The Color of Labradors
 Labradors originally were only black. Today they are also yellow
and chocolate, though no (or virtually none) chocolate Labs exist
among field Labradors in Great Britain.
Color is an important consideration
when buying a Lab because many breeders — responding to an
increased demand particularly for yellow Labs — are putting
color foremost among considerations when deciding which dogs to
breed.
This “playing to the market’’ can have,
and has had, serious consequences for the breed.
Some background:
Color in Labradors is governed by a simple recessive
structure.
It works this way.
•
Breed a yellow dog and a yellow bitch, and the litter will be entirely
yellow.
•
Breed a black dog to a black bitch, with neither carrying the yellow
gene recessively, and the offspring will be entirely black.
•
Breed a yellow bitch or dog to a black dog or bitch and the offspring
will be entirely black, though each of the black puppies will carry
the yellow gene recessively.
•
Breed a yellow dog or bitch to a black dog or bitch that carries
the yellow gene recessively, and some of the offspring will be
black and some likely will be yellow. Some of the black puppies
will carry the yellow gene recessively, others will not. (Ultimately,
the black puppies will have to be bred to yellow Labs or black
Labs known to carry the yellow gene to determine whether they,
the black puppies, carry the yellow gene.)
•
Breed two black dogs that carry the yellow gene recessively and
perhaps a few of the offspring will be yellow, with the larger
number, black. Again, some of the black offspring will carry
the yellow gene, others not.
Women like yellow
Women like yellow Labradors.
In many cases, this is because the
lighter-colored hair is less likely to show up on most carpets.
But
it’s also true that yellow Labs have been widely depicted
in women’s magazines and on TV commercials directed to
women for more than 30 years. Their presence in the media is
due largely
to the fact that light-colored dogs photograph better than black
dogs — particularly in advertising settings (such as those
featuring, say, women’s makeup) in which camera exposures
must be adjusted to pick up a wide range of colors and hues.
Other
reasons may also underlie the popularity of yellow Labradors.
But
the fact is, yellow is popular.
Given that fact, imagine yourself,
for a moment, a Labrador breeder and you’ll see how the trend
toward yellows has affected the breed as a whole, and, particularly,
the quality of yellow
Labradors.
You, the breeder, are at home or in your office and
the phone rings. It’s a man on the other end, a prospective
retriever buyer.
He asks whether you have puppies available.
“
Yes,’’ you say, “I have a litter of black puppies,
with a male and a female not yet spoken for. These are from
my best breeding animals — healthy, great looking dogs that
I have bred before with great outcomes.’’
There’s
a pause.
Then the caller asks, “Do you have any yellow
Labs available?’’
“
No,’’ you say.
“
OK,’’ the caller says. And hangs up.
What’s going
on here?
One of two things. Either the caller sincerely wants a
yellow Lab, for personal reasons (perhaps he had one as a child).
Or his decision
to purchase a yellow Lab has been influenced by factors that
should have no bearing on the decision-making process.
In many
cases, those factors have to do with the man’s
wife preferring yellow.
Or perhaps he once hunted with a buddy
who had a great yellow Lab, and believes, mistakenly, that color
had something to
do with that
dog’s abilities in the field.
In any event, our breeder,
sitting at home or in his office, isn’t
going to take too many more calls like the one he just received
before it occurs to him that when someone asks whether he has
any yellow puppies available, he better be prepared to say, “Yes.’’
Thinking
color, not quality
Thus begins, for many breeders, a long slide
down a very slippery slope.
Hoping to meet market demand, they put
color at, or near, the top of their considerations when choosing
breeding dogs.
Yet — if the goal is to produce excellent dogs
(which should be the goal of all breeders) — color should
be the last, or certainly among the last, consideration for a sporting
dog
breeder.
What qualities should a breeder consider?
Here’s a synopsis.
Health, of course, should be paramount.
Retrievers being bred should have had their hips X-rayed and certified
as “Good” or “Excellent” by
the OFA -— the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.
Similarly,
their eyes should have been examined by a veterinary ophthalmologist
and certified clear of defects.
That’s just the beginning.
A breeding retriever should consist
not only of good eyes and hips — and
sound elbows as well — but should be put together in
a manner that allows him or her to do his job in the field.
Retrieving
dogs are, after all, athletes, and must be capable of moving
powerfully through marshes thick with vegetation.
