“It’s Daniel Craig here. I have some news you might find interesting.”

He had us at “Daniel Craig.”

The smoldering 49-year-old actor is the latest celebrity to join forces with Omaze, a Culver City, California-based company that raffles off “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” to benefit various charitable organizations (Idris Elba offered up a date with himself for Valentine’s Day).  In this case, benefits go to the United Nations Mine Action Service which works to reduce the impact of land mines and explosives left behind by war in 18 countries around the world. One lucky fan and a guest will have the opportunity to spend a day with Craig at a secret location, but that’s not all: The fan will then be able to design a personally customized 2016 Aston Martin Vantage GT Roadster.

The pups themselves are Golden Retrievers known as “English Cream”  for their very pale color. They are accepted as “Golden Retrievers” by English and Canadian standards which recognize “any shade of gold or cream,” but not by the AKC. Proponents of this color like to say that English Creams are healthier, longer-lived, and more valuable than darker Goldens, but that claim has little to do with the dogs’ color, even if true. Whether a Golden Retriever is English or American, cream-colored or caramel-colored, health and longevity is ultimately the result of good breeding, a combination of nature and nurture. The Golden Retriever Club has always maintained that the cream color has always been part of the full spectrum of colors found in the breed, and presents the picture below that we hope they don’t mind our sharing for educational purposes:

Again, from the Golden Retriever Club of America: “The cream color of a Golden Retriever might be considered very attractive to some puppy buyers, but this color does not signify that such a light puppy is particularly superior or that it is necessarily well-bred, or that it should ever be referred to as an ‘English Cream Golden Retriever’. It is our position that a breeding program which focuses mainly on color should be viewed with some skepticism. If claims are being made that the light creams are more valuable or healthier than darker colored Golden Retrievers, then the buyer should be aware that such statements are blatantly incorrect.”