HAVE OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBORS DECLARED WAR ON CREAM?

   The Golden Retriever Club of Canada has recently added an article entitled, "English Cream Golden Retrievers" to its website.Apparently the presentation is a group effort on the part of leading members of the Club; at least I have been told that no one individual is responsible for the information presented.
   While there is much with which I am in agreement, there are also assertions made in the absence of facts. In particular, this: "....It is NEVER the colour of a Golden Retriever that determines its temperament and working-ability or its health and potential longevity...."
   And, quoting from a previous section, "Some breeders favor different STYLES of Golden Retrievers and some may even have a PERSONAL PREFERENCE for a lighter or a darker golden, but good breeders NEVER focus exclusively on a specific colour, SINCE THIS WOULD UNNECESSARILY NARROW THE GENE-POOL and may cause genetic predispositions towards hereditary health issues to become magnified over time. Furthermore, the various STYLES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH COLOUR, but rather BREEDERS' AESTHETIC PREFERENCES and THEIR INTERPRETATION of the breed-standard...."
   STYLES of Golden Retrievers are reflected in certain genetic lines. And if the dogs selected in breeding programs do not have cream coats (or red coats, for that matter) in their pedigree, then it follows that color was a factor in developing a particular STYLE. The above -mentioned "good breeder" who never focuses exclusively on a specific color actually does so-- by breeding exclusively to the "Goldilocks" Golden Retriever (not too much gold, not too little gold, but just the right amount of gold-- but ALWAYS some shade of GOLD). If your personal preference causes you to eliminate cream- and/or red- coated dogs from your program then you ARE breeding to color.You eliminate the other birth colors from consideration and thus are intentionally LIMITING the available gene pool.
   Leading personalities in America's Golden Retriever circle claim-- unabashedly --that a TRUE Golden Retriever MUST be GOLD in color. Based upon their PERSONAL PREFERENCES they have declared the ACCEPTABLE range of coat color in the breed-- loping off the birth colors which exist at both ends of the color spectrum. This is based not upon science, not upon any factual information that has been put forward, but rather upon nothing more than matters of PERSONAL TASTE. Yet it is written in stone in the AKC/GRCA Breed Standard.
   In The States, "lustrous gold" eliminates virtually all cream-coated Golden Retrievers from any serious consideration in the conformation ring; while under Canadian rules-- referencing the same "lustrous gold"  --cream is viewed as acceptable without penalty. Same phrase, different interpretation. And lest there be any confusion on the matter I offer the following. The GRCA Judges' Information Committee issued an AKC- sanctioned document that specifically INCLUDED cream as an acceptable color. When I questioned the GRCA leadership about this, in short order the document was altered. The word cream was expunged, and the amended document now identifies pale gold  as the lightest color within the approved color range. Cream is NOT acceptable. In fact, the GRCA informed me that the word cream was mistakenly included in the original document by the committee chairperson. It was done in error.
   While I can not say with certainty how many or what percentage of Goldens imported from Great Britain and continental Europe and Australia/New Zealand have been cream in color ( the GRCA refuses to allow an owner to register a dog by that color-- you must check the light gold box on the AKC registration form) it appears that a great majority of them have been cream rather than a shade of gold. This despite the fact that Goldens from around the world include the full range of birth colors.
   In Canada a cream import was bred to more than 100 different bitches. He looked like an outstanding dog (sadly, no longer with us), had excellent-rated hips and good overall structure. In short, a valuable and worthy stud dog. But did the breeders who were determined to use him NOT consider his coat color at all? Was there no question of personal taste involved? Had he been a gold-coated Golden would he have been sought in equal measure due to his superior genetic makeup or overall appearance?