The first dog to be successfully cloned was an Afghan Hound named "Snuppy" in 2005. Snuppy currently behaves like a normal, happy dog. Snuppy's success was the inspiration for the next well-publicized batch of cloned dogs – cloned yellow Labrador puppies from a top drug-sniffing Lab in South Korea. A cloned Labrador puppy in that drug-sniffing project is affectionately called a "toppy" – short for "tomorrow puppy".
Japan has also followed suit in the summer of 2008 with the successful birth of a black Labrador puppy cloned from a caner-sniffing dog with the English name of "Marine". Some cancers make the patient's urine give off a distinctive odor. Well, it's distinctive to a Labrador Retriever puppy, but not to human noses. This is a big gamble, to see if they will grow up to me a Marine puppy platoon, but if it pays off, this could wind up saving millions in cancer detection and care.
Problems With Other Cloned Animals
All fingers and paws are crossed that the effort and expense of gaining a special cloned Labrador puppy will pay off in more easily trainable dogs. Only about 10 – 15% of dogs who try out for specialty sniffing jobs like drug detection actually pass the program. Just like people, not all dogs are the same when it comes to trainability.
There is also good concern that a cloned Labrador puppy will not life the normal, reasonably healthy life of a naturally born Labrador puppy. Dolly's early death has already been mentioned. Cloned dairy cattle have failed to live up to expectations in being able to produce as much milk as the original cow. Also, according to the Center for Food Safety, about 90% of all cloning attempts fail.
Also, having great genes does not guarantee a great Labrador puppy. Genes only play a part on making a great animal. Experience and circumstance also play a major role in shaping the character and ability of any animal. For now, cloning puppies is a gamble. But if the cloned dogs do not suffer and perform up to expectations, then it will be worth the cost.
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The only three recognized colors of purebred Labrador Retrievers are yellow, black and chocolate (which used to be called liver). There are many shades of yellow in yellow Labrador Retrievers. Some are so pale that they are called "white", even though their papers will call them yellow. The darkest shade of yellow is sometimes called "gold", but even the darkest golden Labrador Retriever will not compare to the luster of a Golden Retriever.
But, like PT Barnum said, "There's a sucker born every minute", and they will believe whatever they are told. If they are told that there is such a thing as a purebred golden Labrador, they will break open their wallets and buy one. Even when they can clearly see that the puppy's color is yellow, they think the "golden" label means "premium" and they will buy the so-called "golden Labrador Retriever" over the identical-looking "yellow Labrador Retriever."
Nothing Wrong With A Yellow Lab
If you do discover that your pricey "golden Labrador Retriever" is simply a yellow Lab, take heart. Your dog will still be loyal and comical and loving. Keep the dog. But by all means, complain to the Better Business Bureau about how the dog was represented. It would help if you had a copy of the original ad that lead you to the kennel and a copy of the contract. You did get a contract with your "golden Labrador Retriever", didn’t you? If not, there's ANOTHER thing to complain about.
If you go to a rescue shelter and see a dog listed as a purebred golden Labrador Retriever, the staff just made a common mistake. Don't rip into them about it – they are doing the best you can. You could write a thank you letter about how well you are getting on with your rescue dog and just casually mention that, officially, there is no such thing as a purebred golden Labrador Retriever. Once that is done, concentrate on building up a great friendship with your new Lab of whatever color.
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We do not know the name of the first person who decided to not kill his or her Labrador Retriever puppy who decided to give it a chance to live just like its black siblings. Eventually, it was obvious to everyone that a yellow Labrador Retriever was just as healthy and intelligent as a black Labrador Retriever. Some trainers even prefer yellow Labrador Retrievers over any other color in a sort of reverse-prejudice.
And then the tide turned. Now, when the public hears the name "Labrador Retriever" it is most likely a yellow dog that they think of first. Their sunny color perfectly reflects their sunny dispositions. You'd be hard pressed not to find someone who doesn’t know a great yellow Labrador Retriever from somewhere in his or her past.
Search And Rescue
Yellow Labrador Retrievers have never taken the actions of humans to their kind and color personally. Neither do black Labrador Retrievers, chocolate Labrador Retrievers or the so-called golden Labrador Retrievers. All Labrador Retrievers (unless abused) love people. Their first love is for their own people, but they willingly extend this love to complete strangers.
