My original discussion with tatonka seems to have been removed from this thread for some reason. Thats a shame, there was some polite and intelligent opinions offered from myself and tatonka in that discussion. Anyway.... I do understand where people have the idea that chessys are aggresive. At one time the breed was somewhat known for that, but as tatonka said in our last discussion good breeding has done well at solving that problem. In small town areas with mostly backyard breeders such as where I live it is very possible and much more likely to come out with a protective & territorial chessy (not unwarranted aggresion by the way). However like most chessy supporters have been saying as long as one does there homework and research of lines it should not at all be a problem to find a teddy bear chessy. Poor consumer practices can easily result in a bad seed from any breed. I would recommendthe lab for a beginner. Again, be sure toknow the line your buying into there has beena whole lot over breeding with labs. Big $$$ does NOT gaurantee a good dog. Heres a pic of the lab I have now. 20 months, 95lbs, great temperment, good natural hunter & bed hog spent $300.