A LABRADOR has given birth to an “extremely rare” mix of yellow, chocolate and black puppies in the same litter.
Zola, a four-year-old black lab, delivered ten puppies - two yellow, three chocolate and five black.
Owners Tina Davis and her husband Martin Davis, from Horsham, said the rare occurrence follows a breeding programme that was 15 years in the making.
After Zola went into labour, Tina, 62, said she had her fingers crossed this would be the litter that they'd both been waiting for.
“Chocolate labs are not renowned for being good gun dogs and we wanted to prove that with the right breeding, they could be up to the job,” she said.
"Things just progressed from there and we started breeding a variety of different coloured labs.
“We'd planned to produce a boy and a girl capable of giving all three colours since the day we started breeding, and now we've finally done it.”
The couple began breeding with a female chocolate lab in 2006.
Using Wylanbriar Kennels as their stud farm, they bred a mixture of yellow, chocolate and black labs, before deciding to strategically mix the dogs DNA to produce a litter of all three.
The farm's owner Diana Stevens worked with the couple to breed a line of stud dogs with whom their bitches could successfully produce a mixed litter.
Zola was impregnated by Diana's black lab Rocks, aged three, who had also been uniquely bred to carry all three colour genes.
It took over a decade to combine the correct genes on both sides, and even then, the chances were still slim as the phenomenon has only ever been seen on a handful of occasions.
The puppies were born on October 18 and have already been matched with permanent homes.
The retired hotelier said in a few years’ time, she plans to breed from one of Zola's daughters, which will give her the freedom to choose between each colour combination.
"By successfully breeding a litter of different colours, we now have the right line to continue to do this which we're extremely pleased about," she said.
"Our puppies are not designer dogs to be shown off or used as an accessory, and we feel very strongly about that.
"Zola had a difficult time of it this time round and it was very stressful for us both, so were planning to take a bit of a break before we breed again.”
Typically, a breeder can sell a Labrador pup for up to £3,500.
"If we wanted to, we could sell this litter for a much higher price as they now carry extremely valuable genetics - but were not interested in the money,” she added.
"We'd much rather see our labs go to a loving home and a good family who are committed to having a dog.”
Half of the litter will have the DNA to breed all three colours again in the future.
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