Just having a bit of "quality time" with Lady ie a sneakey nap together on the sofa and I noticed that she has definite hints of brown on her head, neck and ears. Is this normal for a black lab to show a bit of the other colours? I double checked and it's not mud before you ask. ;D If I catch her in the right like she looks pretty brown in several areas around her head muzzle and neck.
Re: Black with a hint of brown Aww , just love those sneaky naps David Yes, I read recently somewhere that its quite common for black Labs to look a little brown in some areas and in some lights , Lady is lovely whatever
Re: Black with a hint of brown Hello David Afternoon snooze time eh? Lovely. Yes, it's fine, some people even accept touches of white, Hebe has a streak of pure white on the inside of a thigh and I knew a lovely chunky worker who had a hint of a streak down his chest. Hebe, is glossy blue black out of a black dam by a fox red sire. Maia, my elder girl, is a muddy, dusty black and in the sunshine a deep chocolate all over- you know the 80% cocoa type, she comes up even more chocolatey when she's moulting. She has a black / black parentage but her grandam was a lovely chocolate lass and it's come through in Maia, although her dam (and my Juno who was her full sister, making her Maia's aunt - keeping up? ;D) was a glossy black but not as blue-black as Hebe. It's all down to skin colour, I'll bet Lady has a greyish skin with a hint of pink in it (if you can find your way down to it). Hebe's skin is almost charcoal grey and she's got a lovely 'ink spot' on her tongue which looks as if she's licked the nib of a fountain pen! All indicators of a deep pigmentation.
Re: Black with a hint of brown Ok just checked. Behind her shoulders its grey. Further back on her tummy it's pinky grey. She has a white medallion between her front legs as well. Next stop is to have a look at her pegigree.
Re: Black with a hint of brown Not an easy job to get to Sams skin but it seems to be very dark charcoal/ almost dark blue ?
Re: Black with a hint of brown Meant to put above that Lady came from a litter of mainly black pups and 2 yellow pups. Her mother and father were both black.
Re: Black with a hint of brown interesting - Barney has grey skin and is glossy black black everywhere apart from 3 white hairs on one inner thigh! He doesn't have a black spot on his tongue though and someone upset me once by saying that without a black spot on the tongue it isn't a proper labrador. Rusty does have a spot but it's tiny and right near the back so it's hard to spot. I know barney's a proper lab though I've seen him eat enough evidence!
Re: Black with a hint of brown Colouring genetics are fascinating. I knew a litter out of a very long line of blacks that suddenly threw two yellows, eventually it was tracked back to a Sandringham stud about six generations previously. Skin colour is the best indicator of ultimate coat colour, the greyer and less pink it is the darker black the dog will be, a pink skin will give a paler yellow and muddy browny tan skin colour gives that lovely rich golden tone to a yellow coat. Chocolates and fox reds are a bit more difficult but chances are if you've got white patches there's a red in the heritage somewhere as they seem to be the ones that bring the the white, Hebe's white streak is not grey or cream it really is pure sparkling white, her fox red sire had a white streak along his chest (keel) and onto his tum. None of the others in her litter had any white and they're all quite dark like her but none quite as blue-black. In Finnegan's (that's the wolfhound) shaved patches he's striped like a zebra but his overall colour is a grey brindle.
Re: Black with a hint of brown [quote author=Moorlands link=topic=761.msg3876#msg3876 date=1348763745] muddy browny tan skin colour gives that lovely rich golden tone to a yellow coat [/quote] How odd - I usually find the muddy browny tan skin colour is an indication of having rolled in something indescribable, and usually hides the lovely rich golden tone!!!! ;D ;D
Re: Black with a hint of brown Well, there's that too. Although for my black girls is usually of a green hue ;D
