Labrador Coat Colors

For answers to color questions like, "how did you get a litter of all black puppies when you bred a chocolate and a yellow?" and other cool coat color info, read and play with the coat color tool here:

https://www.blueknightlabs.com/color/coatcolor.html

Labrador Retrievers come in only THREE colors: black (solid, occasionally with small white markings), chocolate (solid, occasionally with small white markings; from light milky brown to deep brown/almost-black), and yellow (from cream to fox red). Dilute, aka "Silver" Labradors are the result of cross-breeding with Weimaraners and possibly other breeds with dilute coats. It is the result of the dilute genetic marker altering the original genetically coded coat color, so "charcoal" is the dilute version of black, "silver" or "blue" is the dilute version of chocolate, and "champagne" is the dilute version of yellow. The dilute gene was not anywhere in the Labrador gene pool from its earliest days of being a recognized, established breed with AKC. Once the stud books were closed and the Labrador genotype was "set", bringing genetics from other breeds through cross-breeding rendered those lines (mainly the Kellogg lines) no longer purebred. ALL "Silver" Labradors come from unethical cross-breeding at some point in time in the lines or another.

You can read a fairly unbiased article about the Silver Labrador controversy here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/silver-labradors/

FAQ on Silver Labradors and contact info to participate in research: https://www.labbies.com/silver.htm

The Truth Behind Silver Labradors, an article written by Sharon A. Wagner, a reputable Labrador Retriever breeder and Geneticist: https://www.woodhavenlabs.com/silverlabs.html

Arctic Texan Labradors' personal stance on so-called "Silver" Labradors is that, while the dilute coat colors may be beautiful, the ethical breeding of Labradors to preserve and improve the breed does NOT include breeding for coat colors that are unacceptable in the LRC breed standard, nor is it ethical to produce so-called "rare" coat colors and charge exorbitant prices for them based on color alone. Our puppies cost the same amount, regardless of coat color, gender, or even the impressive titles and accomplishments of other dogs in the parents' pedigrees, because the price is based on our actual investment in the litter. We cannot in good conscience recommend any breeder of Silver Labradors, as we know of none we would consider to be ethical breeders based on both general breeding ethics AND Labrador breed standard ethics.