Few people would argue that the Labrador dog breed is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, choice of man-made canine companion. When people are asked to point to or create pictures that best represent the phrase “man’s best friend,” almost without fail, people point to a picture of a Labrador retriever. Although devotees of other breeds might not agree (that’s one of the things that makes us dog lovers so interesting!) there is something very… well, complete about a Labrador. Sure, he’s got a leg in each corner, a wide “enthusiastic” tail, and a big, square, brooding face. I don’t mean all those things. He is the character that has always caught my attention. The almost human personality traits (I know, I know psychologists will tell us that personality, as we like to call it, is simply what we pass on to the dog. We imbue them with the traits we want to see coming back.
That’s what I love about the world of dogs. Take the total number of species in the world, multiply it by the number of breed variations, add in the various authoritative standards, and what do you have? Masses and masses of conflicting opinions, advice, training regimens, etc., etc.
Take, for example, the case of Silver Labs (sorry for shortening the name, it’s an owner’s affection!) Silver Labs are every inch a Labrador: Silver Labs has the square, brooding face, the “otter” tail , the wide and strong march, etc. etc. However, for a long time they were considered by the establishment to be very little Labrador. Traditionalists felt that “true” Labradors should be black, chocolate, or gold. However, it soon became apparent that within the Chocolate breeding stream, variations were commonplace. The research showed that two particular genes were involved in color production.
The E gene determines whether or not pigmentation occurs and the B gene determines the relative density of said pigmentation. Within the chocolate nomenclature, dog colors ranging from a deep, dark cocoa chocolate color to a sedge peat-colored gray were seen consistently and reproducibly. After this the American Kennel Club decided that Silver Labs did exist as a true pigmentation, however these dogs are registered with the Kennel Club as Chocolate!
I think Silver Labs around the world (and their owners) can probably live with that compromise. After all, the other attribute that qualifies for the breed standard is that the Labrador’s coat must be a single solid color. Certainly all the silver labs I know of are definitely 100% silver. That’s good enough for me, how about you?