Hi

Interested to find out about the bola pad (white hairs on bottom of foot) and the white spot on a labs chest.
Why do these markings appear?
I have a black lab with the so called bola pad and have seen a chocolate with the same thing but in a friends litter there is a black lab with a small white diamond on his chest. How rare is this? Does it go back to many years ago? And is the bitch likely to produce it again.
Also anyone got any good pedigree names for him!!!

the K C breed Standard say: Colourwholly Black,yellow or liver/chocolate range from light cream to red fox,small white spot on chest permissable.
I have seen dogs in the showring with white on there feet.Also mismarks occur and in the Labrador rescue we have seen many strange markings on supposedly pure bred Labs.My very first litter in 1982 very well bred black bitch to a top black stud dog produced twelve puppies four yellow and eight black two blacks one with white on his feet and one with the white mark on his chest when they grew up you could hardly see the white.Sorry cant suggest any names hard enough choosing my own dogs but good luck deciding.

There was a black Lab who lived near me, that had splashes of white all over the body, as if it had had been painted. I am not talking ticking, but patches as big as my hyand in places, almost as if freeze branded, and she had round white spots on one side of the face. I had assumed that the dog had suffered some horrendous acident which had depigmented the injured areas, but was told not so! These were totally Random markings, and in no way symetrical, or in the classic pattern of white on dogs usually appearing on chest, feet, then spreading up legs and neck and so on as seems to be the genetic pattern for Parti colours.

One of my yellow Labs had a white spot on her chest. It's something which happens rather more that you might think.

Regards, John

My litter this year consisted of eight black and one yellow. One black had a tiny white diamond which was actually very useful as we could at least tell one apart.
Mum was black, and bred to a black who carried yellow. I know mum was from a litter of all blacks so I don't know where the white spot came from. There was a website a couple of weeks ago that someone put on this board with mismarked labs and all about the genetics with colours. Very interesting to look at.
Perhaps someone will help me out with remembering it :)
Lorna

This is the really comprehensive site on Lab colours - enough to blow your mind!!

http://www.labbies.com/genetics2.htm#Brindling

or , as well,

http://www.labbies.com/genetics.htm

and also

http://www.labradorretriever.com/breederstory.html

Hours of harmless fun with these sites!! If I'm right, a blotchy mismark is regarded as a somatic mutation (ie of the superficial cells only), and is unlikely to be hereditary. This isn't actually what the author on the third site suggests, but it has been discussed on a genetics list I subscribe to.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I just knew you'd try to wind me up again Jo :) Brindle Labs indeed!!!!!

John

I like them piebald ones best, J :-)

Best viewed through a glass of Malt

Love Jo