Ask The Doc: Deafness

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I would like to know if you have any experience with unexplained deafness in your white labs. We have a 20 month old white lab (only white out of a litter of 10 yellows) that has unexplained deafness. Evaluated at Neurology Clinic and U of Minn. without definitive caused found. BAER not done. I have found an article that states " In breeds with white versus non-white phenotypes (Bull Terrier, English Cocker Spaniel), there is a clear increased prevalence in the white phenotype."
http://www.lsu.edu/guests/senate/public_html/VetClinNA.htm Family members sent us the link to your website. I would appreciate any input you my have.

Dr. DeMichael: You may know that the AKC registers Labradors in three coat colors: black, chocolate and yellow. While black is black and chocolate is chocolate, the yellow coat may range anywhere from a deep fox red to a very pale yellow approaching white in some cases.

We use the term "white Labs" as a descriptive one which serves to distinguish our dogs from dark yellow coated Labs. Even our very whitest dogs would be registered as yellow by AKC standards. In addition, they have a coal black pigmentation which is a very desirable characteristic in the Labrador breed.

Subsequent to the above description, I would propose that the entire litter of ten pups that you referenced consisted entirely of yellow Labradors. The variance in coat color may be an expected event.

To the best of my knowledge, we have never experienced any loss of hearing in our dogs other than that which may be associated with old age. (Except, of course, the occasional selective hearing loss which might occur when I'm trying to call one of the dogs off the scent of a rabbit. But this is always reversed whenever they hear the sound of dog food going into their bowl!)

I neither know of, nor have heard of, any gene which links coat color to hearing deficiencies in the Labrador.