I thought I new a decent bit about Labrador Retrievers, but I had never heard of purebred Black and Tan Labrador Retrievers until I began volunteering as a puppy raiser working with Stetson (my GDA puppy) and his guide dog training. From the Guiding Eyes website:
“The black and tan coloring is due to a modifier gene normally present in Labrador Retrievers. It is recessive and therefore requires each parent to contribute the black and tan gene to an individual for the color to show up. It can modify a black or chocolate Lab to have lighter tan markings in the usual locations of a Gordon Setter, Doberman or Rottewieler. There is also a brindle coloring that Labs can have. We see it less often. Labs with brindling have tan speckling on their forelegs, muzzles and chest.”
Black and Tan and Brindle Labs are not allowed to compete in the show ring because they are not considered desirable traits for the standard lab. However, they can be registered with the AKC (American Kennel Club) and these color choices are available on the registration slips.
Their coat color may be different then your standard black/yellow/chocolate lab, but they have the same temperament as their solid colored littermates. Take a look at these pictures of Billy one of our readers Black and Tan Labrador Retriever:
Another trait I noticed was a small white spot on some of the black labs in our group. After doing a little bit of research I found that this trait is also permissible in the AKC Labrador Retriever Standard.
If you know of any other unusual traits found in purebred labs please leave a comment or let me know.
I’d love to see any images you have of black and tan Labrador Retrievers or Brindle Labs. If you have some great pictures please send them over and I’ll try to post them to the website.
I have received many images from others who own purebred black and tan labs and brindle labs. Moving forward I plan on appending the new images to this post. If you’re interested in sending me your images of purebred black and tan labrador retrievers and brindle labs then please email me at ckmorita [at] puppyintraining [dot] com. Also, be sure and include a short summary/description of your puppy.
Benny the Brown and Tan Lab
This is our brown and tan labrador Benny. It was only one brown and tan Labrador in a “draft” from 12 Labrador babys. He is a kindly dog. He loves child and he learn fast. He grow up with two child. We looked for a dog for our son, who suffers from selective mutism. And we find the right dog. He is tomorrow 19 weeks old.
Brindle Lab Puppies
I saw the pics of the brindle lab dogs on your site. We didn’t know what to think when our female had 3 out of 9 that came out with the brindle color. One has just a
bit on the paws, another has it on his paws and a little on his chest, the other one has it on his paws, chest face and neck. They are so pretty.
Black, Yellow, and Black And Tan Lab Puppies
The Puppies
Mom and Dad
I am sending you Pictures of the Black and tan pups and Mom and Dad I was very surprised to see this color of pups come from my Chocolate Female and my Yellow Male The pups were born on Jan 15th 2010 here are some Pictures of the Black and Tan and the rest of the Litter and Mom and Dad.
Here are some follow up articles including pictures and additional information on Purebred Brindle and Black and Tan Labrador Retrievers:
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- Brindle Labrador Retriever – Dixie We received some more pictures of Brindle Labs and decided...
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that is my dog. koda. what do you think? pure lab? he is 7 months old.. now question.. do these dogs bark alot? cuz he does.. he likes to speak his mind alot. lol
thank you =]
@Lindsay, Koda is adorable. Unfortunately I can’t tell from a picture whether or not Koda is a purebred Lab. They have genetic test to determine breed, but I’m not too sure if the tests are very accurate.
oh and in that picture he was like 4 months old… that is an old pic.
Hi,
My dog is a pure bred lab. I saw both his parents (mum – black, dad-yellow) and he is gorgeous. But when taking him to our local vets the nurse insisted he was a cross and was actually quite rude about it!!!
Hello- Here is a picture of our two brindle labs. Our lab had her first litter of 14 puppies- 6 yellows, 6 black and 2 brindle. The mother is a black lab and the father is a yellow lab. 14 puppies for her litter- yikes!!!
[IMG]http://pic70.picturetrail.com/VOL1818/12739097/22662261/380038343.jpg[/IMG]
I have been looking to buy or adopt a black and tan or brindle lab for over a year. If anyone knows where I can find one, please let me know. I have a female purebred black lab who would love to have a sister or brother to play with!
@Cindy, those two puppies are too cute! 14 in the litter that must be a lot of work. I hope you’re getting some rest while you take care of your puppies.
I have a black and tan retriever but my husband and every one else says that she is a rot. I have had alot of arrguments about it because they seem to think that she might turn on them. I try to explain that she is very gentle even with people that she doesnt know but everyone still seems put off. She is a rescue and we have had her for six years. She is seven now and was wondering if any one elses dog seems to still act like a pup. She still is very energetic and although she has a greying face loves to play rough with the kids. Lovingly of couse. she is also very gentle with the smaller ones also.
