Zola the Labrador retriever gave birth to 10 puppies, a rare litter of black, yellow, and chocolate Lab pups, in October
A Labrador has given birth to an extremely rare mix of pure yellow, chocolate, and black puppies in the same litter.
Black Labrador retriever named Zola, 4, delivered ten pups who are a mixture of three different colors — only seen on a “handful” of occasions before.
Owners Tina Davis, 62, and her husband Martin Davis, 63, began breeding Labs in 2006.
Over the years, they bred a mixture of yellow, chocolate, and black Labs and decided to strategically mix doggy DNA to produce a litter of all three.
They have used Wylanbria Kennels as their stud farm from the moment they started breeding.
Diana Stevens, 47, the farm’s owner, worked with them to breed a line of stud dogs with whom their female Labs could successfully produce a mixed litter.
Zola was impregnated by Stevens’ black Labrador Rocks, 3, who was also uniquely bred to carry all three color genes.
It took over a decade to combine the correct genes on both sides to make it happen, and even then, the chances were still slim.
The ten adorable pups — two yellow, three chocolate, and five black — were born on October 18 and are all matched with permanent loving homes.
Last week, Zola went into labor, and Davis told SWNS she had her fingers crossed that this would be the litter that she’d both been waiting for — and wish was granted.
“We’d planned to produce a boy and a girl capable of giving all three colors since the day we started breeding, and now we’ve finally done it,” Davis said of her goal to reach Zola’s rare litter. “Only a tiny handful of Labradors have the genetic predisposition to produce all three colors, and even less are mated to a partner dog to make this happen.”
“Labradors can often carry a lot of genetic problems, so it’s not just about the colors; you have to make sure you’re producing a healthy puppy too,” the dog breeder added.
Typically a breeder can sell a healthy Labrador pup for thousands, but Davis would rather sell them cheaper as she doesn’t want to make them unaffordable for good homes. The couple has a huge waiting list of families keen to get one of their pups.
Zola had a tricky pregnant experience with her rarer litter — culminating in her delivering the puppies via C-section — so Davis has decided not to breed her anymore.
However, 50 percent of Zola’s special litter will have the DNA to breed all three colors again in the future. In a few years, Davis plans to breed from one of Zola’s daughters, which will give her the freedom to choose between each color combination.
“By successfully breeding a litter of different colors, we now have the right line to continue to do this, which we’re extremely pleased about,” Davis said.
“Whatever color each of our puppies come out, we know they’ll all make amazing pets for whatever family they go to,” she added.
H/t : People.com
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