Quote Originally Posted by 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.
Thank you, you took the words right out of my mouth.