Labrador Retrievers have the most well documented history from their creation to date of any breed. With this fact we as preservationists have always known that Labrador Retrievers have never had the dilution gene introduced into the breed during its creation and subsequent generations. The LRC (Labrador Retriever Club) our national breed club has even made statements in regards to the relevance of the dilution gene not being in our breed. Recently though, the LRC’s board made a unanimous decision, that the membership was not aware of, in a board meeting to have AKC (American Kennel Club) add silver as a color option when registering through them. The LRC’s reasoning is as follows, “For too long, silvers have been registered as chocolates, obscuring the true picture of breeding practices. By encouraging dog owners and breeders to register dogs honestly and accurately, we will gain clearer insight into breeder activity and better educate the public. This decision reflects our commitment to accuracy and transparency in pedigrees.” While in theory, this would be wonderful, it will likely not have the result they are seeming to anticipate. Why? Well, silvers are not the only dilute color we as preservationists are battling against as there are also charcoals (dilution of black) and champagne (dilution of yellow). By AKC and LRC only adding silver, we will still have dilute dogs of other colors falsely being registered as their dominant color. This leaves our breed still at the disadvantage the LRC is trying to move them away from (dilute dogs being registered as purebred). In the name of preservation and of doing justice for our breed for decades to come we, the dedicated people within the Labrador Retriever breed, ask the LRC to redact its decision on silvers only and thereby making the AKC do so as well. The decision should, at the very least, include  making charcoal and champagne options for registration as well. I hope our breeds preservationists can work together as one to have full transparency into the fraudulent registrations our breed has faced for over 40 years and then the removal of the dilute gene pool.