Say No To Silver Labs

[cali]

Conformation preserves the breed so that it will look the same 100 years from now.

haha thats the funnest thing I have ever heard! have you SEEN the dogs from even 50? 60? years ago they look NOTHING like the the dogs currently look.

there is only one way to truly preserve a breed. and that is to breed for working ability. why? because if dogs had a certain look it was a direct result of their work, if you start breeding only for the look then you loose the ability as well as start over emphizing featurs. if you breed for the work, you keep the look AND the ability. case in point I found a pictures of the very first cattle working border collie..the dog is nearly itentical to misty..a current cattle bred BC.

[.sarah]

haha thats the funnest thing I have ever heard! have you SEEN the dogs from even 50? 60? years ago they look NOTHING like the the dogs currently look.

there is only one way to truly preserve a breed. and that is to breed for working ability. why? because if dogs had a certain look it was a direct result of their work, if you start breeding only for the look then you loose the ability as well as start over emphizing featurs. if you breed for the work, you keep the look AND the ability. case in point I found a pictures of the very first cattle working border collie..the dog is nearly itentical to misty..a current cattle bred BC.

Wow, you don't have to be sarcastic with everything you say. I said 100 years from now, that's in the future, not in the past. Please stop being so rude in your posts.

[cali]

I did not mean to sound so rude, I just hear that kind of thing all the time, and it annoys the heck out of me. my point is that if the dogs have changed so much despite the stadrads in the past why on earth would it not continue to change in the future? I was using the past as an example, the standards make no difference because there will always be fads, when there is a fad you suddenly get a million dogs from one line, and suddenly the look is not the same as it was a generation or 2 before. breeds are constantly changing in look despite the stardards.

[TORNER RETRIEVERS]

I did not mean to sound so rude, I just hear that kind of thing all the time, and it annoys the heck out of me. my point is that if the dogs have changed so much despite the stadrads in the past why on earth would it not continue to change in the future? I was using the past as an example, the standards make no difference because there will always be fads, when there is a fad you suddenly get a million dogs from one line, and suddenly the look is not the same as it was a generation or 2 before. breeds are constantly changing in look despite the stardards.

they don't change despite the standard...the vary in lines and breeder's preferences, but in the end, they all need to stick to the breed standard.

[bckrazy]

I have only seen silver Labs being sold by BYB's, so I am just assuming that they are not legit. However, if they are, breeders still shouldn't be breeding to encourage this at all. It's kind of like breeding "white" Dobermans and GSD's, completely off of the breed standard. Dogs should be shown, IMHO, to prove their physical soundness and adherence to the standard. Why even have a kennel club or registry if there are no shows to prove the best of breeding stock? If a Lab is silver and not accepted, it obviously cannot be shown, and therefor cannot be proven as sound-bodied breeding stock. period.

I agree with you, Cali, BUT up to a certain point. If every breeder had no regard at all for appearance in dogs and only focused on performance, there would be many many flaws showing up and the specific appearance of many breeds would be lost. I believe very strongly in breeding for working ability AND structure, because working ability alone just won't preserve the classic appearance that people love about all of the dog breeds.

[.sarah]

I have only seen silver Labs being sold by BYB's, so I am just assuming that they are not legit. However, if they are, breeders still shouldn't be breeding to encourage this at all. It's kind of like breeding "white" Dobermans and GSD's, completely off of the breed standard. Dogs should be shown, IMHO, to prove their physical soundness and adherence to the standard. Why even have a kennel club or registry if there are no shows to prove the best of breeding stock? If a Lab is silver and not accepted, it obviously cannot be shown, and therefor cannot be proven as sound-bodied breeding stock. period.

I agree with you, Cali, BUT up to a certain point. If every breeder had no regard at all for appearance in dogs and only focused on performance, there would be many many flaws showing up and the specific appearance of many breeds would be lost. I believe very strongly in breeding for working ability AND structure, because working ability alone just won't preserve the classic appearance that people love about all of the dog breeds.

Thank you, you took the words right out of my mouth.