Labradors - less common colors in purebred labs :-)
One of the most popular dog breeds, the Labrador Retriever, comes in three standard coat colors: Black, Chocolate, and Yellow. However, the popularity of the breed and ability to electronically share photos has made it much easier to view less common phenotypes found in the main three colors, as well as coats with dilution factors, and odd-ball colors called “mismarkings.”
The genetics of these three colors is interesting and fairly straight forward…
(you can read about the genetics of lab colors on wikipedia by clicking here!)
“*Black Labradors can have any genotype with at least one dominant allele at both the B and E loci: BBEE, BBEe, BbEE, or BbEe.
*Chocolate Labradors will have a genotype with at least one dominant E allele, but must have only recessive b alleles: bbEE and bbEe.
*Yellow Labradors with black skin pigment will have a dominant B allele but must have recessive e alleles: BBee or Bbee.
*Yellow Labradors with pale or chocolate pigment, or an absence of skin pigment, can have only recessive alleles at both loci: bbee. These dogs are often referred to as Dudleys, and are not eligible for registration under current standards.[1] Aging-related declines in eumelanin production can cause the exposed skin in a Labrador with black skin pigmentation begin to appear lighter, but Dudley dogs have this colouration throughout their lives.”
- Wikipedia, underlining mine
OTHER COLORS ARE TYPICALLY VARIATIONS OF THESE MAIN GENOTYPES - Shades of Yellow include Red, Cream, and White
For example, so-called Red Labs and White Labs are both genetically Yellow… the color responsible for red and yellow variations in genetically Yellow Labs is called PHEOMELANIN, and is on the E locus.
Read about the history of Red Labs at this breeder website: Fox Red - Penara Labs (click here)
MISMARKED LABS: THE ODDBALLS
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/mismarks.html
Below: Mosaic pattern from chimerism, yellow lab with black mosaic
Above: Brindle Purebred Lab “Sonny” (source)
Above: Silver produced by a Dilution factor, the same dilution gene seen in Weimeriners - many people think someone tainted the labrador gene pool with Weimy genetics, making this coat color very controversial in purebred lab circles.
It’s also been linked to skin problems, as seen in other breeds with dilution factor, like Dobermans. “Some dogs with dilute color display minimal or no health problems, but some are prone to hair loss and reoccurring skin problems. Symptoms include recurrent skin inflammation and drying, bacterial infections of hair follicles and severe hair loss. Although it is not clear how the mutated MLPH gene causes these effects, genetic-based selection against carriers of the d gene could help to eliminate it from populations, thereby minimizing occurrence of the associated health conditions.” -Wikipedia
This just adds to the controversy about these dilute hues.
Below: Black and Tan points on a black lab.
Above: Labs with tan points.
IN SUMMARY: LABS COME IN MORE THAN 3 COLORS
but currently only three colors are acceptable by AKC standards, so people historically chose not to breed for the others. I think times are changing, and the public is happy to have uncommon colors, so more breeders are aiming for interesting color patterns, like silver and brindle, despite them not being eligible for show. It will be interesting to see how the color variation changes over the next few decades.
Well there you go! Hope you had fun looking at cute puppies.
Love to you and all your labradors and lab mixes at home. :-)
stormborns
baratheonpilled
snowghoul
tangentwithtanner
izzy806
dededos
