Labrador question? Experienced Breeder's please answer?

Question

My labrador coat colour is black, however she has an awful lot of brown in her coat. If she stands next to another black Lab you can see this clearly. But if you were asked what colour she was and she wasn't next to another Lab you would say she was Black!

This is also visible in sunlight.

Her parents were Black (Male) & Yellow (*****)

My question is......Is this normal or down to bad breeding practise?

Answer 1

All labs don't neatly fit into the black, brown, yellow categories. Which of these colors the dog generally fits into is controlled by two sets of genes, one that will cause it to be yellow if it is homozygous for the recessive gene, the other that determines black (heterozygous or homozygous dominant) or brown (homozygous recessive).



Those genes don't have final say however. There are modifier genes present that are usually recessive and can alter the coat. Red labradors are a modification of yellows which in their own right come in a variety of shades, there is a color pattern out there called black and tan that are colored like rotweillers/dobermans. It sounds like your dog is another version that they call brindle. It's not common but they are out there.



The other option is that your dog is getting a bit sun bleached. Black dogs aren't actually black, no mammals are. They are actually a very very dark shade of brown so when they are in the sun a lot or have old hairs mixed in (need a brushing), their coat bleaches a bit and they look very slightly brown.

Answer 2

As Catriona has said, this is normal.



I work with labs and we have had a number of black labs come thru with brownish highlights. Brown colours in a black labs coat are also obvious when the dog is shedding and needs a good brush out, for some reason the dead hair is often a reddy brown colour.



Sometimes colour variations in a dog's coat can be seen as a show fault however you would only need to worry about this if your dog is a show dog! Even breeders with the absolute best intentions produce lots of puppies that are not champion show quality dogs. This does not mean that they don't make fantastic pets or that they are not perfectly healthy, breeding for show quality is just not possible to get right every time, or even most of the time.



Enjoy your girl's coat colour as part of her unique qualities!

Answer 3

Normal. Your dog has an unusual coat colour, but within any dog breed and specific colour there is a huge variety in individual dogs. For example, one yellow lab I know is clearly a yellow lab, but another is orangey-gold and yet another is bright orange, rather than yellow. If black and yellow parents breed, the offspring should have yellow or black coats- there will not be dogs with both colours in one coat.

Answer 4

Not all black labs will be the same shade of black. For example, many yellow labs are different shades. Like people too. Not everyone who has black hair has pitch black hair.

Answer 5

I have newfoundlands, and my black ones get brown in their coat too. This can be due to dead or sunburnt hair. Regular grooming should take care of it. It helps with my dogs. All of the brown hair won't come out in one groom, butwith consistant combing, you should see a difference.