She’s minted! Chocolate labrador gives birth to GREEN puppy

Dogs come in all sorts of colours, but they’re usually various shades of black or brown or white.

So one owner had a shock when her chocolate brown Labrador gave birth to a puppy that is green.

Elaine Cooper, from Chorley, Lancashire, was so surprised to see the mint doggy arrive that she named her after a character from the movie Shrek.

The pup, called Fifi after Skrek character Princess Fiona, who is known to turn into a green ogre, was the only female among five puppies born to two-year-old mother Milly in her first litter.

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“She came out in the sack so we thought that it was the placenta that made her look very dark. We thought she was a black Labrador,” said Mrs Cooper, 56.

“But when Milly started to lick the placenta off she actually had a green tinge. We were laughing and saying no, this can’t be green.

“All the others are golden and this one’s green. It’s to do with the placenta, so it’s a phenomenon, it’s just very rare in dogs.

“We were a bit shocked.”

The dog’s green hue is caused by overexposure to a substance called biliverdin, which can be found in the placenta, and is a temporary condition.

Mrs Cooper and her husband, Mark, 46, plan to sell the puppies when the dogs are old enough.

“The colour’s faded now and she’s doing well even though she was the smallest of the litter, she’s so sweet,” she said.