Labrador chocolat

At the origins of chocolate

The chocolate Labrador generally emerged from anonymity in the 1970s, mainly in England, the cradle of the breed, but also in Sweden and the USA. Exclusively black when the English established the breed at the beginning of the 20th century, then yellow in color, the arrival of the chocolate color left no one indifferent: the purists found in it all the faults of the earth (these are not real labradors, chocolates behave differently from other colors, chocolates are more susceptible to diseases...).

The chocolate Labrador is, however, a Labrador like any other...

From its origin, the black Labrador carried the colors yellow and chocolate in its genes...it took more time for the selection to express itself because in particular the recessiveness of the chocolate color means that the 2 parents must be at a minimum carrier color so that it can be expressed. There have always been a few chocolate subjects, but no selection on color, black remaining the standard. It was only from 1970 that English breeders began to specialize in the selection of chocolate Labradors.

“50 shades” of chocolate

The coat color of a chocolate Labrador can vary from light brown to very dark brown, almost black. Generally, a dark dress is more popular than a light dress. In theory, the coat of a chocolate Labrador, like that of a black Labrador, must be uniform in color.
In fact, the standard tolerates a white spot on the chest, white on the legs, scattered white hairs, bolo-pats (tufts of white hairs on the back of the legs). Bolo-pats are even considered a quality criterion.
When the dog sheds, the undercoat lightens before falling out, giving the Labrador that "50 shades of chocolate" look.This is also true for blacks which then have mahogany reflections on the coat, due to the undercoat which turns brown before falling out, and makes some people say that the Labrador carries the chocolate gene because it has brown traces. , nothing to see, you will have understood!

The dark coat is often more sought after in the chocolate Labrador, but there are still certain beliefs about obtaining a dark coat color:

Real chocolate is pure chocolate (without yolk!)
Use a black stallion carrying chocolate and avoid marriages between chocolates!

Today with hindsight, neither yellow nor black plays a role in the composition of very dark chocolate dresses but unfortunately beliefs die hard...
-
embarrassed Chocolate x gene YELLOW = Milk chocolate
LabradorChocolate x Labrador Black =CDark chocolate

Indeed, if a chocolate dog comes from blacks, it is the parents who provided the chocolate gene, in this case the black gene has not been transmitted, it can therefore in no way influence the color of the dog. ..
Many chocolate Labradors carry the color yellow and have a very dark coat.
Crossbreeding of chocolate-colored Labrador lines does not produce any lightening of their color.

The shade of color is carried by the gene, if we want to obtain dark shades, we must choose parents from lines where the shades are dark.In fact, if the presence of yellow in chocolate lines, if it has no influence on the color of the dogs, it can be researched because it can generate yellow dogs with chocolate pigmentation (bbee genotype), we call these dogs "Yellow-liver" (Yellow-chocolate), or even "Pale face" (pale face). These dogs are true Labradors in every sense of the word, but their pigmentation, brown noses and pale pigmentation make them atypical. In France they are refused confirmation under the criterion of lack of pigmentation. These dogs can also come from a marriage between two yellows who each carry the chocolate gene.

He has Revolver eyes

Another criticism often made of the chocolate Labrador: he has light eyes. Indeed, certain lines have presented, and still present, very light eyes, sometimes even yellow. This "defect" is in fact, like the shade of chocolate color, in no way linked to the color of the coat, but depends on the presence of a "light eyes" gene surely present in common in the initial lines with the gene carrying the chocolate color.
A Labrador with a lineage with a good eye color will itself have a good color, regardless of the coat color of its parents.
The main thing is to select breeders with the desired color. You must also judge a subject on the harmony between the color of the coat and the color of the eye.
The eye color of the chocolate Labrador also has the particularity of slowly evolving towards brown and it is often sometimes downgraded in the young classes in exhibition on this criterion alone...

Share by: