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Silver Lab at AKC Hunt Test?

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#41 ·
A couple years ago a young fellow joined our club (southern flight hrc in north mississippi)through one of our long time members. This young man had bought himself a lab, a silver lab. He was as proud as can be of that dog. He didn't know labs weren't supposed to be silver. He didn't know his beloved Buck wasn't going to have it on the big end, cause he didn't even know there was a big end. This young man worked hard with Buck, and got a midlevel title on him (an HR). Buck is a good hunting dog, but most of all, this fellow loves him. Hes since got a well bred dog, and is starting over. He is also an officer of our club now, was our last hunt chair (which had the highest profit we had ever had), and was a big part of being able to secure the Grand for spring 2011 by his work with the coe. Not to mention hes a helluva nice guy and got a smoking hot wife who adds a lot to our socials. I guess my point is, that guy who walks up new, might end up being a huge assest to you one day, and more importanlty might end up being a good good friend. Sure glad I didn't, or let someone else, run him off just because his dog is a different color.

My first dog should have never been bred. She was yellow, not silver. It wasnt apprent until she had a lifetime of ear problems, finally going deaf for the last several years of her life. Most everyone first dog, isn't ideal. Just because someone ended up with an 'off' dog, doesn't mean they are just like you or me at that point in their expereince.

Aint met anyone yet, who didn't love their first dog. travis
 
#42 ·
Excellent post
 
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#43 ·
robert stoeberl said:
I just want to say thanks to the people that have been very supportive. It was our first hunt test and yes there were some people who disapproved of the color of our dog. For the most part regarding of her color I am still going to run A.K.C hunt tests. I hope in the near future we do pass at your next hunt test! and I will keep running silver's to prove that a dog is a dog know mater the color.

Thanks
Robert Stoeberl
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That's the attitude, and good luck. Plus, you'll probably find the WI folks to be a more tolerable crowd now that their annointed one has decided not to QB the Vikes...for now, anyway.
 
#45 ·
robert stoeberl said:
I just want to say thanks to the people that have been very supportive. It was our first hunt test and yes there were some people who disapproved of the color of our dog. For the most part regarding of her color I am still going to run A.K.C hunt tests. I hope in the near future we do pass at your next hunt test! and I will keep running silver's to prove that a dog is a dog know mater the color.

Thanks
Robert Stoeberl
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Robert, I'm sorry that people were rude to you and your wife at the hunt test. There is absolutely no call for that.

Please understand that there are many of us who have a real grudge against breeders of silver labs. Many of us suspect that they intentionally mix (or have mixed) Wiemeraners (sp?) in with their Labrador bloodlines in order to achieve a fashionable "rare" color. The thinking goes that this then enables them to market the resulting puppies for an inflated price due to the rarity of the color, resulting in people getting duped into buying something that isn't exaclty what the breeder claims it to be. We also have a problem with the fact that virtually none (I won't say none because there COULD be one who does) of the breeders of silver labs get the minimum health clearances on their breeding stock that most of us here would agree are necessary. We are concerned about the safekeeping of our breed. We understand that other types of dogs were mixed in order to produce the labrador retriever breed, but it is a closed registry now and other breeds are not supposed to be added.

The problem comes when someone who may share these beliefs about the silver lab breeders and their practices doesn't have the sense to separate those feelings from the individual dog and dog owner such as yourself - neither of whom have done anything wrong. There is no reason that someone shouldn't love their dog even if the breeding may not have been a good idea (there are any number of reasons why a dog shouldn't be bred including parentage, heritable health issues with eyes, elbows, hips, EIC, CNM, temperament issues, performance issues, the list goes on and on). There is no reason the owner should not train such a dog (except where harmful due to health issues), hunt with such a dog or compete with such a dog to the full extent allowable under the rules of the specific competition.

I wish I could tell you that you will never be asked questions about your dog that you don't want to be asked (or that you may tire of being asked), but that probably isn't the case, especially if you spend enough time around dog people. Hopefully they can refrain from being rude and unsportsmanlike though.

