Shotgun Forum banner
  • Whether you're a greenhorn or a seasoned veteran, your collection's next piece is at Bass Pro Shops. Shop Now.

    Advertisement
1 - 18 of 18 Posts

Old Vet

· Registered
Joined
·
1,570 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
I saw a comment somewhere about silver Labs. Anybody have a pic of one...or link to one? Would like to see what they look like. Also something about long haired Labs as well. Like to see what they look like also. Just curious.
 
Old Vet said:
Thanks guys. Interesting...but I'm not really into the "flavour of the month". Traditionalist here I guess.
Not really of the month. They have been around for a very long time in small numbers. I've found accounts of breeders in the past killing any pups that displayed silver traits due to ignorance and fear.
Nothing wrong with being a,"traditionalist". I have two very black labs myself. I wouldn't however be an anti-silver lab activist. These breeders have done their homework and can prove their bloodlines. I'd say the kennel club is clicky and rather snooty.
 
CZMark said:
I never even cared for the look of chocolates--"silvers" are far worse.
Chocolates didn't grow on me till fairly recently. I really liked the silvers right away.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
It just seems to me that's what happens when a breed becomes the most popular breed going....by an incredible margin I might add.....then people begin to want something juuuuusstt a little bit different. Someone starts providing that "something different" and commanding pretty big dollars for it...and getting it no doubt.
 
Black labs,
Yellow Labs,
Chocolate Labs
Pointing Labs
and now...Silver Labs.

So what? My concern would not be the color, but rather the conformation, health, hips, personality, and (of course) hunting/retrieving instinct and trainability. :D

To each their own.
 
hunter20ga said:
Black labs,
Yellow Labs,
Chocolate Labs
Pointing Labs
and now...Silver Labs.

So what? My concern would not be the color, but rather the conformation, health, hips, personality, and (of course) hunting/retrieving instinct and trainability. :D

To each their own.
Bravo!!

If breeders took all of those points into consideration [and had then in the dogs they bred] we'd have a LOT fewer "common" dogs running around.

Genetic soundness

Proper conformation [and I'm not talking "blocky" or lean].

Temperment

Natural ability

Trainability [the willingness to cooperate with training]


PS Don't forget "Fox Reds"......
 
I've heard that "Silver Labs" come from Weimaraner in their gene pool. Don't know how true this is.

Chocolate labs just sort of popped up some 40 years ago, when before there was only black and yellows. Makes me wonder how many chocolates were destroyed by good breeders over the years until somebody said, "these are neat" and were allowed in the standard.

Silver seams to be way off the gene scale, so I am in the opinion that this is a very cullable deviation.

I also believe if we took lessons from the Brits, and Germans, we would have better dogs, IMHO.

I can say with some fact, that the more popular a breed becomes, the worse it is for that breed. Look what happened to Spaniels, Irish Setters, Dalmations, Golden Retrievers, Weimaraners, Rottweilers, and Geman Shepards. My God, look what happened to Collies. In the case of German Shepards in America, they were brought back from extinction (American strains developed bad hips, bad tempers and huge size, way off the German standard). It took going back to Germany and importing german dogs, and developing completely new strains from completely German dogs.

American breeders have a bad history, by letting things go. To many dogs are bred for money, and not the legacy for what it is all about. The Europeans must look at us with disgust.

It takes just one breeding to screw up centuries of developement. That's what it is all about.
 
The Europeans must look at us with disgust.
This European doesn't, but even after working in the States for some years my US chums still retain the ability to surprise me.:shock:

I'm quite sure that serious hunters HT'ers and FT'ers are not going to fall for the silver Lab bull. Poor ole Joe Public who knows nada may well do so; hard luck him.

There are two institutions that it seems to me the US could usefully set up; a Kennel Club that meant something and a legally constituted Proof House system open to the public.

Regards
Eug
 
1 - 18 of 18 Posts