Found the article! She’s a little thing, but just goes and goes and goes and goes. I would take her in a heartbeat (but as a puppy, lol, some of the handling issues will be nigh impossible to fix now).
1 Like
I just wanted to come back to this. Unlike horse registries that involve inspections, AKC registry is more like the Jockey Club. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting….for TBs it’s the race record, for dogs it’s the AKC titles.
It’s very possible for a very incorrect purebred specimen to have an outstanding field title record….they must be registered to become a Field Champion but they don’t have to meet the breed standard. There are other front end titles that require purebred registration as well, obviously the CH title in conformation is another.
So that’s the reason people like me show in conformation. It’s not exactly fun but proving the dog meets the standard is what separates it from just being “registered.”
In my breed, and many others, a dual championship is highly valued. That’s a FC and CH = DC.
3 Likes
Good points. I know in my current breed (Welsh Terriers), there are people who get various titles on their dogs in addition to conformation titles. Barn Hunt Titles are particularly attractive for many terrier breeders and owners. The pooches thrive on doing what they were bred to do for centuries - finding vermin. (Luckily for the mice used in barn hunts, they are in protected housing and the dogs cannot get to them to hurt them, no matter how keen a hunter the dog is.)
1 Like
Sometimes. Breeders sometimes hang papers, meaning they used a stud that was NOT what they put on the papers and you’re actually getting a mutt.
1 Like
I believe I read on a Labrador Retriever website that Labs come in three colors (Black, Yellow, and Chocolate, which I know), but it stated that the “silver” Lab is NOT a thing, and those dogs/puppies initially came from people/kennels who, in addition to Labrador Retrievers, breed Weimaraners…
Yes. It’s not an acceptable color that I thought was only possible through crossbreeding. Although I just looked and the parent club website says “it is the opinion of the club” so I’m curious if it’s possible (in theory)? This is a great question for @phantomhorse!
Some people are trying to say that silver Labs are a variation of chocolate, or that there have always been silvers and they just never registered them, but there are also strong insinuations that Weims were used, so it’s hard telling really. I know the “red fox” color is also popular, but that is actually just the darkest yellow you can get so those typically are still actual Labs, albeit many breed just for color so they aren’t necessarily good Labs. I’ve seen a few silvers and none of them look very good to me, but I’m no expert either.
1 Like
I had to Google that red fox color. Like a deep golden retriever, but it’s a lab. Huh.
1 Like
I must admit that I do very much love ‘red’ animals, I find them quite attractive.
1 Like
We do too, with our Vizsla crew. 
1 Like
Hasn’t there also been speculation through the years that the Doberman Isabella (fawn) color may have been introduced via fawn-colored Great Danes?
And that the Doberman blue color may have been introduced via either blue Danes or Weimeraners?
At least, I think I remember reading that somewhere years ago, but I don’t know if it was just someone’s musings or if it was backed up by research. I also don’t know it that theory has been debunked or not.
Have a neighbor with a “silver Lab,” but it sure looks like there’s a lot of Weim in there to me. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it’s a cross, because that is the appearance - W x L.
2 Likes
The silver lab thing could go either way. Silver labs are 2 copies of dilute on brown/liver/chocolate. Dilute is recessive (and ironically so is brown/liver/chocolate). So it IS possible it has been in the breed for ages and if a random breeder just happened to have 2 standard-color dogs carrying the recessive d gene and mated them, there is a 25% possibility of dd (dilute) pups. And maybe those off-standard pups would have accidents or whatever so nobody knew about it.
However, it always seemed awfully coincidental to me that the kennel where silver suddenly appeared also had a breed that is also only dilute brown/liver/chocolate…
2 Likes
I don’t know, but I don’t breed Dobermans. I DO know that black, red, blue, and fawn were accepted colors when I got my first dog 30 years ago. The blue is supposedly a dilution of black and the fawn of red. The blues and fawns are not popular in the show ring; I know they can have ‘coat’ problems.
I have a black/rust, a blue/rust, and a fawn/rust. The blue has a thin-ish coat, but it’s not terribly noticeable. The fawn I call my “naked dog”, as his coat is almost non-existent. He wears a coat indoors probably 8 months a year, as he gets cold easily.
There are white Dobermans, but the color isn’t recognized by the DPCA. These dogs can get sunburned, are often deaf, and can have serious vision problems. I HATE when people breed Dobermans for that color. That being said, most of my dogs are rescues/rehomes, so if a white Doberman needed a home…
1 Like
I have never met a silver ‘lab’ who was very true to lab type physically or mentally. Whether it’s severe inbreeding or a Weimaraner infusion? Either way I’ve never met one I’d want to live with
2 Likes
My former hairdresser has a “silver” lab. It looked just like a Weim to me and she’s says it’s a super hyperactive dope.
