The Labrador Retriever is the unquestioned king of American dogs. In each of the last 17 years, more labs have been registered with the AKC than any other breed. In 2008, there were more than twice as many labs registered than the No. 2 breed (Yorkshire Terrier). The AKC recognizes three types of labs: black, yellow and chocolate. But as ubiquitous as the lab has become, the original color of the yellow subtype (“fox red”) is unknown to all but a few dedicated gundog followers.

The lab originated in Newfoundland in the 1700s. Known as the Lesser Newfoundland or Lesser St. John’s Water Dog, they were highly regarded by fishermen for their ability to pull in nets and catch fish that escaped from fishing lines. They were brought to England in the early 1800s and after being crossed with Setters, Spaniels and other Retrievers, became prized as sporting dogs.

The name Labrador came from the geographic region in Newfoundland (even though the dogs actually originated from the Southern Avalon Peninsula) and by 1870, the dogs were largely referred to in England as Labrador Retrievers. In 1899, the first recognized yellow lab was born (of two black parents). Called Ben of Hyde, he was sired by Major Radclyffe’s “Neptune” and born of Lord Wimborne’s “Duchess.”

But the “yellow” coat of Ben of Hyde wasn’t the yellow lab color most think of today. He was a deep butterscotch color called “fox red.” The yellow labs were originally called “Golden” until the British Kennel Club began to register them and argued that gold is not a color. (If you see a “Golden Lab” today it is not a recognized breed at all but rather a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Lab.) The fox red color remained the norm until just after World War II, but as time passed, the preference shifted toward lighter shades of yellow.

Two breeders from the U.K., John and Glenda Cook of Balrion at Weathertop Labradors and Mac Bedford of Wynfaul Labradors, kept the fox red fire burning all the while. The Cook’s owned one of the most famous labs of all time, Ch Balrion King Frost, a black lab whose litters often produced fox red puppies. In 1986, one of King Frost’s granddaughters produced Ch Wynfaul Tobasco, the dog considered the father of modern fox red Labradors.

The next step for the Cook’s was to prove their theory that breeding a fox red lab to another fox red would produce all fox reds. So, the Cooks bred Wynfaul Tabasco to a fox red female named Lady Bountiful of Balrion. Their hunch was right and the resulting litter was all fox red.

One of the puppies was a beautiful male named Balrion Red Alert. Red Alert was sold to Sally Kelley of Kelleygreen Labradors in Pennsylvania (now based in Nevada) and became one of the first fox red labs to cross the ocean to the United States. Kelley and fellow Pennsylvanian Judy McCormick of Keepsake Labradors have been instrumental in the recent revival of fox red interest in the United States.

Today, the fox red labs an uphill battle in the show ring simply because many aren’t familiar with the history of the yellow lab and have a preconceived notion of what one should look like. It is equally as rare to find a field trial titled fox red. Regardless, the fox red shade has a small but extremely loyal following that seems to be growing in both the United States and England, and the beauty and uniqueness of the dogs is undeniable.

Tags: balrion red alert, ben of hyde, black lab, chocolate lab, english lab, fox red lab, golden lab, labrador retriever, wynfaul tobasco, yellow lab

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