We have a black lab who is descended from a working line, however we do not use it for working. It is more a pet for the wife and my son. We did not have any problems with regards to house training etc. Sure, she chewed a couple of things, but nothing major. Overall, she is a good dog and pretty obiedient (not to the standards of a full time working dog of course).
I work away and my wife works also, so we started off just leaving her for a short period of time, say an hour or so and gradually worked up to the full time that we would be out during the day. She got used to it pretty quick and