can you have a black and tan coloured labrador

No

I believe they are mismarks.
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/mismarks.html

Without DNA testing there is no evidence that these pups are in fact pure bred Labradors, only the word of the differing owners who send their photos to this website.  I knew of a Lab who was registered as a Lab as are all his litter mates, They all look like labs except one has a white paw and foreleg. I know what the cross was with and for all intents and purposes, no-one would know the difference unless 'into' Labs.

We get occasional mismarks in our breed - not too often fortunately and usually the specific lines are known to carry a very *small* chance of say, white socks :( 

I enjoyed (from a curiosity point of view) looking at the pics of the supposedly mismarked Labs but, to my untrained eye anyway, there weren't many of them looked like pure bred Labs to me the little dark puppy with the brindling on it's legs - yeah, that might fool me, but have to say most of the others just had a look to them that didn't say Labrador, either as pups or particularly as adults - especially the "black & tans".

Interesting nontheless and at least the web master responsibly states clearly they are mis-marks and should have no rare status attached to them for *added value* appeal.
Regards, Teri :)

I own and breed labs and i have a fantastic black male and yellow bitch that I use for work. ( Both these dogs are Kennel Club registered ) I had many requests for puppy's out of these two dogs and when we felt that the dogs were both at a satifactory standard of training and had relvent health screenings we went ahead and had a litter. We had  seven pups some black and some yellow. After about 3 weeks one of the black bitches started to get tan fleks on her paws and as she grew so did the marks they extended up her legs and on her face and she looked like she had been crossed with a rottweiler!!!! She was sold to a lovely pet home for less than half price, who wants to pay top notch for a pedigree who looks like a mongral. She is very much loved. Then another time I was asked to stud my dog again to a game keepers bitch who was also registered lab, he knew about they markings but I have read up on these "mismaks" and it said that both parents have to carry the ressevive gene to produce this markings and yet again we had a dog pup with the same markings. Needless to say I have never bred my dog again even though we have had countless requests.

I agree Teri and Kayc with what you say.  Without DNA testing there is no certainty they are purebred labs, and most do look like cross breeds - although there are mismarks in many breeds and as there is mention of mismarks early on in the breed,  thought I would mention it. ;) To be honest, in an overbred breed like labs, there are many labs that bear only a passing resemblence to what they should anyway  : eek :  
Either way they certainly certainly shouldn't be classed as 'rare' and they are not valuable.
:0

JenP

May I just say in defence that there is a differece in looks between the show lab and the working lab, yes I agree that the labrador is overbred and I only breed mine when I already have working homes waiting for puppies.

No defence necessary labs.  I was referring to puppy farmers and back yard breeders, who seem to churn out puppies for the pet market, whose only requirement is that they are fertile and produce puppies :(.  I hadn't seen your post when I posted (too busy trying to get the smileys right - which I got wrong anyway :D).  I agree about the difference between show and working.  My own well bred working lab has been mistaken for a lab cross more than once because he was not 'chunky' enough :D

Thats ok, I quite agree about puppy farmers and what damage they do to any breed. I have got a lovely chocolate bitch and people keep telling to have a litter out of her, but I won't, as she is a little nutty when it comes to work and has took a lot more time to train, she has good hips and clear eyes but like I said I only breed for work homes, there are alot of people who would like a pup out of her for a pet but I won't breed for demand, I can see she hasn't got enough qualities to breed from but unfortunally (can't spell!!!) the puppy farmers don't look at it this way.

JenP, no defence coming from me, but my Labs are after yah :D :D

Seriously I can see where this is all coming from. In most breeds there is an immense 'likeness' (for want of a better word), but in the Labradors there are so many varying 'looks'.  Even Tia, in her gangly coming out of baby stage, was mistaken for a flatcoat   My dogs are show dogs, but I do work 2 of them and have had some strange conversations with some people on how they look ie; fit, not fat.

At a show on Sunday, I saw a beautiful white Bull Terrier but when he turned to display his rear end, I saw Emma, my yellow lab, as she is squat stocky and very highly muscled. 

Compulsory DNA testing gets my vote, if it ever happens ;)