EGRITS

         DID YOU KNOW THAT CREAM AND COPPERY GOLD ARE "ACCEPTABLE?"
   Recently I had occasion to revisit the website of the GRCA, and to my surprise I discovered some interesting instructions to those who would judge our breed.  It appeared in an article compiled by the Golden Retriever Club of America Judges' Education Committee for the A.K.C.
   Under the heading of Coat and Color, I found this entry:
          Color is probably one of the most common variants seen in the breed. The standard specifies "lustrous golden of various shades" which allows a broad range of color, ranging from CREAM TO A COPPERY GOLD, with allowable lighter feathering. This variation in color is one of the breed's attractions. EXTREMES of LIGHT and DARK of the predominant body color are considered UNDESIRABLE.
   The current understanding among fanciers of the Golden Retriever breed is that both CREAM and RED are colors which fall OUTSIDE the allowable range and deserve to be penalized in the conformation ring. Is public opinion among breed aficionados wrong? Are we failing to read our Breed Standard correctly? What does our Standard mean? What inferences are to be drawn properly from the following:
          COLOR: Rich, lustrous golden of various shades. Feathering may be lighter than rest of coat....Predominant body color which is either EXTREMELY PALE OR EXTREMELY DARK is UNDESIRABLE....Some latitude should be given to the LIGHT puppy whose coloring shows PROMISE (as in, pick me, pick me, I promise to turn "golder" when I grow up) of deepening with maturity....
   For those who fail to recognize these words, they are part of the GRCA/AKC approved Golden Retriever Breed Standard which has been in place for a generation.
   When judicial seminars and workshops are held do the spokespersons for the GRCA (Marcia, Chris, James, et al) clarify this apparent contradiction? Does our present Standard include both CREAM and COPPERY GOLD as acceptable in the show ring? That's what the article especially prepared for would-be judges says. Or do the seminar leaders assert that CREAM  is UNDESIRABLE?
   What does the phrase, " extremely pale" as found in the Breed Standard mean? Is CREAM undesirable? Is it acceptable? What do these GRCA leaders counsel those who attend these judicial meetings? Do CREAM and "extremely pale" equate? Are they synonymous? And do those who run these sessions for the judges have a RIGHT to INTERPRET the breed Standard to suit their own biases and color preferences?
   An article on the GRCA website dated 2010 states the following with regard to color:
   Comment: Color is essential in defining the breed as "Golden." The Standard includes a range, from pale gold through deep reddish gold, as the predominant body color. "Golden" requires a brilliance of hue that is definitely yellow or reddish yellow, NOT dull tan, brown, or FLAT CREAM. Lighter shadings on the underbody, "pants" and tail, in varying degrees are quite typical and acceptable....
   If this paragraph looks familiar, it is because it has been taken almost word for word from a book written by the present Chairman of the GRCA Standards Committee. She is firm in her belief that a Golden Retriever which is not truly golden in color is not truly a Golden Retriever. What exactly this un-Golden Retriever is is not explained by the author.
   This same writer believes that the British Standard for Goldens considers the cream-coated Goldens merely a lighter SHADE of gold, NOT a separate color.
   How does one wade through these apparent contradictions? Is CREAM in or out of the acceptable color spectrum for the breed? You will have to judge for yourself(?)