Blue Eyed Chocolate Lab

[Neiko]

I think I got the wife interested in getting one of these instead of a little dog so if anyone knows of a good place to get a puppy let me know. Not really looking for a hunter but it would be nice if there is one available.

[LABS4ME]

A blue eyed chocolate lab? I've been around labs 20 years and have never heard or seen such a critter. Watch out if someone is peddling them, there's a strong possibility it's a cross. If it's a one in a million spontaneous mutation, I could believe it, but produced with any regularity, I'd question it.

Taken from the breed standards of the AKC...

"Eyes--Kind, friendly eyes imparting good temperament, intelligence and alertness are a hallmark of the breed. They should be of medium size, set well apart, and neither protruding nor deep set. Eye color should be brown in black and yellow Labradors, and brown or hazel in chocolates. Black, or yellow eyes give a harsh expression and are undesirable. Small eyes, set close together or round prominent eyes are not typical of the breed. Eye rims are black in black and yellow Labradors; and brown in chocolates. Eye rims without pigmentation is a disqualification"

Again not saying if you've found a "lab" with blue eyes that it wouldn't make a fine pet, but beware there is a high chance it was crossed with another breed to get the eye color. Actually the breeder should be exposed to the AKC if they are registering the pups so they can verify if they are indeed purebred.

Years ago there was a kennel in Nebraska promoting gray Labs or as they called them "Ghost Labs". They were actually crossed labs w/ Weimeriners. I think they excluded all offspring from that kennel from registration and registering any of those dogs progeny.

"Red" or "British Red" or "Fox Red" labs are the latest craze. My fear is someone will introduce some other breed to create all red pups and sell them as pure bred with a "adopted" pedigree on the sires side. Meaning they'll cross say a red setter with a yellow dam and use a yellow lab sired pedigree from there kennel as the breeding stud so the pups could be sold as pure bred and registered but in reality they are a cross... Even the "red" labs shouldn't be peddled as "red" labs. The AKC recognizes them only as yellows and that is still the way they should be marketed. The other one that was a craze but you are seeing less and less is "white" or "Snow" or "Ivory" labs. Again just yellows with a lighter hue. Marketing them as any other color only makes the "money" breeders contemplate a cross breeding to make more money off a color in demand.

Good Luck!

Ken

[gspman]

Interesting.

I saw at the Game Fair this year or it might have been last year a pointing lab in one of the PL Breeder booths that had pointing dog style ears. Thinner, longer and not the thicker fur that you usually see on a lab. More like a traditional gsp's ears. Additionally, the ears looked all uniform in color but if the sun hit them just right you could definitely see spots on them.

I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make a stink and because I had my 5 year old boy with but it was obvious that the dog was not a lab. Either a pointer crawled under the fence or this person is intentionally adding more "point" to his labs. This breeder is a major breeder of PL's too.

Hmmmm... What people won't do for a buck.

gspman

[Bigfife]

The eyes on little chocolates do look very blue. As they get older I think it starts to get more hazel colored. My friend works for a kennel in St. Cloud and that is where I got my dog. They should have a few chocolates left that are 8-9 weeks old. Their number is 320-251-7204.

[Bushwacker]

I just took a picture last week of my 9 week old yellow lab with brown eyes and they are just glowing bright blue in the picture. It is actually a pretty cool picture, but just the refraction of light off the flash, have you seen these blue-eyed chocolates in person?

[Kodiak]

http://www.industrialcontrol.com/puppy.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thunderlabradors.com/Dcp_1822.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thunderlabradors.com/&h=1440&w=2160&sz=811&tbnid=0PS_aYr5ExAJ:&tbnh=100&tbnw=150&hl=en&start=4&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchocolate%2Blab%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGFRA,GFRA:2005-26,GFRA:en%26sa%3DN

[gspman]

GSP pups have blue eyes too. I think lots of different breeds have blue eyes in the puppy stage but they turn their true color at some point.

[LABS4ME]

Yep lab pups have blueish-gray eyes for a few weeks when young... Guess I assumed you were looking for a "blue-eyed" lab.... Good Luck in your quest! Have fun with the new pup....

Good Luck!

Ken