Colors of the Labrador Retriever

Not everyone is aware of the fact that the Labrador Retriever actually comes in three varying colours. If you research the breed and read the information on Labrador Retrievers that is available you will discover that these dogs come in yellow, black or brown.

If you are planning on entering your Labrador Retriever into any competition covered by the American Kennel Club any other colouration is viewed as totally unacceptable in their eyes, to them all the dog breeds have their set colours and profiles that they fit and there is no room for flexibility.

This does not mean that Labrador Retrievers are not observed in other colours such as the odd brindle or a basic black but with the odd flash of tan in the dog's coat but these are not permitted by the American Kennel Club.

Your standard colours though are all that are mentioned in the majority of the Labrador Retriever information that you will find. So how do dogs obtain their colour in the first place?

All dog breeds possess two separate types of genes in their bodies the dominant ones and the recessive ones. These groups of genes decide what colour the dog will be. Black appears to be the stronger colour as there are more black Labrador Retrievers seen than the other colours.

We know by this Labrador Retriever information then that there is a black colour gene present, then along came the yellow colour gene and followed closely behind by the chocolate colour gene. A Labrador Retriever puppy gains 50% of its share of colour genes from each separate parent dog. Now for the confusing part!

If a breeder put a pure black Labrador Retriever, one without any chocolate genes in its body, with a chocolate brown Labrador Retriever the puppies would be all black. This is due to the fact that half of the puppy's colour genes are obtained from each parent dog, therefore if the one adult dog does not possess any chocolate genes then there can be no chocolate Labrador puppies born.

One of the puppies born to the above pair of Labrador Retrievers could well be bred with a chocolate brown Labrador Retriever and then the chances are that they will probably have some chocolate brown puppies.

It is all slightly scientific but once you can gain a little knowledge regarding dog genetics and also dog gene colour pools you will have a better understanding. You can find the relevant dog information literature regarding the colours of Labrador Retrievers to read for assistance on this rather complicated subject!

This article was written by John Jackson and has been contributed by http://www.greatdogsite.com For more information on the Labrador Retriever, please visit our page http://www.greatdogsite.com/breeds/details/Labrador_Retriever/

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