@Anna Zahn, our family dog wasn’t a black and tan lab, but was a rescue border collie mix. He was full of energy and acted like a puppy for over 15 years!
So glad I found this forum. I’m fostering to adopt a puppy whose breed I just couldn’t pin. Her siblings were all lab colors, but everyone’s first impression for her was “rottweiler!” Wasn’t convinced, partially because of her body shape and size-age relationship, though I admit I’m as far from an expert as one gets. But after a few search slings on Google, the similarities to the black-and-tan lab are striking, though, again, I’m as far from an expert as one gets.
WOW I am so glad to of found this article!!! I have a beautiful black lab and she has had 6 litters and this was her last one. I always have used another black lab and she always has yellow chocolate and black in all the other litters,well this time I used a beautiful yellow lab and she thru yellow,black and a black and tan..Everyone is telling me the same thing as Ben just said everyone thinks she is a rottweiler but she is a good looking lab…so glad to hear this and actually find pictures that look exactly like her…awesome website thank you
I am buying a Chocolate male lab with unique yellow markings from the web site I am posting They have two females with similar markings. I have had so many people tell me that this is not a lab that it is a rottie. the lady does not even have a rottie on her property. So how could it be. I have found this site to be very helpful to me thank you very much
@Jayne, thanks for sharing the information about your litter. I think it’s pretty confusing for most people when they see a black and tan Labrador Retriever. As I’ve mentioned before I had no idea about black and tan and brindle Labs until I saw one in our guide dog group.
@Kimberly, thanks for leaving the link to your future puppy. Those puppies are adorable! Best of luck raising him. Hopefully he sleeps well his first few nights at home.
This web site most have cleared any problems my friends and family have because they have not said anything else to me since I sent them this website Thank you for all your help with my problems. I can not wait to bring home my little man on febuary 8th.
@Kimberly, we’d love to see some pictures of your new little puppy when you bring him home.
The more I researched the Black and Tan Labrador Retirever, the more it looks to be a lot like the now extinct St. John Dog which is the ancestor of the labrador retrievers today. My black,tan & white is a wonderful waterfowl /hunting dog now almost 11 months old this is the last weekend of the waterfowl season. Her parents were both black. She aclimates very well to the cold, love swimming and water, a great retriever of upland and waterfowl, looking forward to the off season to get back to her basic traing. I’ll post pics soon.
Hi. I have a black and tan labrador, he is a big boy, father golden (and big), mother black. I am forever being asked by people what breed he has in him and upon telling them he is a pure breed labrador I encounter scoffs and laughing as most people think he is part rottweiller. He shows no traits of the Rotty, he is a placid, intelligent and loving part of our family. Hopefully my photo will download. I love reading about everyone else who has these wonderful beautiful dogs.
ps: How do you go about uploading photos???
@Marcelle, thanks for sharing information on your Labrador. We’d love to see pictures of your dog. If you’d like to send us images of your dog send an email with attachments to ckmorita [at] puppyintraining [dot] com.
Thank you for having a wonderful site where we can find and see more pure AKC labs that are of the Splashing color or as some call them black and tan, I have emailed several pics of my puppy that I have gotten from the breeder, he is only six weeks old and I have a pic from the day he was born to weekly photos of him.
We are looking for a black and tan lab puppy to go with our beautiful Rottweiler who never had his ears cut or tail either. I am amazed at how similar the two look. We live in Washington. Thanks for the response.
@ Mary Goody If you look up Dutch Acres there website is http://www.dutchacrespups.com/ They have two female labs Black and Tan or Choco. and tan if you are looking for one. Good luck on getting one they are very beautiful
I came across this site by accident but as a breeder of Labradors, I felt compelled to set the record straight. Without knowing where information is attained, I can assure you that DNA testing will show, there is not and has never been a black and tan labrador, brindle labrador or a silver labrador. Testing centers such as MMI Genomics, Optigen, Ingen or other reputable companies that many of the worlds top breeders of any breed use to verify genetic results, their cannot be masks, patterns, roans, brindles or color variations to the labrador breed if it is a true pure bred. The black and tan labs in the photos on this post clearly have different head, tail and structural differences than pure bred labradors. That’s not to say they aren’t great dogs. The best dog I’ve ever owned was not a pure bred and she was phenominal. But anyone who says labradors come in any color combination other than chocolate, black or yellow is not a reputable breeder and does not know the AKC breed standard for Labradors. Some breeders falsify AKC pedigrees by saying a silver is a diluted chocolate, but if the AKC ever randomly tests a dam and sire combination and finds a falsified non-purebred being passed off as a Labrador, they will never be permitted that breeder to register a dog again with the AKC. But don’t take my word for it, do the DNA test for yourself.
