New Member

[Maxx&Emma]

Hi and welcome!

[Bowiefan1]

Hi and welcome

[Savage2014]

Thanks for the info on face book. Thought about trying this. Also wondering if maybe he's losing his undercoat. A lady at work said her lab is doing the same thing.

[doubledip1]

Welcome!

[JenC]

I would expect a boatload of skin and coat issues. It's common in the weim/lab mix.

[Savage2014]

First, I want to thank the ones that tried to offer helpful information on the issues I'am having with my "Silver Lab". Thought this site could help due to being dedicated to Labs. Foolish me to think people might want to offer advice if they had experienced this also, instead of receiving arrogant views on why they think my dog isn't a true purebred lab. As forewarned I do have thick skin and don't usually try to stir the pot, but instead of offering advice, received mostly answers as to what basically amounts to I got what I deserved for having a Silver Lab. For this I realize this isn't a site I want to be a member of. In closing, doesn't matter if a dog is purebred or not, they all want love, love us in return and want us to take care of them the best we know how.

[Abulafia]

Hi Savage2014—

I just went back through the responses, and out of 12 responses, one included:

"hopefully you have thick skin Silver Labs are a hot topic around here. A lot of us recognize Labs only come in three colors,yellow, black and brown and silver is a mixed with Weimaraner."

one included:

"I do agree with only three colors of lab. But, all labs, mixes and nonlabs are welcome here. The thing is, we love dogs."

and one:

"I would expect a boatload of skin and coat issues. It's common in the weim/lab mix."

—All​ posts were welcoming. Three made mild reference to the fact that only three Lab colors are recognized, and that Silvers are commonly understood to have resulted from early Lab / Weim mixes. As they are. And who cares? They are very pretty dogs, and of course want and give love as well as any. A result of their particular mixture is that they may tend to have skin issues. Labs—as a result of their breeding—may tend to have joint issues, eye issues, and and (if poorly bred) temperament issues (the latter goes for any dog).

Your gorgeous silver is a beautiful Lab mix. One of my all time favorite dogs in the world—a dog I had growing up—was a Lab / Dalmatian mix. She was seriously the best dog ever (and looked mainly Lab, but a little sleeker). One of my closest friends has a "Lab" that is almost certainly Lab + something else. This dog is just wonderful.

A "Silver Lab" is a result of a mix. So what? At the level of breeding, purists (and I am one) want to make sure that the dilute gene stays out of the purebred population, but at the "this is a wonderful dog" level, I couldn't care less.

I do think you received a good welcome however, and I do think you got some good advice—which is that Lab / Weim mixes may tend to have skin problems, so maybe look into resources for this.

All best.

[barry581]

It truly makesme sad but u could see where this thread was going. To the OP, the whole issue regarding "silver" labs has been a point of contention for long time. For me it goes back to 1986 when I showed an ad for "silver" labs to Mary Roslyn-Williams. She told me "young man Labradors come in three colors, black, yellow, and liver". She even wrote about it in her weekly "Dog World" column.

The breed standard state three colors. Black. Yellow. Chocolate. No silver. No white. No champagne or any other designer color. It's sad that over the year unscrupulous people have bred these dogs for one reason, to dupe unsuspecting people into paying big money for a "rare" colored "Lab".

I'm truly sorry your dog is having issues, but unfortunately this is one of the issues these dogs have. I hope your vet can help you and your dog, but sadly you can expect a lifetime of issues with this dog.

[Murrisha]

I met my first silver lab on Monday when I took Teller to the dog park. Teller is at the upper end of the height considerations for the breed (24" tall) but of course only 55 lbs lol. Most male labs we encounter are bulkier and outweigh him, but this dog was MASSIVE. He was well over 100 lbs and around 28" but not fat. I was talking to the owner and I asked if he had been healthy overall and she said he hadn't experienced any of the skin or temperament issues silver labs sometimes have. He was a very pretty dog but I still find the silver color hard to swallow, not because I'm a breed purist, but because it's just so weird to see a lab with a silver coat. Anyways, your dog is very handsome and I hope you are enjoying all the love he has to give.

But, welcome to the forums!