I've got three Labs, a male and two females. The male has greater stamina and strength and will hunt for several additional hours under the worst conditions compared to the girls in both fresh and salt water. In training, he was definitely the more headstrong, however, he also had the superior retrieve and hunt drives and was comfortable and capable of effecting multiple blind retrieves at far greater distances than the girls. I don't know, perhaps it was a confidence issue. The girls, however, are both much faster than the male and do much better at flushing upland game. Their smaller size also helps in the grouse woods. Whichever ### you choose, do yourself a favor and have them fixed. Most legit breeders will require that you sign a contract proving this, unless you pay for the breeding rights. Look for a breeder who specializes in producing true gundogs, NOT show dogs! Make sure that they provide a written guarantee that their animals are free of eye, hip and elbow problems. Make sure you socialize your new puppy well. Get them used to being handled regularly from nose to tail, including during meal times. You don't want a food aggressive dog, especially if small children are in the house or may visit.
Also, be sure to regularly Pull, tug on toe nails, play with their ears, footpads, stick your fingers in their mouth and run it along their gums, lift their paws/legs, etc... You want them to accept any handling you carry out with complete trust. Be sure to get your vet to show you how to properly clip their toenails and buy yourself a quality pair of pliers type nailclippers. Avoid the guillotine type.
I know that this sounds wacky, but believe me, if you do this, when the time comes and you need to render first aid, instead of causing them more fear/panic, the handling will be familiar and calming, and you'll enjoy complete trust. This will allow you to render first aid in the field and give you the time you need to get your dog to the vet, if needed.
Finally, introduce loud gun like noises gradually. Use positive reinforcement. I like to feed my new puppies outside during gun training, and while they're enjoying the meal I will be next to them for reassurance while a partner with a loud cap gun fires off rounds, gradually closing the distance to us over a period of several days/weeks. It all depends on the dog. Don't try and force it, otherwise you end up with a gun shy dog/couch warmer and not the hunting partner you were hoping for. The training is progressive, moving from cap guns to. 22 blanks/.22LR, then. 410 shotgun and then 20/12 gauge. If you do it right, you'll end up with a dog that is conditioned to equate the sound of gun fire with something positive. Usually by the blank training pistol stage I'll introduce some fun retrieving exercises as well. Keep the training sessions short! Oh, and do the same thing for the vacuum cleaner! Your wife will appreciate the fact that the dog doesn't go nuts or covers in fear every time someone turns the vacuum on.
Best of luck!
