Chocolate-colored Labradors suffer from significantly lower life expectancy than their black and yellow counterparts, a major trait of Australia's most popular dog breed that also points to broader genetic links with common canine health conditions, according to an Australian-led research.
The study of more than 33,000 Britain-based Labrador retrievers of all colors showed that the median longevity of non-chocolate-colored dogs was 12.1 years, more than 10 percent longer than those with chocolate coats, the University of Sydney said in a statement on Monday about its findings.
Chocolate-colored Labradors also have a higher incidence of ear infections and skin disease, according to the study.
The relationships between coat color and disease "may reflect an inadvertent consequence of breeding certain pigmentations," with the reduced gene pool from the breeding practice including a higher proportion of genes conducive to ear and skin conditions, said the university's Professor Paul McGreevy, who led the report on the study.
The research, which was published in the Canine Genetics and Epidemiology journal, is being replicated in Australia, he said.
The most common health problems for the dogs were obesity, ear infections and joint conditions. The researchers found that 8.8 percent of the British Labradors were overweight or obese, one of the highest percentages among dog breeds in their database, with the prevalence of the conditions higher among male dogs which had been neutered, said McGreevy.
