I have a 2 week old litter and they are just starting to open their eyes... The first puppy has beautiful pigment on the feet , nose, lips, but no apparent pigment on the eye rims. Has anyone experienced this?
I have always been told if there is lack of eye rim pigment the nose would also lack pigment..

I'd be very suprised if eye pigment doesn't follow in the next week. I've had this and find if nose is black, eyes eventually follow. Hope this is the case for you.

Many thanks.. I sure hope so.. the others seem to have dark pigment but their eyes are still closed.
The breeding was black carrying yellow to black carrying yellow, so I wouldn't think we could get no pigment on the eye rims.....

We had a couple of pups in an all yellow litter in 2009 that had little pigment around their eyes, nose and paw pads but by the time these 2 pups were 8 weeks old, the pigment had filled in more but still not what I like to see at that age. The yellow puppy we kept is now 18 months old and has very nice pigment. I don't know why some of the pups are slow to get pigment but I've seen the opposite happen to. I've seen very black pigment in some pups when they leave us at 8 wks then when I see them as adults, their nose has lightened up.Depending on the weather, our 18 month old's eye rims can appear lighter in photos.

Thank you Joy. I guess I won't be too concerned just yet. It sounds like some of the yellows get pigment later. BTW was yours a darker yellow? I have been doing research into fox reds and darker yellow Labs and it seems some do get pigment later on.

Pigment will come. They are still very young.

I would not worry, some lines I have found are slower when it comes to eye rim pigment. I had a lovely 8 week old male I placed due to the absence of eye rim pigment. By a year old he looked like he was wearing black eyeliner Good luck with your pups!

Thank you again everyone for your reassuring words.
I am learning every day in this hobby thanks to kind people like yourself who are willing to share.
Have a great holiday week-end.

I don't think my yellows ever have eye pigment at 2 weeks. Some don't get it until 8 weeks or more. I would not worry if I were you. If the nose, pads and mouth are dark, it will come. I agree with the others - patience, patience, patience.

Come to think of it, the pups with little pigment in my litters are varying shades of golden..the very light yellow pups always have the jet black pigment early on. We don't have fox red here but a nice shade of golden and shade of yellow inbetween.

Is a gray, almost black tummy a sign of dark pigment? The pups that I have had, have dark tummies, beautiful pigment.

Heard that dark skin means good pigment.