Frequently Asked Questions

Labrador Retrievers come in three colors – black, chocolate, and yellow.  It is our belief, along with the belief of our parent club – the LRC – and the opinion of respected breeders worldwide, that the presence of the dilution gene is not part of the genetic makeup of a purebred Lab.  Adding the dilute gene causes the black coat to appear charcoal, the chocolate coat to appear silver, and the yellow coat to appear yellow still, but the black pigment will be bluish, and the eye color will not be correct. Unfortunately, the dilution gene can cause CDA (Color Dilution Alopecia), a lifelong & uncomfortable skin condition that cannot be cured, and a proper Labrador temperament is absent.  Following the Labrador Retrievers Club’s Code of Conduct, we do dilute test all of our breeding stock – all our dogs have come back dilute-free!

Yes, Labradors do shed and they “blow” their coats seasonally. To “blow” means a major shedding event. You and your floor cleaning tools will be in for a workout. Spayed females & neutered males tend to have a different texture to their coats & will shed more often.

A self-cleaning slicker brush, an undercoat rake, and a greyhound comb will come in handy. Furminators are a big NO NO. They end up destroying your dog’s coat by cutting the guard hairs and can cut the skin too.

Typically all 3 colors shed the same but coat texture can vary. Yellows tend towards a fluffier coat and the hairs are lighter whereas blacks their hair is stiffer and can weave itself into upholstered furniture. Chocolates tend to have hair that is more like blacks. Why the differences I don’t know.

That’s an interesting question and although we will never know “for sure” we do have some facts in history and can thus form a very strong hypothesis. In the 70’s two breeders in the midwest began breeding silver Labradors – Culo and Beavercreek. They somehow stumbled upon the color in a litter of hunting Labradors from chocolate lines. They assumed the color was a mutation and began to select for it and produce more puppies. They could not breed a silver to a random chocolate and get silvers – they only got all chocolates. So they had to breed close relatives that were known to produce silvers. They bred mother to son, father to daughter, full brothers and sisters and thus produced and sold silvers. There are so many with a silver background that this is unnecessary.
So both Culo and Beavercreek lines can be traced directly back to Kellogg kennels which has been in existence since the 20’s breeding hunting Labradors and many other retrievers and pointers and guess what? Yes Weimeraners. I know of one long timer who visited back in the 60’s and said that puppies and dogs were running all over the farm and record keeping was not as strict as today so it would have been very easy for dogs to mix and breed. If a chocolate Labrador bred with a Weimeraner then her resulting all chocolate puppies would look like field type Labradors and would then be registered as Labradors. Another long timer remembers ads in Gun Dog magazine from the 50’s advertising “gray Labradors” from Kellogg kennels.

No, they are not. They are only found in the United States. Early members of the Labrador breed were exported from Newfoundland to England where the breed was cultivated and truly formed and then imported by the United States. Labradors are very popular in Europe and all over the world and they have never produced silvers. It is a fact that silver originated here in the states and is further evidence of the above hypothesis.

There has never been a silver produced anywhere except in the U.S., and no show nor field breeder not already associated with silvers in the U.S. has produced one over the years either. Silver breeders lie about breeders killing them at birth or that some were mentioned by Mary Roslin- Williams who talks about “gray puppies” which are blacks with a very plush coat and NOT true silvers.

No they are not. Back in the 70’s coat color genetics in dogs was not fully understood. The odd silver coloring was simply assumed as being a mutated chocolate. Now we know for fact (research done by Dr. Sheila Schmutz of the University of Saskachewan) that the silver Labrador is nothing more than a diluted chocolate. “Dilution genes” are carried by all dogs but they are found in the dominant form in most breeds including the general population of Labradors. Only through selected breeding have some breeds come to have the dilution genes “turned on” and thus in the recessive form. Weimaraners always have two recessive copies – they are liver (chocolate) dogs that are diluted.

We know also now that the dilution genes can work on black and yellow as well. “Charcoals” are diluted blacks and a diluted yellow is considered “Champagne” – often times there is a sheen to the coat, the eyes are an off-color and the nose leather has a purple cast to the black pigment.

The Golden Retriever Club of America would like to emphasize to breeders and puppy buyers alike that the cream color has always been part of the full spectrum of colors found in our breed. We furthermore direct you to the following section of our Golden Retriever Club of America Breed Standard (click here to view the GRCA Breed Standard): Color — rich, lustrous golden of various shades. Feathering may be lighter than rest of coat. With the exception of graying or whitening of face or body due to age, any white marking, other than a few white hairs on the chest, should be penalized according to its extent. Allowable light shadings are not to be confused with white markings. Predominant body color which is either extremely pale or extremely dark is undesirable. Some latitude should be given to the light puppy whose coloring shows promise of deepening with maturity. Any noticeable area of black or other off-color hair is a serious fault.