When you tell people that a black lab mother and a chocolate lab father can have yellow pups, you often get confused looks. The lab genes are fascinating and hopefully if you are one of those confused ones, this post will help clear it up. Last year I posted a similar genetics post, but we weren’t sure of what Bitsy’s genotype was (we were not sure if she got her mom’s yellow gene!). This was all cleared up when we had 3 yellows in our last litter:)
The genes that control the labs coat color are the B and E locus.
B = black
b = chocolate
E = ability to express pigment/color
e = inability to express pigment/color
So, since we know the genes of Bitsy and Freedom, I put together a chart that shows the probability of Bitsy having a yellow, chocolate, or black.
6/16 = 37.5% Black
6/16 = 37.5% Chocolate
4/16 = 25% Yellow
So according to the genes, the probability of having a black and a chocolate are the same. Which is quite interesting because in our last litter we had 3 yellows and only 1 chocolate! Only time will tell what colors this litter holds (it happens sometime tonight!) Stay tuned for more posts:)
LoveaLab 
