Silver Lab?

I met a dog tonight I have never seen or heard of before!

It was an Silver Lab pup, the owner explained the breeder told them it was a genetic variance on the Chocolate Lab and though they are registered as Chocolates and can't be shown they are a true lab ( He was actually a very nicely structured dog and stunning to look at )

I have honestly never heard of it, or seen one...

I've heard of it, and some people breed for them. Sort of like Blue in Dobes, I suppose. I've heard they can be quite susceptible to skin issues and allergies.

Reputable Labrador people don't feel the same way about silver Labs. They are kind of like merle APBTs.

http://www.blueknightlabs.com/content/view/70/109/

Reading it it sounded to me like how the specific breeder in the OP described it? Maybe they used less detail..

According to the Lab Breeders I know, "silver labs" were created by breeding in Weims.

I thought I had heard that, too. Don't know where, though.



Funny that this thread should pop up, though. I was with a friend and we saw a silver lab puppy. She was like, "oh, what a cute chocolate lab" and the owner got really offended.
It looked like a light shade of brown, though, and I was thinking the same thing as my friend.

Here's a thread on a lab forum I am on that has info about them.
http://www.lab-retriever.net/board/fire-hydrant/7338426-information-silver-labradors.html

Silver labs are very controversial. From what I understand, the "silver lab" lines tend to be able to be traced back to kennels that also bred and kept Weims.

I think they are beautiful dogs, and would own a rescue if I came upon that right one. However, pretty much everyone breeding them are BYBs (silver is NOT going to end up being accepted as a lab color no matter what the "silver" breeders say), and God knows the last thing the breed needs is MORE backyard breeders.

Well, it seems to have not cropped up in international lab populations, but seems to have originated from the states. That's the argument I see against it being something that just pops up in purebred labs. Some of these breeders are also breeding "blue" labs.

I had one. He was an awesome, drivey SAR dog. He also had INSANE health issues. From a BYB before I knew better (I am also a member of the Lab forum and there are pics of my dog on there too). There are also "charcoal", "champagne" and then the "silver". I have seen some that look so much like Weims it is unbelievable. Mason looked like a Chessie mix. Here are a couple of pics of him:

ETA: I got him from a breeder that did OFA hips and elbows (both parents) so I was sure they were reputable. Not so.

Sure it could be weim introduction. BUT if it was a spontaneous mutation (and they happen frequently, just that the genome if full of areas where a mutation will do squat so we don't see it) it would come from just one line and wouldn't be expected to be seen in international dogs.

To expand on the natural mutation line of thinking, considering that dilution is recessive and extremely, extremely rare, even if it was a natural mutation the people frequently producing silver-colored Labs pretty much have to be breeding for that color over any other trait and probably breeding pretty tightly on top of it -- in order to get two copies of the dilution allele in a single pup. So even if it is natural it would be really difficult to recommend that sort of breeder to, well, anyone.

It'd be like someone breeding consistently producing yellow FCRs and marketing them as something special. Yellow is just a color...otherwise the pups are the same as any other pup in the litter. And if they are consistently producing yellows pups in this breed that only occasionally and randomly sees them, then they are picking breeding dogs and pairings based primarily on color instead of characteristics that actually matter.

And silver in Labs is as far as I can tell is far more unusual than yellow cropping up in FCRs. And in a much much larger population of dogs.

Their breeder said pretty much the same thing...

The puppy was sold to her as a "pet" quality puppy for pet price, the breeder does not breed for the colour and pets the ones she gets... Which she told them was 2 puppies over many breedings

The true lab comment was more about people who tell her he is not a "real" labs... In the same way people dismiss many pet dogs in many breeds, for having visible dq's

I've seen blues, too. And yellows with dilute pigment

Silver labs are common here. They typically look more like a Weim/Chessie cross and often have ectropion.

It's pretty telling that the lines they descend from come from breeders who also had Weims.

Occam's Razor?

I never saw a silver lab born. I did however see three snow white ones born dead. ONe thing I was grateful for is my old boss did not breed for chocolate color only for performance, intelligence and stamina.. I would be afraid the silver ones would have the issues of the frail white ones.

"The Truth Behind "Silver" Labradors"
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/silverlabs.html

The Labrador Retriever Club's stand on silvers:
http://www.thelabradorclub.com/subpages/show_contents.php?page=Silver

While there seems to be more and more silver Labs that really look like Labs now, every one that I saw initially looked extremely Weim-like. Not just the color but the structure, head and type made you think Weim more-so than Lab. I still see some like that but also see some that do look like Labs. It doesn't take long to introduce a trait and then get the dogs to look purebred again though. Check out how quickly these Boxer x Corgi mixes went back to looking like purebred Boxers, then like show quality Boxers: http://www.boxerunderground.com/1998%20issues/oct_bu_98/bobtail.htm

I honestly really question the breeders claim that she just had silvers pop up. From what I understand silvers do not just "pop up" in litters the way some colors do in other breeds, and certainly not twice.

They are casual friends from the Southern US, so I don't know the breeder... And didn't ask

So you could be 100% right.... I honestly don't know, that's just what she told me....