Response of Robert Young of AKC on 3/27/00 giving AKC official position on the issue of Silver Labs.

Consensus at the "Silver Lab" meeting held on July 14, 1997.

1) The foundation for the AKC registry is based on parentage and not color.
2) We should register all Lab pups coming from purebred AKC registered Labs.
3) We should not register Labs as "Silver."
4) After a review of pictures, the file and history of this issue which goes back to 1987, we feel the most appropriate color for registration is Chocolate.
5) We will entertain complaints of impure breedings on an individual basis, but complaints should be based on more than color.

In 1987 we conducted an inquiry into the breeding of the litters that contained the dogs that were registered as silver and one of our representatives was sent to observe several of the dogs that had been registered as silver. Color photographs of these dogs were forwarded to the office of the American Kennel Club where the staff of the AKC and the representatives of the Labrador Retriever Club of America examined them. Both parties were satisfied that there was no reason to doubt that the dogs were purebred Labrador Retrievers, however both parties felt that the dogs were incorrectly registered as silver. Since the breed standard describes chocolate as ranging in shade from Sedge to chocolate, it was felt that the dogs could more accurately be described as chocolate than as silver.