The Labrador retriever is the world’s most popular dog breed and in the United States has bested the AKC rankings for that very category for the past eighteen years running (as of 2009). Many people are under the impression that the Labrador Retriever dog breed was developed in Britain but this is widely embraced misconception as is the notion that this dog originated from Labrador, a region located in Canada. The truth of the matter is that the Labrador Retriever originated from the region of Newfoundland in Canada and previously went by the names:

• Lesser Newfoundland Dog
• St. John’s Dog
• Lesser St. John’s Dog
• Short-coated St. John’s Dog
• Small Water Dog

The reason for the pre qualifier of “small” and “lesser” was to distinguish this dog breed from another water loving dog breed that hailed from the same region, a dog that currently goes by the name:  Newfoundland Dog.

Labrador Retriever Dog Breed Development

The Labrador Retriever dog was originally bred to aide Canadian fishermen in retrieving their fishing haul by swimming out and dragging back the nets or sometimes by even pulling in smaller fishing boats inland. Thus the development of this dog breed evidently favored those dogs that displayed a strong affinity for water and ability to withstand the extremely cold temperatures characteristic of the icy waters of the region. The small water dog as it was then known circa 1800s, was a medium-sized dog usually black in color and that sported a close-haired coat that was water proof.

The area from which the first Labrador Retrievers hailed from as the Lesser Newfoundland Dog was largely settled by the English and the Irish so it comes as no surprise that by early 1800s many of these dogs found their way to the shore of England, specifically the region of Poole in England. It wasn’t long before the Canadian fishermen of the region realized that there was good money to be made from the trade of their native dog breed and thus in this manner many dogs found their way to England where they were greatly sought after by the landed gentry as gun dogs par excellence.

In retrospect it is perhaps fortuitous that several specimens of the Lesser St. John’s Dog made it to England because by the late 19th century new quarantine laws that were established in Britain forbade the future importation of Labrador Retrievers whilst in Canada the fishermen of Newfoundland were waging a losing financial battle against the introduction of new dog tax measures and levies that they simply couldn’t afford. Unable to afford the new dog taxes many fishermen relinquished their dog ownership status and it is quiet conceivable that if several dogs hadn’t been taken to Britain, hard as it is to imagine, but the beloved and very popular Labrador Retriever dog as we know it today probably wouldn’t exist!

Labrador Retriever Dog  Starts Anew In Britain

In Newfoundland, Canada, under its stint as the Lesser St. John’s Dog, the Labrador Retriever dog’s role was in aiding fishermen by retrieving their catch and nets; services that involved a fair amount of swimming. In England the Labrador Retriever dog’s role was to be somewhat different. The dog breed already had excellent qualities sought after in a gun dog by hunters, notable its so-called “soft mouth” (the ability to retrieve shot game without damaging it) and as an exceptionally swimmer, the Labrador Retriever made the ideal dog to retrieve game birds that resided along or on water such as geese and ducks.

Excellent as the Labrador Retriever was as a gun dog, there were those amongst the English nobility who felt that the breed could be improved. Thus in accordance with such a belief the Labrador Retriever was crossed with other well-established English sporting dog breeds which included the following:

• Curly-coated Retriever
• Flat-coated Retriever
• Tweed Water Spaniel

It is of note that the Golden Retriever, another very popular dog breed, was also comprised of the above three listed dog breeds in its development which probably explains why yellow Labrador Retreivers are commonly and easily mistaken for Golden Retreiver dogs. In any case the cross mixing with the other dog breeds did little to alter the Labrador Retriever dog’s appearance but certainly it did result in an even more formidable gun dog!

Labrador

Article on labrador retriever written by Kayye Nynne