As most of you know, but for those who dont, I have a chocolate lab bitch called Darcy

She is nearly 5 months old.

My question is what shade aof brown are chocolates supposed to be.

Darcy is a very dark mahogany brown but others I have seen and pictures in books have been much lighter.

Will she lighten as she gets older or are all shades of brown considered acceptable.

I'm curious about that, too! :)

It could be that a chocolate from black lines will be darker than chocolates from yellow lines; it could be that the coat fades in the sun.

Anyone know the facts?

hi rachael -
I hope someone who knows about Choc Labs answers your query but I would say I had the same question of my dog at that age. Not that this is relevant to you but you name it I've seen all shades of corgi ranging from very light ginger to deep red. Mine was born looking like a fox - a bit of a non-descript greyish colour and at 5 months he had still not developed his full colour. Now his coat looks a deep red and also fits the breed description.
Give it a few months I would say [with the proviso that my experience is with a corgi]. Does your breed description give you more info about the shades of brown?

Has she stopped scratching yet??

cissy

Her sratching hasnt stopped completely but is certainly getting better

THanks for asking!!!

PS in my puppy classes we had 2 Choc Labs at 12 weeks who were a light cocoa colour and both darkened at about 7 months [they left as the trainer was threatening to keep them back in the puppy classes!!]

The darker the better. Should have dark eyes too.
Ted

hi
my choc lab is quite a dark mahogany colour too, with hazel eyes, but i have seen lighter ones too, i prefer her colouring i must admit as the lighter ones look like they have faded in the wash, (JMHO),
:) julie

:) "faded in the wash" - not far from the truth though. They've probably faded down the generations as the black genes get diluted. :)

Choc Labs in my opinion should be a nice rich colour with nice soft brown eyes not yellow there is a distinct problem with coats though I had a lovely choc boy but when he moulted his coat was like an old carpet and it took nearly twelve months for the coat to come right,some chocs are nearly black .
In the show ring most shades are acceptable.
You will find dogs out of blacks carrying chocolate gene will have a better coat colour than say a choc from yellow/black parents it is not recomended to mate choc to yellow at all and will often result in bad coat colour and light yellow eyes

My lot are all a dark chocolate colour but be prepared for sunbathing as this does bleach the fur to a milky chocolate colour.

Mars Bar my first Lab used to have two distinctive coloured coats in the winter and summer. She was a sun lover and often cooked or melted !!

Lucy

my choc boy milo is just like a slab of chocolate.people comment on his shiny coat and lovely colour.he is a really rich chocolatey colour, and is very naughty but entirely lovable.I have seen choc labs that look like theyve been faded in the sun but milos coat is lovely even after sunbathing.