Home > Canine > List of Services > Coat Color

ChromaGene™Coat Color

Custom Design Coat Color Litters

· Single Color Litters
· Multi-Color Litters
· Breed Colors In or Out
· Non-Invasive
· Confidential

Now, with VetGen’s ChromaGene™ Coat Color Prediction Service, you can reveal your dog’s hidden color genes and then optimize your ability to bred the colors you want. No more wondering if your top mating choices will give you a single color outcome. No more mating of yellow and chocolate labs only to find that all of the offspring are black. Yes, it can and does happen, and they are the right parents!

What does this mean to Labrador breeders?

VetGen has discovered that chocolate Labrador Retrievers have the 'bb' genotype and yellow Labrador Retrievers have the 'ee' genotype.
The DNA Test for coat color in Labradors will allow breeders to test dogs who are NOT chocolate, to identify whether the 'b' allele is present, as well as to test those dogs who are NOT yellow, to identify whether the 'e' allele is present. 
The DNA test for b and e allows breeders the choice of producing dogs who are chocolate or yellow, or the opportunity of breeding away from these colors.

The ChromaGene™ test will determine which one of the genotypes listed below your Labrador Retriever is:




	If your dog is black Possible ChromaGene™ Types are: I, II, III, IV.		If your dog is yellow with a black nose Possible ChromaGene™ Types are: V, VI.
	If your dog is chocolate, Possible ChromaGene™ Types are: VIII, IX.		If your dog is yellow with a liver nose Your dog is ChromaGene™ Type VII.





Coat Color Inheritance Chart for the Labrador Retriever
ChromaGene™ Type


	BBEE I	BBEe II	BbEE III	BbEe IV	BBee V	Bbee VI	bbee VII	bbEE VIII	bbEe IX
BBEE I	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black	All Black
BBEe II	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow
BbEE III	All Black	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Choc.	¾ Black ¼ Choc.	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Choc.	½ Black ½ Choc.	½ Black ½ Choc.	½ Black ½ Choc.
BbEe IV	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	¾ Black ¼ Choc.	9/16 Black ¼ Yellow 3/16 Choc.	½ Black ½ Yellow	3/8 Black ½ Yellow 1/8 Choc.	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Choc.	½ Black ½ Choc.	3/8 Black ¼ Yellow 3/8 Choc.
BBee V	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow
Bbee VI	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	¾ Black ¼ Choc.	3/8 Black ½ Yellow 1/8 Choc.	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	½ Black ½ Choc.	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Choc.
bbee VII	All Black	½ Black ½ Yellow	½ Black ½ Choc.	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Choc.	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Yellow	All Choc.	½ Choc. ½ Yellow
bbEE VIII	All Black	All Black	½ Black ½ Choc.	½ Black ½ Choc.	All Black	½ Black ½ Choc.	All Choc.	All Choc.	All Choc.
bbEe IX	All Black	¾ Black ¼ Yellow	½ Black ½ Choc.	3/8 Black ¼ Yellow 3/8 Brown	½ Black ½ Yellow	¼ Black ½ Yellow ¼ Brown	½ Choc. ½ Yellow	All Choc.	¾ Choc. ¼ Yellow




Once your dog has been tested and you know its genotype, use this table for breeding strategies and breeding stock selection. The outer ring of the color buttons shows the visible coat color with the small upper right circle showing the nose color (black or liver). The inner rings show the hidden color genes carried by the dog. Entries in the table show the probabilities of producing various coat colors within a litter. For example, if your results show that your dog is a Type VI, your dog is a yellow dog with a black nose carrying the hidden genes for black and chocolate. If you were to mate your dog with a Type VIII, the resulting litter would, on the average, have half black and half chocolate puppies. These probabilities represent expectations averaged over the long run and are subject to the law of probabilities.

Note that any breeding which produces both chocolate and yellow has the potential to produce chocolate nosed yellows. If the breeding does not have the potential to produce blacks, only yellow and chocolate, all yellows will have chocolate noses.

Back to Canine Coat Color
Coat Color Inheritance Chart (b & e) by Genotype
Coat Color Inheritance Chart (b & d) by Genotype