Compare the Silver Lab and more

**canadianlablover** · 08-10-2007, 10:20 AM

Thought I would add this for the people asking about silvers

Silver Lab
http://www.pupcity.com/images/adpics...60507645_1.jpg

Weirmaraner
http://www.bapfish.org.uk/dogs/sara.jpeg

Silver Lab Puppy
http://www.stillwaterlabradorretriev...dors001009.jpg

Weirmaraner Puppy
http://www.agrisupportonline.com/cla...ale2211pic.jpg

They seem pretty similar to me. I do know a Weirmaraner breeder who has been showing them for years before she started breeding. She is certain beyond any doubt that Silver Labs have Weirmaraner blood in them. It would be one thing if it was just Lab breeders and fanciers that were screaming mix breed but many Weirmaraner breeders and fanciers scream the same thing.

The thing that confuses everyone is that Silvers are registered. If they are registered as Chocolate, how can they be a mixed breed. The standing belief is that Weirmaraners were introduced into a breeding line in the 50's by a breeder that bred both Labs and Weirs. They registered the mixed dogs as labs and since there were no DNA practices available they were taken at face value. These dogs continued to breed and produce offspring that carried the potential for silver. Fast forward 50 years and you have labs that look like labs because the crossbreeds have been bred back to labs for 50 years but they have a throwback gene that produces the silver and some other traits that are common in Weirs. So you are purchasing a purebred lab produced by two purebred labs according to AKC or whoever but you are purchasing a lab that is substandard and has recessive genes that can rear their ugly head.

That is why responsible lab breeders do not endorse the breeding of silvers. If you look at the history of the Labrador you will see that all three colors did occur in the breed long before a breed standard was officially established but the desired color was black and many of the other colors were culled from litters. Silver did not occur until the 1950's and their history is murky to say the least.

I do not endorse silvers as a designer breed and I do not feel that you need to pay high amounts for a silver. I grew up with mutts and I have a special place in my heart for all mutts but let's call a spade a spade and stop pushing designer breeds and designer colors. Just happily adopt a mutt, there are tons of them in shelters, or in papers and enjoy life with a wonderful dog. They do not need to have a special name like Labradoodle or Puggle, they do not need to be "rare", all they need to be is loved and happy. For me the only "designer name" I need for a mix breed is Heinz 57 and that will bring to mind the wonderful dogs that made my childhood bright, happy and full of body-slamming love.

Ok, I'm done lecturing. Just thought I would put in my two cents. LOL

**ShadowDancin** · 08-10-2007, 10:40 AM

Thank you for sharing this! Those pups look more brown than silver to me

**Baloo317** · 08-10-2007, 11:25 AM

I hafta say, that Weim puppy is tooo adorable.....

**canadianlablover** · 08-10-2007, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by Baloo317

I hafta say, that Weim puppy is tooo adorable.....

Yeah, I have always loved Weir's when they are puppies but not when they grow up. I think Silver Labs look like deranged jackals though. ;D

**Baloo317** · 08-10-2007, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by canadianlablover

Yeah, I have always loved Weir's when they are puppies but not when they grow up.

Agreed. I also feel similar about shih tzus. Frickin' cute puppies, but I've never met a cute adult... :-[

I've never actually met a silver lab in person (didn't know they even existed till I started seeing the "one breed, three colors" logo on breeders websites while puppy-searching), so I don't really know what my impression would be.... I don't like their eyes in pictures, they look very cold and unfeeling. Kinda creepy, actually. :-\

Give me Baloo's warm, kind, chocolate eyes anyday. He may not be "different", or "unique", but he's beautiful to Moi!

**Chester B. Dickens** · 08-10-2007, 12:09 PM

The Weim influence doesn't mix well w/the Lab ears. Labs need that sharp triangular ear, IMHO, to look balanced in the face. And the Weims, with their more rounded triangle point, throws the whole thing off.....

**Canyon Labradors** · 08-10-2007, 01:07 PM

Unfortunately the AKC is just a registration agency for purebreeds, but they DON'T police everything. So it's pretty easy to fake papers as long as you have the AKC# of a real registered chocolate, you can still produce AKC registered "silver labs" that are real Weim/Lab mixes just by saying the Dad was this chocolate male, when in reality it was some Weim. Not honest, but I am sure it was done. Or since dogs can be inpregnated by multiple sires, what if a BYB thought they had a litter of purebred chocolate labs, didn't realize that the neighbors Weim had gotten her through the fence, so you have a mixed litter of half PB chocolate labs and the other half of Weim/Lab mixes and the dummy breeder thinks they hit the payload with a surprise litter of silvers! All AKC registered as chocolates because the parents on record were both CHOCOS. Ah....there are so many scenarios of how this could have happened.

I love the fact that if this was a real genetic burp in the labrador breed why NONE of the famous breeders in the US and the rest of the WORLD are experiencing this color variation.

**Rushpuppy** · 08-10-2007, 02:05 PM

While Weims are precious and beautiful if your a Weim person, I much prefer the labs and their traits. My daughter has a Weim and I love her dearly. She isn't very social, she's high strung, not good with other dogs, nervous..nervous...nervous and she is beautiful. I wouldn't own one. If you want a lab, get a lab.

**canadianlablover** · 08-10-2007, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by rushpuppy

While Weims are precious and beautiful if your a Weim person, I much prefer the labs and their traits. My daughter has a Weim and I love her dearly. She isn't very social, she's high strung, not good with other dogs, nervous..nervous...nervous and she is beautiful. I wouldn't own one. If you want a lab, get a lab.

I agree with you there. I love a ton of different breeds but I would never own them because I know that personalities and demands of each individual breed may not be the qualities I look for. I love Siberian Huskies but I don't have the personality to handle escape attempts and other Husky traits. I also love Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs and I was on a waiting list for a litter before we got Petey. I had to say no to a Swissy simply on the fact that they are not known to adjust well to change. We are a changing family, we had another baby and we are moving. I also like to move furniture and there have been stories of Swissies howling at a trash can that was out of place until it was put back in its proper spot. I didn't think the Swissy would be happy with me so I went off the waiting list after I did more research. Sad really because I would get one in a heartbeat if I wasn't such a creature of change.

But I went off topic there. LOL.