History of the Field/American Fox Red

Comparing the English Labrador vs. the American Labrador? It’s important to note that in this comparison, the types of Labs we are referring to are the “bench” lab and the “field lab.”  They are oftentimes referred to as the “American or English” by people that aren’t involved with the breed.  There is only one “labrador” breed, and both the field & bench Labs are bred across the world, but most commonly in the US and the UK.

It’s also important to know that while we can make generalizations based on experience. Every single dog can be different based on their own individual personalities.  No two dogs are the same, but there are some generalizations we can make about the labrador types based on how they are bred.

The English Labrador is more of a term for show, or conformation Labradors. The American Labrador is a term for working Labradors. Ultimately these labels are a result of years of specialized breeding dependent on what purpose you wanted your Labrador to serve.

They differ in their looks, generally the English Labrador is shorter and stockier. The American Labrador is taller and more athletic. The English is calmer in his temperament, and the American is much more energetic. Generally, they are similar in every other way.

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Like most colors of Labrador in the earliest history of the breed, I’m sad to say the majority of fox red Labradors were culled at birth.

The Lab was a working dog used during hunting pursuits and the hunting fraternity heavily favored the Black Labrador over all other colors. And so red labs were relatively uncommon.

But in a reversal of the trend today, in the early days of the breed the more common shades of yellow that existed were dark yellow to fox red.

The lighter shades of yellow and cream that we think of as normal today, were actually quite rare. In fact, the first ever registered yellow was a dark golden color.

Ben of Hyde: The first ever Yellow Lab

Ben of Hyde, registered in 1899 is  a relatively dark color and until the 1940s, this was certainly the norm.

However, through the mid to late 1900s, lighter shades of yellow and cream became more fashionable and breeders sought to selectively breed for these colors.

After some research, there are some  theories about why this may have been the case…

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Why Did The Fox Red Labrador And Darker Yellow Colors Fall Out Of Fashion?

This is mostly my opinion and not concrete fact, but the two theories I have on why the lighter colors of Yellow Labradors became more common are:

• Firstly, during the early years of the breed the darker yellows and reds were more common. So when a pale cream or very light yellow was born, it seemed more exotic, rarer and hence more desirable. So breeders started to selectively breed for these colors and hence less and less reds were born.

• Secondly, since the middle 1970s, a famous brand of British toilet paper, Andrex has used a pale Yellow Labrador in their television adverts. Their adverts went on to be shown in over 130 countries for over 35 years. So most people’s view of a Labrador Retriever is that of a pale yellow lab.

These two events played a massive part in the shift of people’s opinion of how a Yellow Labrador should look.

Most colors centered on a cream to light golden color. The dark yellows and reds fell out of fashion. But in the last 10 or 15 years, the range of available shades in the Yellow Labrador have once again widened.

The Fox Red Labrador And Rising Popularity

Lighter colored Labradors were rare in the early history of the breed. They stood out among the crowd and so they were more desired.

This caused breeders to try to match the demand and selectively breed for lighter colors.

This behavior eventually caused the decline of reds by actively ‘breeding the color out’. Due to a lack of popularity of the dark red coat colors, it all but disappeared.

But this new-found rarity in turn made the darker red Labs more desirable. It’s they who now stand out against the lighter colored crowd in modern times.

So now there are many breeders who are selectively breeding to try to obtain litters of reds to meet the demand of people who want the rarer color. Things have turned full circle.

Controversy Around The Red And Darker Yellow Shades

Being uncommon in comparison to the black, paler yellow and chocolate shades does make some people question the red Labradors pedigree. They question whether in fact they are a pure bred Labrador or not?

However, unlike the so-called Silver Labrador Retriever that is surrounded by accusations of outcrossing Labradors with Weimaraners to introduce the diluted coat color to the breed, no such controversy surrounds the darker colors of Yellow and Red Labradors.

They are a genuine, pure bred Labrador, with a history going back to the earliest days of the breed.