[Blarg]

The ill health of pure breds is almost always highly exaggerated, but there are some particular breeds that have been bred into massive ill health, such that a very high percentage of them have problems and sometimes serious ones, at least in America. The same breeds in other countries are sometimes kept far healthier because they aren't bred to some absurd cosmetic notions at the expense of everything else.

To the OP -- Labs have a very high percentage of absolute dumbness. They also have a high percentage of being incredibly loving, good natured dogs, too. Our black lab was definitely both. You could get lucky or you could not. But I'm not sure you should pick a dog by its color anyway. Better to pick it for its disposition, health, and confidence observed right there at the breeder's, or, if you can manage to figure that out at a shelter, there. It's a little harder to figure out at a shelter, I would think.