Since I love seeing pictures of everyone's labs, I thought I would post a few. Kona blending in with the bed cover: Sawyer in the mountains: Sawyer at the beach:
Sawyer is a very nice looking dog. Does anyone know what dictates colour variations in yellow labs? Sawyer looks to be one constant colour whereas my Arnie has heaps of different yellows in him. Does it change as they get older?
I am a lover of the fine featured black girls (of course!) But Sawyer is terribly handsome. Indeed so IS his namesake @Xena Dog Princess
It can change a bit, but it's mostly just down to the genes. That is to say, a yellow dog has a yellow gene and then either two black, two chocolate or one of each. These black and chocolate genes don't influence the colour of the coat, though. But, you can breed (somewhat) for specific shades of yellow or chocolate, by breeding two darker shades or two lighter shades (or dogs who carry lighter or darker shades). There is also a "dilute" gene, but that's a while topic in itself. I think most yellows are a bit multi-tonal, but the very pale ones have less variation just because they've been bred that way. The most fashionable shades (from very pale yellow or dark fox red or "milk chocolate" to something so dark it's almost black) change all the time. Shadow was the palest of the litter, but he's darkened considerably with a bit of age, and seems to change with the season, too.
Actually, he does have a thick strip of slightly darker yellow down his back, on his ears, and a little on his tail.
Both are beautiful doggies.....Sawyer is so very white.....so was my Cooper when he was a puppy .... now he is getting more Apricot color on tip of his ears, some on his muzzle, a bit down his back. Both Mum and Dad were quite white but with some apricot color. I can see how he has changed over the months....he is now 2-1/2 years old. Even his nose has gone from black to brown.
Diane, Sawyer's photo at the beach.....he has on a harness.....does it buckle on the chest? He looks wet.....do you leave the harness on when he goes in the water? Asking because I got Cooper a front buckle harness and since I live on Cape Cod would like to have him swim in the Atlantic.....if I could leave his harness on while he is in the water, that would be great. Just curious and thanks. Yes, Cooper is adorable....a whole93 pounds worth of adorable!!! He is a big fellow!
The harness has two buckles, located more on one side. It doesn't buckle in the front, but has a clip for the leash there. I don't know if you can see it well in the photo, but the buckles are right behind (slightly above and below) his right front leg. I bought it on Amazon, it was a large and is a little big for him. Last we checked, he was 65 pounds, so not nearly as big as your boy. It holds up well to the water though so far.
