Labrador Retriever Colors

Coat Color Inheritance Table

The table below will help you understand the colors of the Labrador Retriever for breeding strategies and breeding stock selection. The outer ring in the first row shows the visible coat color with the small upper right circle showing the nose color (black or liver). The inner rings in the first row show the hidden color genes carried by the dog. Entries in the table show the probabilities of producing various coat colors within a litter. For example, if your results show that your dog is a Type V, your dog is a yellow dog with a black nose and does not carry the hidden genes for chocolate labrador retriever. If you were to mate your dog with a Type VIII, the resulting litter would be all black lab puppies. Some of these predictions are averaged over the long run and can sway from one side of the spectrum to the other. Others like the example above and breeding yellow to yellow and always getting yellow are consistently accurate.

	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX
I	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black
II	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow
III	All Black	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Chocolate	¾ Black ¼ Chocolate	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Chocolate	½ Black ½ Chocolate	½ Black ½ Chocolate	½ Black ½ Chocolate
IV	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	¾ Black ¼ Chocolate	9/16 Black ¼ Yellow 3/16 Chocolate	½ Black ½ Yellow	3/8 Black ½ Yellow 1/8 Chocolate	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Chocolate	½ Black ½ Chocolate	3/8 Black ¼ Yellow 3/8 Chocolate
V	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow
VI	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	¾ Black ¼ Chocolate	3/8 Black ½ Yellow 1/8 Chocolate	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	½ Black ½ Chocolate	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Chocolate
VII	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Chocolate	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Chocolate	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Chocolate	½ Chocolate ½ Yellow
VIII	All Black	All Black	½ Black ½ Chocolate	½ Black ½ Chocolate	All Black	½ Black ½ Chocolate	All Chocolate	All Chocolate	All Chocolate
IX	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	½ Black ½ Chocolate	3/8 Black ¼ Yellow 3/8 Chocolate	½ Black ½ Yellow	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Chocolate	½ Chocolate ½ Yellow	All Chocolate	¾ Chocolate ¼ Yellow