training her.

[Marc]

I'd have to say it depends on each dog as well and how well they are trained. A poorly trained female will give you just as much grief as a male. When I live back east I knew of a couple that owned a lab on two seperate ocassions and had to get ride of them because they were out of control. Was this the dogs fault? I don't think so. With either a male or female dog if you want them to behave you need to start training at an early age and let them know who is the boss. The most important thing is to stay consistent. Either they are alowed on the couch all the time or never. Basic obedience is a must in any dog and then move on from there. For someone who's getting their first dog I'd recommend obedience classes.

[Rob]

Thanks for the replys everyone, we chose a female pup and will be picking her up soon. I will start her in obidience classes as well, the hardest part right now is keeping it a secret form the kids. Thanks, Rob

[patbrennan]

Dewey, I think you made a good choice. I'd definitely get a female, and I had a well bred male Lab. He was a good dog, but we did have a few battles of will. If I get another dog, it will definitely be a female, and a laid back one at that.

[Mr. Dean]

I've had several Lab's over the years. 1 male and two girls. The Male (Jake) was with out a doubt, a PITA, even after getting him snipped.

Of the three, he was the best protector of the children; he wouldn't back down from nothn'. For this reason, he was my favorite... But other than that, he wouldn't do squat unless it was on his terms. And this eventually led to his demise - He got nailed by a car because he HAD to go whiz @ the top of the driveway....

The females both ran circles around him when it came to working in the field. Ole Jake just didn't give a $hit....

AND he didn't mellow out until he was near 5. I swear his momma dropped him on his head when giving birth! But he did serve us well as being a protector, and this was the role intended, upon him comming into our lives. Just had to keep him on leash at ALL times, or else he was GONE.


Miss that dog to this very day. I kinda envied his cavalier and no nonesense attitude. But he was a dick and THAT shoulda been his name.

[Marc]

Dogs are like humans, not two are alike. I have a male and a female right now and the female is dumb as a stump. All she is good for is eating groceries and eating the poop off the back lawn. I'm not saying females are dumb but in my case I got a dumb female who has no intrest in hunting. On the other hand my male once neutered was a hunting machine.

My next puppy that I'm picking up this weekend hopefully if everything works out is a Chessie male. The training will start pretty much the first day he gets home. The only place he'll be off the leash is in the back yard until he behaves on the leash. Then baby steps from there.

[newhunterette]

My "Hunter" is a black lab - she pretends to be dumb until we turn our backs then she is a sly genious - she pretends she doesnt know her commands until it is really time to work then she pays attention - but playtime she becomes a ditz

[brian]

Generally speaking, females stick around the home territory more and let the guys find them. Whereas males have more wanderlust, they're looking for a bitch in heat. That's why I prefer females, a bit more steady when it comes to knowing they're less inclined to run away and wander the neighborhood for a few days looking for trouble. After that they're dogs and do dog things and have dog personalities. Gotta love them.