They must
also be built in a way that allows them to hunt the uplands
aggressively.
Fundamentally, this is why sporting — or
performance — Labradors
and bench — or show — Labradors differ in appearance.
The
former are working animals and must be constructed in ways
that allow them to complete their work successfully on a consistent
basis.
Show dogs, on the other hand, need not be able to run
fast, jump fences or use their noses to find game.
Successful show
dogs are, however, usually conformed with large, bold heads, deep
chests, thick loins and, in the case of Labs,
otter-like tails carried down.
Sporting dog breeders differ
widely in the emphasis they place on appearance. Still, prospective
retriever puppy purchasers
should have a general understanding of appearance and how it
relates not
only to the “picture’’ a dog presents, but
how it is tied to its ability to perform in the field.
Add to
health and appearance considerations of soft mouth or hard,
natural retrieving ability, intelligence and temperament
-— to
name a few — and it becomes clear that sincere, discriminating
breeders have many factors to consider when selecting breeding
dogs.
Yet, if those breeders are intent on producing yellow
or chocolate puppies to meet market demand, they will necessarily
put considerations
of health, appearance, soft mouth, intelligence, natural retrieving
ability and other important factors secondary to color.
This
is the slippery slope we referred to earlier.
Color from another
angle
Let’s look consider color from another perspective.
Most
retriever breeding in the U.S., as was mentioned earlier, is of
the backyard variety. The remainder, a relatively small
percentage, is done by professional breeders.
Yet even these
breeders — most of them — are limited
in the number of dogs available to them. A few have a handful
of bitches that they own or control — say five animals or
so — but
very few have more than that.
Yet a conscientious breeder will
have at least twice as many females available to him than he actually
breeds. Preferably,
in fact,
the breeder would have three or four times more females than
that.
Here’s why:
Finding dogs, male or female, that encompass
the majority of traits a breeder deems important is difficult.
Finding
perfect dogs, is, of course, impossible. But let’s
say our breeder is sincere about wanting to produce puppies
that are healthy (hips, eyes, elbows), pleasant in appearance (they
look like Labradors should look, with nice heads and proportionate
bodies), possess soft mouths, are natural retrievers, are intelligent,
are biddable, and possess kind temperaments.
Let’s say
also — and this is a critical point — that
the breeder appreciates that a true companion retriever is
not hyperactive. It does not incessantly jump in its kennel,
barking.
It does not whine. And it does not possess so much retrieving
instinct that it can never be made to sit still for a prolonged
period of
time — as is commonly needed while duck, goose or dove
hunting.
True, compromises are always made when selecting breeding
animals. But if the goal is to produce excellent companion
retrievers,
breeding prospects should possess — or not possess — the
above qualities.
But if a breeder only owns five female Labradors,
and he believes he can sell puppies from all five, he will
breed all five no
matter their shortcomings.
If one and maybe two of the females
is yellow, the breeder — realizing
the market for yellows is strong — likely will breeds
those animals with even less consideration of their overall
qualities.
He may even breed additional yellow females that don’t
even meet his minimal requirements in a breeding animal.
Such
breeders often make similar choices in their selection of stud
dogs. Most breeders have only one or two studs. If
one is
yellow, or carries the yellow gene, compromises regarding its
other traits may be made so the animal can be mated with a
yellow female
(or yellow-factored black female) to produce yellow puppies.
Which
is why the knowledgeable retriever buyer, when he or she calls
a breeder, won’t demand one color or another.
Rather, the
buyer will ask questions of the breeder to determine, first, his
values (what type of animal he’s trying to produce).
Assuming those values are shared by the buyer, questions then
should be asked to determine whether the breeder’s program
has a strong likelihood of producing the type of dogs desired.
Ideally,
if the breeder produces Labradors, he will tell the prospective
buyer he breeds irrespective of color.
Ideally, the breeder will
also tell the caller that his male and female breeding dogs have
been carefully selected from
among those
he owns, and that each represents, to the highest degree possible,
traits he desires in a retriever.
If among those animals are
yellow Labrador dogs or bitches, the breeder should be able to
justify their inclusion. Perhaps
one
or more came from a litter that had good, black parents. Perhaps
both parents were yellow — and both were excellent dogs
themselves, as were their parents and grandparents.
Whichever the case,
color should not have been a factor in choosing them to be breeding
dogs.
Next up: Part 3: Envision the Ideal Retriever |
