Mini Labs and other colors

I had a call on my puppies, which by the way are all placed into great new loving homes now. Thanks to all my new puppy owners for making this litter seem so easy to place since everyone was so nice. Anyway back to the call. The lady asked if I had miniature labs. I had not heard of such a thing, but I figured somewhere someone was trying to do this so I googled it. Sure enough I found three types of so called mini labs. The first group of folks really have mixed breed dogs. since a labs genes are strong most things you mate them with will come out having a pretty good resemblance to a lab. So people are mating them to smaller dogs of different breeds. Not really labs people. The next group is taking labs from the low end of the height standard and breeding them to each other. Our standard calls for dogs to be 21 to 24 inches at the shoulders. By continuing to mate small dogs to each other you can reduce the over all size, but at what cost. It is never wise to breed for one genetic trait. You can get all sorts of bad traits show up. You should breed for the total dog health temperament looks etc. The last group of people are breeding dogs that have a genetic fault. Dwarfism is noted in our breed. Thankfully it is rare. It can be accompanied by all sorts of other health issues. But people are mating these genetically dwarf dogs to get smaller labs. This is a mutated gene and nothing good can come from reproducing it. So if you are looking for a smaller sized dog get a smaller dog not a mini lab. Cavalier king charles spaniels have a similar temperament to labs and only weigh in at about 18 lbs, so they are perfect for those wanting something a bit smaller. Please do not support these poor breeding practices by buying one of these so called mini labs.
Now back on my soap box about color. Labs come in three colors, Black, Yellow(ranging from cream to fox red), and chocolate(ranging from light to dark) Again those that breed solely for color are missing the boat by breeding for one trait only. Again white or cream labs and fox red are shades of yellow and are by no means rare, so don't fall for the rare color scam and pay more for a pup from someone who is out to exploit a certain color. And by all means a true white lab would be considered an albino and that is a genetic mutation that should never be bred for because again it comes with other heath issues. As for the so called silver and charcoal labs. They are being registered as blacks and chocolates by people through the registry clubs. People claim they are genes for diluted chocolate which makes the silver color or diluted black which make the charcoal color. Others argue that weimeraner crosses are use to get these colors. I have no proof as to who is telling the truth. I will tell you those colors are not recognized in our standard for the breed, and again folks are breeding for one specific trait to capitalize on money. these dogs usually go for well over $1000 dollars. I don't know about you but if I am spending that kind of money I want something that Is pure and right and bred with all aspects especially health in mind. The last thing I have to say about these dogs is I see two silvers at my practice and they do not resemble what a true lab should look like. Also they are very high strung, this could just be from lack of the owners ability to control the dog though. In fact that last time I saw one the owner pointed to a calendar on the wall of silver pups and said hey those look just like my dog. The label at the bottom identified the puppies as weimeraners.
Please folks do your home work and don't support these breeders who are in it for the money and not the betterment of the breed itself. By a nice quality puppy from a breeder who breeds for the whole package.