We had two male CBRs when I was growing up. As others have said, they are temperamental, stubborn, one-man dogs. Very flighty, always full of energy. They are excellent water dogs though. Ours always had a seriousness about them, always wanting to be in the water retrieving something. They lacked that playful puppyness that seems to follow Labs well into adulthood. If you want a working dog and want to spend an inordinate of time training and working them then a CBR may be the dog for you. If you want a pet that can also retrieve for a few weekends in the fall go with a Lab.
We used to load ours up in the back of the pickup and drive them down to the boat landing. As soon as they seen any glimpse of the water they would go nuts in the back of the truck. As soon as the truck slowed enough they would be out of the back heading towards the water at 50 miles per hour. They'd take a flying leap, clear ten feet of water, plunge in and swim around for hours. We'd pick up softball sized rocks (or larger) from the landing and throw them into the water. They'd dive down six feet into the muddy water, retrieve the rocks from the bottom, and swim back to shore, their jaws barely able to fit around the rocks.
We used to load ours up in the back of the pickup and drive them down to the boat landing. As soon as they seen any glimpse of the water they would go nuts in the back of the truck. As soon as the truck slowed enough they would be out of the back heading towards the water at 50 miles per hour. They'd take a flying leap, clear ten feet of water, plunge in and swim around for hours. We'd pick up softball sized rocks (or larger) from the landing and throw them into the water. They'd dive down six feet into the muddy water, retrieve the rocks from the bottom, and swim back to shore, their jaws barely able to fit around the rocks.