What color is your Labrador? The answer could determine the dog’s lifespan, study says

The color of your pet Labrador might predict more than just the shade of dog hair that will inevitably envelop your household.

A new study published in the journal “Canine Genetics and Epidemiology” found that chocolate-colored labs are expected to live 10 percent less on average when compared to golden or black ones, and they also experience a higher rate of certain illnesses.

The average Labrador is expected to live around 12.1 years, the study notes, but the average chocolate lab lifespan sits at 11 years. These chocolate labs are also twice as likely to deal with an ear infection, and four times more likely to deal with pyo-traumatic dermatitis.

In 2017, the American Kennel Club hailed Labradors as the most popular dog in the country for the 26th straight year, as reported by Time Magazine.

Study lead author Paul McGreevy, from the University of Sydney, theorized that the lessened lifespan and increased illnesses is likely a result of a lack of genetic diversity, according to Inverse. The trait for a Labrador to be chocolate-colored is recessive, meaning both parents need the gene to pass that warm color onto their puppies.

“Breeders targeting this color may therefore be more likely to breed only Labradors carrying the chocolate coat gene,” he said, according to Inverse. “It may be that the resulting reduced gene pool includes a higher proportion of genes conducive to ear and skin conditions.”

In other words, limiting the breeding to just Labradors of chocolate complexion may accidentally promote other unsavory traits in their pups — which comes with real-world consequences that can prove deadly, the study says.

“If chocolate coat color is desired in litters, breeders may be motivated to breed from certain lines that may inadvertently increase the ensuing puppies’ predisposition to certain diseases,” the researchers wrote in the study.

There are a couple of caveats in the study, however. The research focused on 33,000 Labradors in the United Kingdom, meaning the findings might only be directly applicable to that country and another study would be needed in the U.S.

The study also only looked at Labradors that had been in the vet, perhaps skewing the results towards more sickly dogs.

But no matter their color, Labradors in the United Kingdom on average have higher rates of obesity (8.8 percent) than German shepherds (5.18 percent), Rottweilers (7.076 percent) and Border terriers (7.01 percent), the study found.

Pugs, however, have Labradors beat with a 13.18 percent rate of being obese or overweight, according to the research.

This story was originally published October 22, 2018 at 3:25 PM.