Genetic Explanation
I will use the dilute color names for this explanation to try and keep it as simple as possible. Both parents have to have a matching gene in order to produce any color including the dilute gene. Charcoal and Silver are on the same gene with Silver being the recessive gene. The gene that produces Champagne is a masking gene and is also recessive to Charcoal. Anytime you have a champagne this is always covering up another color either Charcoal (Black) or Silver (Chocolate). With Champagnes there is always at least one other color present. With a Champagne whatever color the nose, eye lids and pads indicates what color is covered by Champagne. For example if I Champagne has a Charcoal colored nose that would be Champagne covering Charcoal and if it’s nose is brown it is covering Silver. When 2 Charcoals are bred together they can potentially produce all 3 colors depending on other matching genes. When 2 Champagne’s are bred together the litter color will only be Champagne. When 2 Silver’s are bred together if both parents have a Champagne gene they can potentially have Champagnes in the litter but never Charcoal. If the breeding pair are different colors, all colors are possible depending on matching genes in both parents. When breeding a Silver and Champagne together and neither has the others base color gene the litter will be Charcoal.
Genetic Chart
A This causes a solid coat color
EE This is a masking gene or epistatic gene so coat color is determined by the B gene
Ee is the same as EE except the yellow gene present
ee if the ee gene is present the coat color is always yellow. Unless ee is present the other genes below determine coat color.
BB this is the determining gene the coat color will be black.
Bb if this gene is present the coat color will be black but will also have the chocolate gene.
bb if this is the determining gene then the coat color will be chocolate.
dd this is the recessive dilute gene. When this gene is present the coat color will be silver, charcoal or champagne.
Here’s a gene chart explaining the three common colors, black, yellow and chocolate.
There are 81 possible crosses between parents for coat color in the litter outcome.
Black
EEBB black only
EeBB black/yellow carrier
EEBb black/chocolate carrier
EeBb black/ yellow and chocolate carrier
Yellow
eeBB yellow covering black
eeBb yellow covering black/chocolate carrier
eebb yellow covering chocolate
Chocolate
EEbb chocolate only
Eebb chocolate/yellow carrier
When dd “dilute gene” is involved in both parents are dilute color. There are 81 possible crosses between parents for coat color in litter outcome. Here is a gene chart explaining the three dilute colors and Labradors.
Charcoal
EEBBdd charcoal only
EeBBdd charcoal/champagne carrier
EEBbdd charcoal/ silver carrier
EeBbdd charcoal/ silver and champagne carrier
Champagne
eeBBdd champagne covering charcoal
eeBbdd champagne covering charcoal/silver carrier
eebbdd champagne/silver carrier
Silver
EEbbdd silver only
Eebbdd silver/champagne carrier
If one or both parents only carry one “d” dilute gene there are a 162 possible crosses between parents for color in the litter outcome. If this is the case there is a possibility having six colors in a single litter (black, yellow, chocolate, charcoal, silver, champagne). I hope this helps and we will be glad to answer questions. Go to contact info and call, text or email your questions.