Yours in Labs
I have breed my chocolate and a my yellow lab together both of which are AKC registered. It was much to my amazement that one of the puppies came out with the brindle markings. I have never heard or seen this before. It was interesting to see this website and see all the comments. I am a vet tech and I have been told that there was another father but I assure you there was not. He is the sweetest dog.. Thanks for the clarifying my curiosty.
I am glad to let everyone know that my puppies dna will be back in six to eight weeks so for those of disbelieve I will have a AKC DNA TEST RESULT.
People need to realize that the original Labrador retriever was not black, chocolate or yellow. This is what the breeders want, I could care less about AKC papers, but wanted a hunting dog which she has developed into with her first season under her.The ancestor of the labrador retriever is the St. John’s dog, they had white patches on their chest, chin, muzzle and feet like the lab I have which both parents were black. Mine actually looks like a St.John’s dog with the white but also has some tan. See the pictures of the St. John’s dog and see for yourself they are now extinct with none in existence any longer.
I have sent some pics today so I am looking forward to them being posted soon
As soon as someone proudly presents his or her Labrador (not white, chocolate or black) some excited “Breeder” stands up and starts arguing the originality of that dog. First of all: My dog (Black an tan Billy at the top) IS a Labrador, proven and all!! But… he’s not allowed to enter shows, breed etc…. And I know why breeders are so protective, although te “Labrador” is only originally as it is now for some 30 years….! It is all because of MONEY, it has absolutely nothing to do with the dog but with the papers cause for them, without papers a dog is worth zero Euro or Dollar.
I can state that in (expensive) nests sometimes brindled or black-and-tan pups dissapear….. sold before 6 weeks old, kept in another room or even worse….
Again: My dog has a black father, black mother, black brothers and sisters…all “recognized” Labs from 4 generations back and then suddenly my black and tan is NOT a Labrador…. com on Lab Breeder, who are you ??
i have a registered chocolate lab that threw puppies just like the one shown above should i breed her
Hi Dustin, To my knowledge, you can easily breed her, the chance that you will get black and tan pups is almost zero. I know a couple who has a black and tand but never managed to get black and tan pups, every litter was black .
Dustin If I was u I would breed her I have a 14 week AKC male that I will at least breed him once and he is Chocolate and tan. Our labs are like the black sheep of labs. They are just not popular, who knows maybe in five to ten years they will be popular and everyone is going to want one. To some people Dogs are like clothes I have learned it just depends on what is in style that year. LOL
Our first brindled lab, Maia, who I’ve discussed herein (including photos) was from two solid parents, a black and a chocolate. I only got to see one litter, their last, and the owners said they got one brindled in every litter (4-6 times I am reckoning). The owners had given me second choice as we were acquainted, and they had a lady try to but her out by telling them to just name their price.
Tora, our chocolate brindled, had a common great grandfather, and was the product of two chocolates. The litter included 3 or 4 brindles and the next litter from the same parents had none at all.
There are a lot of ignornant commentators, and most people who I tell that these are registered labs seem unconvinced. You have a special dog and I would breed if you want to breed but don’t count on more labrador specials. You might check into whether or not the lineage is Euorpean or American. I think the europeans did more mising a long time ago. I can tell you that whatever set the “defective allele” was from another kind of bird dog. Mine are both excellent hunters. See their pics on this sight if you haven’t already.
Mollie, my black female labrador retriever and Gunner, my yellow male labrador retriever just had their 2nd litter of puppies born on Easter day, April 4th, 2010. There were 12 puppies in this litter. 5 yellow, 3 black, and to my surprise…4 black and tan. I didn’t know about black and tan labrador retrievers, so I quickly searched the internet. I was very relieved to find that this color combination does exist. Mollie and Gunner are inseparable, and we keep them kennelled together. I knew that no other dogs could have possibly gotten to Mollie. The black and tan puppies are so cute! I hope others will fall in love with their beautiful coat color as much as we have!
I have 3 black and tan PUREBRED labrador retriever puppies that are now 5 weeks old. They are part of a litter of 9 puppies (4 yellows & 2 blacks) f you are interested in seeing them, please send me an email: omofamily@sbcglobal.net or call 316-680-4664
I am really glad that i found youe web site when my Black Lab had puppies I was shocked and thought oh no!!!! but i was sure the father was my Black male. Never knew there was such a thing as black and tans. they are 5 weeks old and so cute.
