Are Silver Labradors Purebred?
Silver labradors received a lot of attention. These are very beautiful silver brown or slate blue dogs that otherwise look like Labrador retrievers. Some people claim that these are incredibly special dogs and ask a lot of money for them. Others say they aren’t even really labs. Are silver Labradors purebred and where do they come from? Let’s take a look at this interesting coloring and what you need to know about it.
Some breeders are going out of their way to establish the Silver Lab as a legitimate Labrador Retriever breed. According to them, the American Kennel Club (AKC) has conducted genetic testing that proves their dogs are the real deal. The problem with this claim is that the AKC does not test or set breed standards. That is the work of a completely different organization.
The AKC allows the registration of silver Labradors, but not as silver. Instead, they are considered a variant of the well-known chocolate laboratory. This is because the most likely genetic combination for these animals is a chocolate labrador with a rare gene that causes the coat to turn silver. Blue Labs are truly black Labradors with a rare gene that causes their fur to be bluish gray.
Another problem with many of the breeders offering Silver Labradors is that they do nothing to test or prove the quality of their breeding stock. A large percentage of silver labrador breeders do not test their animals to ensure that their breeding will contribute to the quality of the breed, and they do not participate in quality competitions that would convince others of the quality of these dogs.
This makes it look a lot like these breeders are trying to find a showy dog that costs a lot of money but isn’t really that good for the Labrador Retriever breed as a whole. Many owners have bought dogs only to find they have temperament or health problems. Buyers should be especially careful if they are interested in adopting a silver labrador.
There are even some who believe that silver Labradors cannot actually be purebreds. Because breeds such as Dobermans and Weimaraners are predisposed to the rare gene, they argue, these animals or ones like them must have been introduced into the silver lab’s bloodlines. This would mean that these animals are mixed breeds, even though the non-lab genes were introduced a long time ago. We cannot test this, however, and it is possible that the diluted gene arose on its own.
For buyers, this means that the Silver Lab should be treated as a novelty and that you should be very careful if you want to adopt one of these animals. Don’t pay a high price for a silver lab puppy, don’t trust breeders who claim to have AKC proof to back them up, and avoid unscrupulous breeders. After all, while this unusual coat may be interesting, it can come with some serious health defects.
There is a good chance that the silver labrador is a purebred lab, but it is not a special breed. These are just a variation of the chocolate lab and not really worthy of presentation. This means that unless you want an unusual pet, it is best to choose a more conventional type of Labrador.
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