Golden Retrievers/Labrador crosses

[TheTecknician]

What would be the likely coat colour for the youngsters of such a union? GRs come in various shades from ivory to ginger whereas Labs are black, brown or, like the GR, anywhere between ivory and ginger. I'm no expert on canine genetics but I would guess the ivory-ginger range, bearing in mind the colour of the GR and that most, if not all, Labs carry the 'yellow' gene.

Thankyou.

It will depend on the colour of the Lab parent. If it's black or chocolate you'll probably get one pup with that colouring. You could also get throwbacks from grandparents or great grandparents.

I had a Border Collie whose grandparents were 3 black & white BC and 1 tri-coloured Bearded Collie. They produced 7 pups:
5 black & white
1 black & white with flashes of tan on legs
1 black & white with a merle effect of tan/grey/white on his face, chest and legs -my dog and he was beautiful!

My existing dog's parents are Black Lab and black & white Border Collie. They produced 6 pups:
5 black all with flashes of white on chest and a white tail tip.
1 completely black - my dog who, apart from her BC face, looks like a small Black Lab.

Whatever colour or markings they are, I'm sure they'll all be gorgeous!

Thankyou @AcquadiP . If I understand your post correctly, I assume the Labrador would have the dominant genes so that parent gets first dibs, IYSWIM, at colouring the offspring. I believe GR/Lab crosses are favoured for guide dog duties so there should be some actual examples out there.

I wonder if the presence of GR genes in the youngsters would be enough to eradicate the Lab tendency-to-greediness ?

We have a yellow lab. One of a litter of 9. Both parents and all siblings were black. She was the only yellow

She had to be different!

They get called goldadors if you want to google them!

I'm not an expert but in the case of my Black Lab/Border Collie all the pups bar mine had the white flash on the chest and tail tip which are stereotypically BC. However, all the pups had the build of small labs so I suppose both parents won through genetically.

Behaviourally, both parents won through as well. I would say her temperament is generally more Lab than BC but when she greets people she doesn't run straight up to them. Instead she gets quite close with her tail wagging wildly before doing a wide run around them, which harks back to her herding genes and leaves strangers baffled!

I had to laugh at your greedy Lab comment.🤣 My purebred Black Lab would eat anything apart from fresh parsley. She also had the astonishing knack of vacuuming mid air anything that accidentally fell from the chopping board. I do miss her though because other than parsley nothing ever went in the waste bin. My Lab X BC eats a mix of foods but she's not food obsessed or greedy in the same way so hopefully the 'greedy gene' will be watered down in these pups too.🤞

This website will explain it all to you:
https://www.doggenetics.co.uk
Dominant black, tan points, the works...

I wonder if the presence of GR genes in the youngsters would be enough to eradicate the Lab tendency-to-greediness ?

Genetics and personality attributes do not work like that.

That's like assuming that breeding a poodle and a cocker spaniel will automatically result in a dog with a curly coat. Or that breeding a Goldie and a German Shepherd will stop all resource guarding. It's why breeding mongrels (for lack of a better term) is such a bad idea - because you have no idea what you will get.

Goldies are also greedy little shits.

All obviously varies depending on the colour of the lab…either way there’s a reason so many guide dogs are lab x goldie cross - they are the best dogs ❤️

I thought GRs were similarly food obsessed tbh?

Thankyou @EdithStourton I've had a read of some sections. I never realised dog genetics was so complex.

@ApoodlecalledPenny @LandSharksAnonymous

I've seen plenty of overweight Labradors - somehow they manage to look obviously fat. But I guess GRs disguise it more effectively by looking sturdy and broad rather than jellybelly.

I have a GR cross who won’t stop eating which might be skewing my view 😁

Admittedly, our cocker spaniels (years ago) were allowed to get a little more tubby than was healthy. Yet they all lived into their teens. Speaking of cockers, I think it is one of those breeds where offspring coat colour is reasonably predictable. Our blue roan girl had a 'husband' who was golden and his owner said the youngsters would either be black or golden. Solid colours. No variation. All five were black!

I have a friend who walks guide dog puppies, and many are GR/ Lab crosses; several of these glorious beasts have been solid black ( definitely my favourites).

I found them every bit as greedy as my pure lab, but their floofy coats hide the holiday weight a bit better.