Susan Pettis
662-571-1262
mississippi
Me and my boyfriend recently bought a black and tan lab, I had never heard of this before seeing him. His name is Sawyer and he is such an amazing boy
his mom was a chocolate and dad was a black, both purebred CKC dogs. Everytime Sawyer meets someone new they assume he is a lab crossed witha rotti, and never relieve us when we tell them he is a purebred lab. It bothers me a bit that no one believes it but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what other people think because he is such an amazing dog !! 
So happy to see websites like this
I am glad to see soo many people finding out the truth about Labs they are solid color dogs but when your Lab throws a miss marked lab everyone freaks out and says that is not a lab Well GEUSS what all u disbeliever breeders why dont you all do your homework and find out that the true lab Had markings on them breeders tried to breed that out of them, and occasonally you will get a miss marked lab, or black and tan or chocolate and tan or brindle, or some even call it splashing, so go on with your own business and leave these purebreed dogs alone just because they are born different doesnt mean they are not true labs.
I am glad to see soo many people finding out the truth about Labs they are solid color dogs but when your Lab throws a miss marked lab everyone freaks out and says that is not a lab Well GEUSS what all u disbeliever breeders why dont you all do your homework and find out that the true lab Had markings on them breeders tried to breed that out of them, and occasonally you will get a miss marked lab, or black and tan or chocolate and tan or brindle, or some even call it splashing, so go on with your own business and leave these purebreed dogs alone just because they are born different doesnt mean they are not true labs.
Here is an updated pic of Bandit my AKC LAB That has his DNA testing done
@colby I was just wondering if you got the pics of Bandit I have not seen them posted on here yet let me know I do understand that life is very busy
@Kimberly, sorry for the late response I’ve been very busy. Unfortunately I’ve received so many requests to add photos I just haven’t had the time to add them to my site. I’ll do my best to add one of Bandits images later this week. Once again sorry it’s taking me so long. –Colby
You know what I absoultely hate…is when people tell me he is not a pure bred. its like i saw both of his parents, mom was chocolate dad was a yellow. but i just hate when people argue with you about it, i mean its pointless. But black and tan labs are by far the best. i finally got a vet to admit that there are some out there, she said its extremely rare… yet she told me he wasnt a pure bred. i wont go back to her, because to me she just doesnt know her dogs, i mean like i said i saw the parents, i saw all the other pups.
Hey, there are tan labs out there. My 2 labs are both pure bred with champion blood on the dads side, who is a big beautiful black lab, and our mom is a smaller chocolate lab. Both have papers, and we have had 3 litter with them, 1st litter was 13 puppies, 2 died, than 6, none died, and than 6, 3 died and we have had only one brown and tan pup in every litter. The last pup was a smart, brave, curiouus lilttle girl, with beautiful green eyes. I named her coconut, but we had to sell her, mom said =( but they are out there and if u want to see pics just email me at tomisblonde@yahoo.com and ill send u pics of the pups, mom, and dad. But we have no pups and mom is now fixed, wish we could have more though =) and if the pic shows up i tried to upload, that is coconut the puppy i was talking about. She will always be my babygirl and have a very special place in my heart.
@ Lindsay I know what u are saying my family has only seen picks of my dog and they all arguee that he is not a full blooded lab. I also seen the mom and dad of my puppy and I also say where the breeding takes place and there is no way for another dog to get in to the pin first of all there is like 5 or more miles to the closest neighbor. I also Had a DNA test done and his father will be tested soon very very soon like in the next year or so a breeder has to DNA test their dogs after 3 times of breeding there males. I love my lab, he is a handfull though so hyper and energetic I love it.
Hi Colby! How do you go about viewing the photos of other peoples Labs? Would it be easier for me to download mine on here? I am unsure of how to put them on here. You have photos of my boy Kyro.
@Marcelle, how is Kyro doing?
In the past I posted peoples pictures manually as they emailed them to me. However, in recent months I’ve received so many requests to post pictures that I no longer have the time to get them all up on the site. In the future I may try to offer readers the ability to post their own pictures. However, at this point in time the website does not have that functionality.
As the owner of the Labrador at the start of this item (2 pictures ) I can say that Billy is now 3 years old and a great dog! A superb-swimmer, guard and retriever with a great will to please and a dedicated friend of mine.
Like many posters above I still have to convince people it’s NOT a rottweiler I point them to this site which open their eyes!! So, thanks for all posts. And off course a leg from Bill from The Netherlands !!!!
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