Fox red Labs, the deepest shade of yellow

Is fox red a real Lab color?

It is, and it registers as yellow. Labs are registered only as black, chocolate or yellow, and fox red sits inside yellow as its darkest shade, in the American and the UK breed standards alike.

What makes a fox red Lab so red?

Every yellow Lab has two copies of the gene that shuts off black pigment in the coat, and what is left is red and yellow pigment. How much of that pigment a dog makes decides whether it looks cream, gold or fox red.

The genes that control that amount are still being worked out. A handful of them together explain most of the difference between a pale yellow and a deep red, and more are still to be found.

Will a fox red mama and papa have fox red puppies?

A fox red mama and papa can only have yellow puppies, since a yellow passes yellow to every puppy it has. How deep a yellow each puppy turns out is less certain, because the shade comes from several genes adding together, and each puppy gets its own mix of them.

So the parents' color is a guide to a puppy's shade rather than a promise, and anyone set on a deep red should keep that in mind until the final pick at 4 to 5 weeks.

Are fox red Labs different in health, temperament or type?

The studies that compared Lab colors on health and temperament grouped every shade of yellow together, so none of them says anything about fox red on its own.

A fox red's parents should have the same hip, elbow, eye and DNA testing as any Lab's, and our guide to Lab size, lifespan and health lists it in full.

A fox red isn't a field Lab or a show Lab by its color, because those styles are about bone, leg length, head and coat, and the same yellow range, fox red included, applies to every Lab.

Do we raise fox red Labs?

Fox red is the deep end of the yellow range we raise, which runs from a light white to fox red, alongside our black and chocolate Labs, all of them bred English style. We are working toward health testing every one of our mamas and papas. As each parent's certificates come in, we post them on that parent's own page.

A fox red is reserved the way any of our Labs is, by gender and color once the litter arrives, and the final pick is at 4 to 5 weeks. If a deep red is what you're after, say so when you apply, and our yellow Lab guide covers the lighter shades.