The puppy stood out from the litter (Picture: CASCADE NEWS)

Golden and black retrievers are both fairly common, but green versions of the breed come few and far between.

Three-year-old Rio became the proud mother of nine puppies last week, but owner Louise Sutherland was shocked to see one come into the world with a mint green hue.

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The unusual coat colour was caused by a bile pigment called biliverdin that is found in the placenta of dogs.

The substance can stain the puppy’s fur when it mixes with the mother’s amniotic fluid.


It’s an extremely rare phenomenon which is thought to have happened only a handful of times in the world.

It’s a rare phenomenon (Picture: JOHN JEFFAY/ CASCADE NEWS LTD)

Mrs Sutherland, from Golspie in the Highlands, said: ‘The first pup was stuck, so myself and my daughter Claire managed to free him and pull him out safely.



‘It was all hands on deck but then as the puppies started to arrive, we noticed that one of the puppies had green fur! We couldn’t believe it.’

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The puppy’s unusual colour is already starting to fade away, but Mrs Sutherland couldn’t resist naming him Forest, in recognition of his unusual colour at birth.

And while she has managed to find happy homes for the other pups, she is planning to keep Forest for herself.

‘Rio had a total of seven boys and one girl and they are all great and growing like mushrooms’, she said.

The unusual colour has already started to fade (Picture: Cascade news)

‘This is her second litter but the first was much more normal – a five-hour labour and five pups, two girls and three boys. But this will be her last!’

A couple from Lancashire, whose chocolate Labrador gave birth to a green puppy in February this year, found only two other similar cases, including one in Spain.