A yellow male pup I'm looking at is very light and I wondered if he would get any 'yellower' and possibly develop the darker yellow accents. I'm thinking what you see is what you get but I may be wrong??? Thx.
Our boy was very pale, almost white as a puppy, and his colour hasn't changed. People would comment when they saw him that he'd get darker, but he didn't. Sometimes a black nose on a yellow Lab gets lighter, sometimes turn pink. Snowie's nose is black and still is at 5 years of age. His stomach skin was black as a puppy. That lightened, kind of mottled dark pink/brown now.
Harley has got darker (red) as she has got older. My friends lab is also red, but never got darker. It's something you can't predict.
Fox red is yellow. There's no such thing as "pure yellow", or a "mix". Your dog is either black, yellow or chocolate. That's not snobbery, it's genetics Fox red is simply a dark shade of yellow, it's not a standalone thing. Shadow is pale yellow but has darkened as he's aged. It's definitely not uncommon.
Yes I know Fox Red is Yellow, but when I said "pure yellow Yellow", that's referring to what people tend to think of as your "classic Yellow". Fox Red Yellow is a lot different than what people think of as Yellow ime, even if genetically they're all Yellow. I get people asking me what kind of dog mine is and when I say Lab, they're a bit surprised, because of his colouring. So since I don't know if being half Fox Red Yellow and half "classic" Yellow makes any difference in how much darkening occurs, that's why I mentioned it. I think I'd written Yellow too many times, the word is starting to look pretty funny
I still don't get the "half fox red" comment. Your dog is either the shade "fox red", or he's not. He can't be half a shade! So one parent was fox red and one wasn't. It's as meaningless in terms of your dog as saying "he's half black and half yellow", as Shadow and Willow are from their parents (black sire, yellow dam). No, Shadow is yellow and Willow is black. Your dog is yellow. If he has the red colouring, he's a fox red shade. If he doesn't (which it doesn't look like he does from your avatar), then he's not "half fox red", he's yellow. Anyway, that aside, I've seen yellow Labs of all sorts of shades change colour as they've aged. My friend's dog changed very dramatically from a buttery yellow "Andrex puppy" colour to the most beautiful dark apricot colour by the time he was 4.
I thought there was a gene that affected how dark a "yellow" lab is. It's not as simple as being one shade or another, as I think a CC dog would be fox red, a cc dog would be lighter, and then with both alleles Cc would be somewhere in the middle. So, in this sense you can be "half fox red" if you refer to a heterozygous (Cc) individual. The official classifications of yellow, chocolate and black don't fully capture the genetic diversity in colour. For example silver labs (whatever you think of them) are classified as chocolate right?
OK, so maybe I was a bit simplistic, focussing on the E(e) and B(b) alleles. Yes, there is such a thing as the C(c) but the since the gene hasn't been identified in Labradors, it's not possible to say what pair an individual dog has, so whether the shade (of which there is a great spectrum, not just three) is caused by a CC, Cc or cc. And, yes, "silver Labs" are chocolate, and have the dilution gene, DD. Similarly charcoal (black) and white (yellow). It doesn't mean they're not still chocolate, black and yellow
According to the standard in the U.S. and here in Canada and reading parent club statements from both countries it DOES mean they are different and they will not be allowed to show in conformation. How's that for muddying (oops, is silver a mud colour?) the waters? Here I see the dilute yellows called champagne.
They can't be shown as the dilution is a disqualifying fault, but they can be registered with the AKC. That means the dog is recognised as a Labrador, but the colour "silver" (or whatever) is not recognised. This is from the NZ Labrador Club's website: So, the range of shades of yellow, including fox red, is permitted, and all encompassed by "yellow". Anything else, nuh-uh. In Australia it appears to be Platinum. I think it varies from person to person what they call the dilution of yellow, although the "silver" and "charcoal" tags seem to be universal
How did I know I would get a thorough answer to my question. Breeders tell me the light, almost white Labs are really popular now. I'm very traditional so really prefer a really yellow Lab. I am straying a bit because I've had 3 chocolates in a row and will probably stay with them. Thx for your input...
True, but the breeders lie when they register, calling the dog a chocolate. Then when they advertise they call it silver.
I didn't even know there was such a thing as a "silver" Labrador. I've just had a google and oh my They're amazing
Is it? If the colour is registered as chocolate, then it's chocolate - and the breed standard is silent on dilutions. I'm sure a LOT of breed clubs and breeders claim it is a disqualifying fault, but I wonder if anyone has actually tried?
I was talking about the AKC in response to @Snowshoe, not ours. Should have been clearer I've never seen a silver (or other dilution) in the UK. I assume they exist, but they don't seem to be as popular yet as Stateside. I've not seen one (online) I liked the look of, though - they all seem rather houndy, which is fine in itself (having two houndy dogs who I think are beautiful) but not good for the show ring. I suppose they could be bred in such a way to make them conform better. I intensely dislike their eyes, though - the very pale colour makes them look really cold.
Yep, I'm not a fan. But as you say they are not a lot more houndy than a lot of working line dogs - I had to laugh last week when I mistook (from a distance and out of usual context) a 'red' Lab girl I know very well for a Viszla! - but being houndy isn't a disqualifying fault. Huh. Interesting.
Murphy is a chocolate, you can see in his picture he is almost black...that was over a year ago. Right now, I would call his color auburn, a lot more reddish. He spends a lot of time outdoors, the sun is very, very bright here and I am pretty sure that has a lot to do with the "change" of color. I just can't get very interested in all the show dog stuff and what the current crop of "experts" think of this, or that. Murphy sure as heck doesn't care, LOL.
