# Red Labrador Retrievers??



## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

On a visit to the park yesterday Gracie and I ran into a couple with a puppy and adult female that from a distance I thought might be field type Goldens or lab/Golden crosses. But the owners said they were rare red labs that they had rescued. The puppy was very cute and the adult, about 3 yrs. old, had what seemed like a Golden personality . . . fine with Gracie but what she really wanted was attention and petting from me. Anybody know anything about the red labs?? A quick check of the lab breed standard doesn't seem to allow anything but yellow, black and chocolate. Is this the lab version of the rare white Golden?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Per the below (from breed standard) - it's an acceptable shade of yellow. 


*Color
*The Labrador Retriever coat colors are black, yellow and chocolate. Any other color or a combination of colors is a disqualification. A small white spot on the chest is permissible, but not desirable. White hairs from aging or scarring are not to be misinterpreted as brindling. _Black_--Blacks are all black. A black with brindle markings or a black with tan markings is a disqualification. *Yellow--Yellows may range in color from fox-red to light cream,* with variations in shading on the ears, back, and underparts of the dog. _Chocolate_--Chocolates can vary in shade from light to dark chocolate. Chocolate with brindle or tan markings is a disqualification.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

They are just yellow labradors. The yellow comes in different shades. The shade is called fox red and it isn't rare as far as I know.


https://www.akc.org/breeds/labrador_retriever/breed_standard.cfm

color

_Yellow_--Yellows may range in color from fox-red to light cream, with variations in shading on the ears, back, and underparts of the dog.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

I've seen lots of yellow labs but never anything like these. They were kind of a reddish, dark tanish, brown color, like some of the darker field Goldens but definitely not as dark as a chocolate.


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## Golden999 (Jun 29, 2010)

If you see them again, ask the owner if you can snap a few photos and post them. I'd be interesting in seeing what a red Labrador looks like.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)




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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

I had a Lab. A yellow Lab. There is no such thing as a red Lab formally speaking (as was noted above). If a Lab is a reddish color and it has an AKC pedigree it has to have been classified as either black, chocolate, or yellow when it was registered. 

By the way, within the past two or three days someone on this forum asked if there were "white Labs" and I said that they were pale yellow Labs like my late Lab, Biscuit. I also posted a photo of him in that thread! If I can find that thread, I will post a link to it! 

NewfieMom


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

It's just another one of those marketing ploys... like the white or silver labs... UGH Makes me so angry and sad.


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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

*No, There Are No White Labs, Either!*



NewfieMom said:


> By the way, within the past two or three days someone on this forum asked if there were "white Labs" and I said that they were pale yellow Labs like my late Lab, Biscuit. I also posted a photo of him in that thread! If I can find that thread, I will post a link to it!


This is the thread to which I was referring. *AngieAvenue* was apparently asked if her Golden was a, "white Lab" (see page two of the thread). I replied on page three of the thread.

The "white Lab" thread...http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retrievers-main-discussion/292065-my-puppy-mixed-3.html

NewfieMom


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## CharlieBear80 (Oct 13, 2013)

My stepsister, who lives in Maryland, recently purchased a "red lab" from a breeder that's local to her. Based on what knowledge I have of the breeder she got the dog from, it seems like a marketing ploy to me. But that's just the one instance, so...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Rainheart said:


> It's just another one of those marketing ploys... like the white or silver labs... UGH Makes me so angry and sad.


Yes, there are breeders who use it as a marketing ploy, but BIG DIFFERENCE is that you read the breed standard as I posted above in this thread.... it is a legitimate color of the breed. Those two pictures I posted above are breed champion dogs. 

White and silver are not in the breed standard. 

The breed standard refers to "light cream" being the lightest acceptable shade, not white. 

Silver... is a whole big issue on its own.


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## Goldengal9 (Apr 18, 2012)

Lol this has been a debate in my house for the last two years as my uncle purchased what he says is a fox red Labrador retriever. Oddly enough it was also from Connecticut. From what I have researched it's really a yellow lab of dark color but many breeders are calling it fox red. I googled a breeder for those who wanted to see a picture. 

Fox Red Labrador Retriever Puppies - Renescence Labradors - Buy Fox Red Labrador Puppies (pups)


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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

Megora said:


> Yes, there are breeders who use it as a marketing ploy, but BIG DIFFERENCE is that you read the breed standard as I posted above in this thread.... it is a legitimate color of the breed.


You're absolutely right, of course. The red Labs pictured are *absolutely* breed standard. But the *irony* is that they are breed standard because they are *yellow Labs* and in the tradition of other yellow Labs. They are not rare. Just as my very pale cream Lab was not rare and was not something other than a yellow Lab although to some people he may have appeared white!

NewfieMom


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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

I have been looking around on the Internet for information on red Labs and have found many websites that discuss them and many owned by people that breed and sell them. This website had the most charming photos (and a video) of fox red Lab puppies, however. It gave a far better picture of what the dogs looked like than any other website I had seen. I think the dogs are simply adorable as puppies!

Fox Red Labs (yellow Labs)... puppy page

NewfieMom


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## Kmullen (Feb 17, 2010)

I have heard... (Rumor) that the red might be added as a color. That many breeders aren't too opposed to that. What they are opposed to is the silver!


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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

kfayard said:


> I have heard... (Rumor) that the red might be added as a color. That many breeders aren't too opposed to that. What they are opposed to is the silver!


May I ask where you have heard that? The "fox red" is the *original* color of the yellow Labrador Retriever so it seems pretty bizarre to me that it would now be added as a "new" color!!!

NewfieMom


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

Torgs Labs - Minnesota Labrador Retriever Breeders - Gun Dog Breeders Directory

I have a friend that breeds " fox red labs" my son has the pale yellow ' white " lab I don't think that one should breed for color but then there are lots of people ot there that that is the main thing they look at when choosing a dog.


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## Ruby13 (Dec 28, 2013)

I have seen a few red ones around here, but not as red as in the pics posted by Megora. They are certainly beautiful dogs. 

My CeeLo is the light cream, I would think. 



I did not buy him as a 'white', he was never represented as a 'white', but I do know that I occasionally refer to him as white, even though cream would be a better description - he's just not the typical color, but he's 100% yellow lab. He was the lightest in his litter, all of the rest were the usual 'yellow' lab color we see everyday, including his parents.

I thought he would darken as he grew older, but it's been just the opposite. He's lighter.


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## NewfieMom (Sep 8, 2013)

Ruby13 said:


> I have seen a few red ones around here, but not as red as in the pics posted by Megora. They are certainly beautiful dogs.
> 
> My CeeLo is the light cream, I would think.
> 
> ...



Ruby, CeeLo is gorgeous. How old is he? I am assuming from the way you speak that he is fully grown. His coloring is very similar to my late Lab, Biscuit. I cannot tell from the pictures posted, but Biscuit's ears may have had more dark color in them.

Biscuit was far larger than either picture of CeeLo, though. He far exceeded the breed standards in just about every way. (I did not pick him-not for his color, his pedigree, or anything else. He was an AKC pedigreed Lab and I eventually got to see his pedigree, but only out of curiosity. We adopted him at age 2 because the family who had him couldn't manage him.)

NewfieMom


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## Tailchaser (Nov 22, 2013)

I don't know if it is the same as in the US but in England I have noticed that it seems rare to see a 'red' labrador in the more show lines but it seemed pretty common to me in the working lines which I thought was quite interesting. Almost like how over here it is more common to see paler cream goldens in the show lines but get the darker goldens in the working lines. I do find it interesting how the different colours seems more represented in certain competitive fields.


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