I have a chocolate dog that is under 2 and as a pup had a very small patch of white hairs. Today I noticed more single white hairs popping up through out his coat. Anyone ever experience this

1. Small white patch is permissable by the standard.
2. It's common for chocolates to have white and/or yellow hair scattered on their body. I have a male who had white around his testicles. He came out that way. And a few in his arm pits.

Vitiligo?

http://www.gopetsamerica.com/dog-health/vitiligo.aspx

Normal

My best bred black girl has some white hairs here and there. She had a wonderful litter. 3 were brindle mismarked bad and one yellow. Would those have to do with the white hairs? She has a couple on her head and a few on the back of her neck. Not a spot or anything just some hairs.

To give you a reliable source to go to, Mary Roslin Williams speaks on the subjects and it is perfectly normal. Scarring of the area's can also cause white hairs to come back on all colors, although it is most noticeable on blacks and chocolates.

Brindling on the other hand, is a totally different genetic make-up and has nothing to do with that. She speaks about this as well.

My yellow girl has a couple black single hairs here and there that are consistently in the same area.

not unusual for chocolates to have scattered white hairs as long as they don't visually dominate the coat.
most of the time you will find them on the chest, around the testicles, on bottom of paws and under the chin.
If you are seeing them sprout up around neck, ears, etc.
they may be scar hairs from old battle wounds during play.

as far as the bridling, that is genetic and happens once in a while....plan a different line to breed with next time, it may just be both lines carry the gene.

Often when chocolates blow coat, you will find that some of the guard hair is 1/3 white at the base - this is especially true around the shoulder area and on the tail area about 1/2 way down. Shocked me the first time I saw it.

LOL, my spayed bitch has that. All of my other chocolates don't.

Had a yellow boy that got a scrape playing with his brother. Hair come back in black!
I placed him in a pet home but always wondered if a judge would have had a problem with it in the ring

I saw this about 10 years ago. But by the time the puppy coat shed out they were gone.

My young chocolate boy has a single white hair in the middle of his back. Very odd. But then, he has an orange ring around his tail about a third of the distance from the base. Otherwise, he's a nice deep shade of brown.
Kathy

I was told the white that sometimes appears when a chocolate blows coat under the guard hair is a a sign of a good coat. I definitely see that in my chocolates. Is this correct???

white is a recessive gene and not desirable in any of our labs, can produce mismarked but takes two to carry the gene. all my chocolates are pure chocolate from top coat to undercoat and that is the way it should be ......I prefer not to have that recessive gene at this moment I am not sure if there is a test for such a thing but the darker the coat without white the better. however those with white you know they carry the white recessive so you can try and breed accordingly.

I have had chocolates for 20 years and do not consider a few white hairs a default or mismarked.
One line I adore and run is known to have a tad bit as a trademark.
I have seen awesome chocolates with a bit of white and some not so nice solid chocolates.
I would be more interested in keeping other qualities such as health, structure and temperament instead of trying to get rid of a few stray white hairs.

I'll second that!! Right on!

I personally love a milk chocolate Labrador over the dark chocolate, sometimes the dark chocolate have a harsh look to their faces due to the contrast of eyes.........guess it is just personal preference!

Thats no different than liking dark yellows as compared to almost white.

The scattered off colored hairs is the topic here.

i am not saying that chocolates with a few white hairs are necessarily bad I am saying for me I prefer not to have it is all. my research has shown that with wite being a recissive it would be a good idea to realize a possibility of a mismark, I preferr not to have them and do my best not to is all. and as for saying or implying that I am not interested in health and sturcture because of how I feel about white hairs is unwarranted. we are talking color not health. and personal opinions for which we all have one. and we are all intiled to our own.