This has made the yellow Labrador Retriever one of the most desired dogs in search and rescue organizations. The yellow coat makes them easier to spot in the shadows of a collapsed building or other rescue site. But rescue organizations will take on a dog of any color, as long as they have the right attitude and abilities to stay focused.
However, it is hard not to notice that many of the most awarded search and rescue dogs and other service dogs are yellow Labrador Retrievers or yellow Lab crosses. In England, a successful breeding program to train dogs for the blind uses crosses of Labrador Retrievers (of whatever color) and Golden Retrievers.
One such heroic yellow Labrador Retriever was the only dog to die in the 9/11 attacks. His name was Sirius and he was on a daily routine mission at the World Trade Center to sniff for explosives with the NY/NJ Port Authority. His body was recovered on January 22, 2002.
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Somewhere along the last two hundred years, a rumor got out that chocolate Labrador Retrievers could not be purebred because the color showed that Pointers were thrown in the mix. However, this was not the case. Back in the 1800's and today in 2008 a litter of Lab puppies often has a chocolate sibling in with the blacks, goldens and yellows.
Originally, only black Labs were allowed. Back in the 1800's, colors were often thought to be the sign of sickness. Chocolate and yellow Labrador Retriever puppies were often culled (killed) for being "sickly", even though their only fault was that they were born the wrong color. Fortunately, this prejudice was dropped when the first chocolate Labrador Retriever was allowed to be registered in 1892.
But although the dogs were allowed to live, many "serious" breeders would not show their chocolates. However, finally, in 1964, a chocolate Labrador Retriever named Cookridge Tango won a Best of Breed class in England. Now that genes are better known, it is seen that the chocolate gene is found in all black Labs as a recessive gene.
A Question Of Marketing?
Perhaps one reason for the demand in chocolate Labrador retrievers is the name of their color. It certainly was a stroke of genius for the unknown dog lover who first described the color as "chocolate" rather than "liver". Very few people want liver given to them, but they will gladly embrace chocolate in any way, shape or form, especially if it's a loveable dog.
Chocolate Labrador Retrievers have gone from the rarest color wanted to the one in most demand. Their numbers are also rising, with American Labrador breeders predicting that chocolates will outnumber yellows by 2018. No matter what you call them, they can be brilliant dogs with the right training, care and attention. There are a lot of variances in shading, nose color and height, musculature build and head shape with Labradors, no matter what their color.
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Although we claim to not believe in superstitions, our subconscious proves we do. Quite often, we pass over anything black because of the negative bias towards the color black. The only things that seem to escape this bias are diamonds and horses. However, there are a lot of myths, legends and stories about black dogs being somehow bad. One of these is that vampires can change into black wolves – or black dogs (even black Labrador Retrievers).
Probably the most famous bad black dog was the Hound of the Baskervilles, which went after the legendary Sherlock Holmes. Many scholars and psychologists think the reason why the Hound of the Baskervilles is so famous is because a large black dog fits our subconscious idea of what an evil creature looks like, even a dog with floppy ears like a black Labrador Retriever.
Hecate And Paganism
In some pre-Christian pagan religions, black dogs were seen as sacred. One of the most powerful and respected Goddesses (still worshipped by modern day Pagans) is Hecate (or Hekate), known as the Goddess of Witches. One of her symbols was the black dog. It was said that She could appear to people in the form of either a black snake, a black mare or a black dog.
Whenever Christianity overtook paganism, anything associated with the old Deities was immediately demonized. This is probably what happened to all black dogs, even in this modern day and age, causing the black dog syndrome seen today in pet rescues and animal shelters.
A Good Dog Is Never A Bad Color
If you are considering adopting a dog (and good for you), then please be sure to take a second look at all of the black dogs in the shelter. Perhaps they will look ordinary, but that's only on the outside. If you specifically want to adopt a Labrador Retriever, be sure to tell the breed rescue or animal shelter that you would accept a black Labrador Retriever. You will certainly gain not only the shelter worker's respect, but the friend of a lifetime.
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