K9 Perspective

The magazine your dog would want you to read

Editorial July-August 2009:

Grey and multi-coloured
Labradors disappointing

THE current attempt by breeders in a few countries to sell grey (silver) and brown-and-black Labradors as pedigrees defies all logic. And the fact that people buy these dogs and pay pedigree money for them just shows that there are fools born every minute!

Okay, the puppies are cute and if bought from a caring breeder will probably be strong and healthy, but they are not pedigree Labradors by any stretch of the imagination. Don’t let the sellers fool you into thinking that the “mother was a pedigree black Lab and the father was a pedigree chocolate Lab” or any such tall tale. These dogs can not be shown and are not pedigree Labradors – they are crossbreeds no matter how far back the misbreeding was. The Labrador has never had a gene for any colours other than black, yellow or chocolate, and does not have an allele for multi-colourings. A mutation can slightly alter alleles but can not invent new ones!

Such puppies are the progeny of Labrador-weimaraner, Labrador-NZ huntaway, Labrador-doberman or other such good sport ancestors. They are no less cute, but certainly not show or pedigree quality and anyone purchasing one should be aware that they are purchasing a pet puppy and the price should reflect that.

Which brings me to a rather worrying thought. If any of the progeny of such dogs somehow made its way back into the pedigree books and was bred to a dog of similar shady background, there could be a sudden appearance of an obvious weimaraner or huntaway in what seems to be a pedigree Labrador family. The breeder or breeders may be blamed, but could possibly have bought the parent as a puppy, unaware of its shady ancestry. For that reason the kennel clubs and breeders need to be aware and watchful to keep their breed pure and uncontaminated. Remember, there is nothing that a puppy mill or a crooked breeder won’t try in order to make money.

For buyers, make sure that you see both parents of any puppy you buy and inspect their living quarters. If the puppy is indifferent to its mother then it could well be a substitute parent brought in for the viewing to assist the sale.

Last of all, instead of paying huge prices for crossbreed puppies, just visit the rescue centres and SPCA homes and rescue a dog. If you are so keen to give money away, why not give it to the dogs’ home or SPCA or rescue centre? It would be a whole lot more benefit to the canine community than to the producers of crossbreed Labs. - Liz