Every body has heard that song about Old McDonald, right?
It goes like this.
Old McDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o
And on his farm he had some labs e-i-e-i-o
Here a Black Lab, There a Yellow Lab
Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere  a . . . RED Lab?

What? Red Labs?  

So, everybody stand up that knew there were red labs.

Now, stand up if you knew that red is not really a separate color but only considered to be a shade of yellow for labs!

Are you confused yet? I was. So I looked into the matter.

Original yellow labs were called Golden until the British Kennel Club began to register them. The Brits concluded that Gold was not a color, so they called them “yellow”.  The first yellow lab ever recorded was Ben of Hyde in 1899. People seemed to like the darker red/yellows until after World War II. Over the years, the lighter Labs became more popular. People kept breeding the labs lighter and lighter until some people called them White Labs. There is no such thing as a White Lab, so don’t get fooled into buying one!

Meanwhile, over in England, two breeders were interested in bringing back the fox red color. They succeeded eventually by creating Ch Wynfaul Tabasco, who is considered to be the father of the modern fox red Labrador.  He was a stunning red dog and the only modern fox red show champion in the UK.

Next, Wynfaul Tabasco was bred to Lady Bountiful and that litter was all fox red, proving the theory that breeding fox red to fox red will produce all fox red. Those fox red Labs also liked to hang out with royalty. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth owned one during the 1920’s.

Kelleygreen and Keepsake Labradors owned a big red import named Red Alert. Through this dog they have done a lot to bring the color back and Red Alert will likely be found in the pedigrees of most all of the fox red Labs of today.

If you have a fox red Lab, you may want to look through his pedigree to see if you can find such names like, Kelleygreen Kardinal, Scrimshaw Placido Flamingo, Tenor, Scrimshaw Duckless Fairbanks, Ch Lindall Mastercraft, Venture of Brattonsplash, Kelleygreen’s Lady in Red, Keepsake’s I Love Lucy or Keepsake’s Cajun.

It is said that Cajun was “everything a Labrador should be, a true gentleman in every sense of the word.”

So, now you know that there are really red Labs, you can learn more about them at Little River Labs or Keepsake Labs.

Just tell them Spike sent you!