[NAGDU] chocolate Labs as guide dogs..

[Al Elia]

Chocolate labs are rarer, but the schools may now  be reticent to train them given a recent study suggesting that chocolate labs have, on avberage, a lifespan that is two years less than other labs: https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2018-10/study-coat-color-could-mean-reduced-longevity-increased-health-risks-in-some-labrador-retrievers/

I don’t know if that is the case, but two years is a long time in guide life, so it would make sense to avoid training chocolates in order to maximize guide-span in a school’s dogs.

On 8 Nov 2023, at 15:09, Mary Beth Metzger wrote:

> Carol, my second guide dog, was a chocolate Lab.  My understanding is that
> the gene for the chocolate color is recessive and must be carried on both
> sides.  It's also my understanding that Labs of different colors can occur
> in the same litter.
>
> Mary Beth Metzger