Chocolate Labs: the chocolate Labrador, explained with sources

A chocolate Lab is a Labrador Retriever with a brown coat. It isn't a separate breed: chocolate is one of the three colors in the AKC breed standard, alongside black and yellow, and it shows up when a puppy inherits two copies of the recessive brown gene (bb) and at least one E gene. Two black parents can produce chocolate puppies if both carry brown. See how the chocolate coat is inherited.

Chocolate Labradors are the same size as other Labs: males 65–80 lb and females 55–70 lb in working condition (AKC), as covered in how big chocolate Labs get. In the UK VetCompass study of 33,320 Labs, chocolates had a median lifespan of 10.7 years versus 12.1 for black and yellow Labs, and more ear infections and skin problems; see chocolate Lab lifespan and common health problems. Coat color doesn't decide temperament: there's no good evidence chocolate Labs are more aggressive or less intelligent than black Labs. Compare all three in chocolate vs black vs yellow Labs.

Thinking about getting one? Start with chocolate Lab puppies, what a chocolate Lab costs and where chocolate Labs came from.