There are only three acceptable colors for Labrador Retrievers, and a total of nine possible combinations of genes that determine which of these colors a Lab will be, but in England, hunters historically preferred black Labrador Retrievers. Yellow pups have likely always appeared in litters, and certainly were being born as of 1840 because a painting by Antoine Dury shows a Mrs. Josephine Bowes sitting at a table, her yellow Lab, “Bernardine” lying at her feet.  It took time for interest in yellow Labs to come close to matching that shown black or chocolate Labs, and perhaps the first spark of notice came in a dog named, “Ben of Hyde,” born in 1899 to two black parents. Breeders are said to have used this dog intensively even though yellow pups were still typically given away (or worse).

To get more recognition for this color variety, the Yellow Labrador Retriever Club was founded in 1925. Early on, the breed standard differed for the yellow Labs, the most notable difference eing that “the neck must be thick and may show dewlap, and the tail may be carried over the back” on the yellow variety. A few years later, the standard was changed to match the breed standard of the black variety, but the club still exists!

Painting of Joséphine Bowes (1825–1874), Countess of Montalbo by Antoine Dury (1819–after 1880) currently hanging at the Bowes Museum