Good luck to you and your dog.
 
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#47 ·
Thank you thank you thank you all for your new look at silvers. We love our dog just as much as you love yours, although our boy will never be an award winner or chasing a title. He's just a goofy, lovable slobbery hunting machine that we love alot. I think that's all that matters to us.
 
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#50 ·
Robert I'm glad some clowns didn't ruin your fun in the dog test world.
From what I have read on silvers, is that they are a degenerative gene of the color choc. Which choc. is a degenerative gene of the color black. So where did yellow come from. Way back in the day yellow labs had the same problem as silvers, nobody believed in them. So these clowns must have owned all black labs. HAHA I dought it.

Robert good luck! and let us know when you get your title.

Pat.
 
#55 ·
hamie7 said:
From what I have read on silvers, is that they are a degenerative gene of the color choc. Which choc. is a degenerative gene of the color black. So where did yellow come from. Way back in the day yellow labs had the same problem as silvers, nobody believed in them. So these clowns must have owned all black labs.
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J Reitz said:
That is exactly right. We have mini dachshunds and there is a color called Isabella(which is silver) and it is actually a diluted chocolate.
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How is something that is so incredibly rare in labs (not so rare in other breeds) showing up in such large quantities now (at a really high price, with no pedigree to speak of an no health clearances) and why do they resemble Weimeraners which just happen to have a similar color????? WOW, what a coincidence! Either many/most/all of these silver breeders are scamming people with mixed breed dogs (lab/weim) or some of them who (theoretically) really did get their hands on the real thing, a true purebred male and female silver lab (what are the chances?) and are breeding purebred labs are doing an incredible and inadvisable amount of inbreeding in order to produce this rare trait, and if that isn't enough they must literally be breeding for that trait alone and nothing else, which cannot be a good idea. Again, lets not forget that nobody seems to have ever seen any health clearances on the parents of these breedings.

If somebody owns a silver lab they should love it and train, hunt, test, trial the dog to their hearts desire and nobody should be rude to them or treat the dog any differently because even if every bad thing that has ever been said about silvers is 100% true it still isn't the dog or dog owner's fault (assuming the owner is not the breeder, in which case it IS the owner's fault). But don't try to tell us that the breeders are on the up and up and are concerned about producing healthy purebred labrador retrievers. Save that for the newspaper ads where people will believe it.
 
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#56 ·
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#57 ·
J Reitz said:
That is exactly right. We have mini dachshunds and there is a color called Isabella(which is silver) and it is actually a diluted chocolate.
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Nope. Simple color genetics here folks.
Dogs have a base color of black or RED (fawn) as controlled by the A locus. Obviously with labs that base color is solid black.
The B locus gene turns BLACK pigment to BROWN when recessive. This is true in ALL breeds with recessive B alleles. Chocolate labs, liver flat-coats, brown Chesapeakes, liver pointers, red dobermans, red Aussies, etc, etc, etc.
The D locus gene turns BLACK pigment to GREY or "BLUE" when recessive. This is true in ALL breeds with recessive D alleles. Weimaraners, blue dobermans, silver Newfoundlands, blue Great Danes, blue greyhounds, etc, etc, etc.
If a dog is recessive at both the B AND D locus they are called "blue fawn" (sighthounds), Isabella (dobermans & dachshunds), silver (labs, weimaraners) or ash (Chesapeakes). It is not an additional dilution of chocolate on the B locus.
There is no great mystery here.
The great mystery in the silver lab phenomenon is, how did the recessive D alleles get in the breed? Were they there all along, and kismet brought them together? Or did someone simply breed a lab to a weimaraner? Which is more likely?
 
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#58 ·
I have NOT read all the post-so perhaps this has been brought up-why not do a DNA test on the "Silvers"? If I where a breeder I'd have the DNA stuff up front so there would NEVER be a question.
Black dogs rule-well most of the time.
John
 
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