Hi All, Is it normal for a yellow lab to have green eyes? My parents have put a deposit down on a puppy from the age of 3 weeks. We visited her this weekend (6 weeks old) and she is vet checked, KC registered and seems perfectly fine. But they now have concerns about the colour of her eyes. We have always had labs but have never seen a yellow one with this colour eyes? Please share your thoughts? Thank you.
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Gosh....I don't really know, but I am guessing that eye colour isn't consistent, and is likely to change as the puppy gets older anyway. Hope someone else can chip in some help though. (welcome to the forum!) jac
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Friend of ours has a blue eyed yellow lab, it's really mesmerising to see. Nothing wrong with him he just has beautiful eyes.
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Hi and welcome to the forum It's all in the colour genetics. Below is a very simplified explanation. Normally, yellow Labs are the same as black Labs except for the addition of two genes that remove all dark (black) pigment from the fur, but not from the skin and eyes. They have the same eye colour and skin colour as a black Labrador, but pale fur. They kind of have yellow fur genes but still the black skin and dark eye genes. Chocolate Labs are different to both yellow and black Labs as they have do not have any black skin/dark eye genes. Instead of the black genes they have two alternative genes that dilute both the fur and skin colour. You end up with brown fur plus light coloured eyes and pink lips, eye rims, paw pads and browny/pinky noses. The puppy that your parents have paid for sounds like it has the two yellow fur genes (like a yellow Lab) and two chocolate genes (instead of the black genes) which have given the pup the fur of a yellow but the same eye and skin colour as a chocolate Lab. So, most yellows have a black dog hiding inside. Your parent's pup has a chocolate dog hiding inside Most breeders who are breeding to show would steer away from putting yellow and chocolate genes together because the 'standard' for showing asks for yellow dogs to have black skin, not chocolate. However the pup is still fully a Labrador in every way. If your parents like the pup and the breeder is a responsible one (has had all the relevant health checks done on the parents and the results are good) then all is fine
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Wow thanks for all the fast replies. Her parents are yellow and brown so this all makes perfect sense. She is a very beautiful pup! But you know what worrying parents are like! I'm sure this forum is going to prove very useful in the coming months! Thanks again all, Lee.
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? [quote author=Oberon link=topic=8374.msg118430#msg118430 date=1413796695] Chocolate Labs are different to both yellow and black Labs as they have do not have any black skin/dark eye genes. Instead of the black genes they have two alternative genes that dilute both the fur and skin colour. You end up with brown fur plus light coloured eyes and pink lips, eye rims, paw pads and browny/pinky noses. [/quote] Some choccies have much darker eyes than others though - golden eyed choccies can be beautiful - but I really wanted a reasonably dark eyed choccie. Charlie's eyes were a definite green/blue when we got him, but did end up quite dark (for a choccie). I was watching them everyday hoping they would be dark (I would have still loved him, and would be raving about lighter eyes if it had turned out differently though ;D ). Could this pup's eye colour changes as it gets a bit older? Or do black/yellow pups have dark or light eyes from the off?
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? I dunno about how eye colour develops with time.... The UK choccies I've seen on the forum are often darker eyed than the ones I've seen in Australia. They tend to be quite light/golden eyed here. Charlie has very brown eyes for a choccie. Eye pigment is probably a lot more complex than just 'black or choc' genes. Sometimes you even see a black that has very light eyes. Eyes can be too dark for the dog too...I've seen blacks with extremely dark eyes and it can tend to give a hard expression.
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Thanks for the info. I've been wondering why Molly has patches of dark skin under her yellow fur.
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Charlie's green puppy eyes...they are brown now (and he grew into the skin around the eyes too - they were a bit loose at this age). (Not sure colour will show fantastically well). image by julieandcharlie, on Flickr
Re: Green Eyed Yellow Lab? Pongo's eyes were definitely green when he was younger. Now (age 10 months) they are a sort of old-gold with just a tiny greenish touch if you look very hard.
