Have you noticed that just about the time you feel like you're getting a handle on things, Mother Nature steps in to cut you off at the knees? It doesn't have to be anything really drastic like PRA or elbow dysplasia. Puppies marked like calico cats or Border Collies will do! 

Haven't had a mismark, yet. Stick around! Do you think that color is an obvious thing? Nothing subtle about it, right? There it is for everyone to see. Well, not quite. 

True mismarks come in patterns - predictable and consistent. Black/chocolate and tans, brindles, white patterning; all these are relatively common, more so in some bloodlines than others. The markings are in prescribed areas and, to my way of thinking, simple recessives in nature. 

What throws us for a loop are the unexpected deviations like black spots and/or patches on yellows. I don't happen to think that these are technically mismarks because they fall randomly and without pattern. These black patches are usually found on yellows with intense pigmentation. That is, light creams with coal black nose, eye rims, lips, pads, etc. Usually there is so much pigment in the skin that the dog appears grey or dirty when wet or out of coat. Even the poorest of pigmented, black-nosed yellows has a random black hair somewhere in their coat. Look your yellows over carefully and you'll find these errant hairs. 

.

How hysterical should one become? Probably not very. If your luck is holding, the affected pup is probably the pick of the litter. If the spot is "groomable" and/or on the off side, the pup may still be showable. 

If the patch covers one whole ear, forms a ring around the neck, covers one rear leg, or forms a Miss America banner across the chest (all of which have occurred), the dog is obviously not prime show potential. Showing these dogs to uninformed judges will result in disqualification or be excused for lack of breed quality. 

As for breeding potential; like anything else, intense pigmentation will he passed along and can be doubled upon, paving the way for additional spots. It's the old rule of too much of a good thing. If a dog can have too much head, too much angulation or too much leg, why can't it have too much pigment? Don't slash your wrists, just work around it. 

There has been so much controversy regarding the yellows and the various shadings accompanying the nature of the color. Next time you're at a dog show, take a look at the buff-colored Cockers, cream Afghans and Golden Retrievers, to name a few canine cousins. 

Call the color what you will, the genes remain the same. The alleles that cause the variations between the breeds also cause the variations on any given yellow Labrador. Any particular allele can produce a dark face mask, ticking, dark or light shading, dark edging on the ears, agouti markings (different bands of color on each hair), etc., etc. The list is endless. If you're a hysterical purist about color, there's plenty of material to work on. Otherwise, just realize that a yellow Labrador is genetically a solid colored dog and all the shading in the world won't change that fact. 

Also, blacks and chocolates can also carry and exhibit these same shadings. But, their blackness or chocolate-ness covers or masks these variations allowing them to appear of a more solid color than the yellows do. 

You've seen blacks that were SO black or rusty brown or grey but they are still black, same with the chocolates. No; Virginia, it's not sun-bleaching, it's the nature of the beast's color. 

Labradors are not so far removed from the German Shepherd, Rhodesian Ridgeback or the Beagle that the various color combinations are not a legitimate expression of the breed. We simply choose to depress some combinations while encouraging others to emerge. 

Have you ever marveled at the way things seem to come out right so much of the time? You know, one eye on each side of the head, one leg in each corner, the right number of toes, etc. Almost miraculous, don't you think? 

.................................................................