Arkansas Labs

The Official Position of the AKC Regarding the Silver Labrador.

Dated March 24, 2000

The registry of the American Kennel Club is based on parentage and not the coat color of a member of any breed.

"In 1987 the AKC, in corporation with the Labrador Retriever Club of America, conducted an inquiry into the breeding of litters that contained members that were registered as silver. An AKC representative was sent to observe these dogs. The report and color photographs of these dogs were reviewed by AKC staff and representatives of the Labrador Retriever Club of America. Both Parties were satisified that there was no reason to doubt that the dogs were purebred Labrador Retrievers, however they felt that the dogs were incorrectly registered as silver. Since the breed standard at the time describe chcolate as ranging in shade from sedge to chocolate, it was felt that the dogs could more accurately be described as chocolate rather than silver." (Robert Young, AKC)

This remains the current policy of the American Kennel Club.

Jack Norton

Special Services Dept. AKC.

The Use Coat Color of Adjectives

Labrador Retrievers that express the dilution gene (dd) are recongized and registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC) based on their foundation genetic colors, Black, Yellow, or Chocolate.

Labradors that are descriptively called "Silver" are registered as their base genetic color Chocolate

Labradors that are descriptively called "Charcoal" are registered as their base genetic color Black.

Labradors that are descriptively called "Champagne" are registered as their base genetic color Yellow.

The policy of registering light shades of the breed standard-described colors as the result of dilution was established after a joint investigation by the AKC and Labrador Retriever Club of America (LRC) in the 1980's, wherein breed purity of "Silver" Labradors was also confirmed.

The use of descriptive color names is not new to the Labrador breed. Most common in the use of "White" for genetically Yellow Labradors that lack most of their pigment in the hair. The old breed studbooks contain many other descriptive iterations of the accepted colors, jet=Black, champagne=Yellow, cream=Yellow, butterscotch=Yellow, blonde=Yellow, liver=Chocolate, etc, etc...