Not-so-sweet truth about chocolate labs: They have poorer health and shorter lives
CHOCOLATE labradors are more likely to suffer sickness than black and yellow ones – and will die an average of 17 months younger, according to research.
The fact they are bred for their coat colour reduces the size of their gene pool and increases the risk of disease, say scientists.
The analysis of 2,074 labrador retrievers found the chocolate dogs were particularly prone to ear infections and skin disease.
Chocolate labradors live for an average ten years and eight months – compared with 12 years and one month for black or yellow ones, according to the report.
Chocolates are twice as likely to suffer ear inflammation, or otitis externa, and four times as likely to contract skin disease pyotraumatic dermatitis, the study in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology found.
Professor Paul McGreevy, of the University of Sydney, said the recessive chocolate gene must be present in both parents for puppies to be chocolate.
He added that because breeders target the colour by breeding only dogs showing the gene, ‘the resulting reduced gene pool [may] include a higher proportion of genes conducive to ear and skin conditions’.
Earlier this year the labrador was voted Britain’s favourite breed. The three colours are often associated with different roles: yellow with helping the blind, black with hunting, and chocolate with the show ring.