Flat-Coated Retriever Dogs: Brothers Reunite After 9 Years
Like the Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever that superseded it in popularity as the retriever dog of choice, the Flat-Coated Retriever was itself the supercedent of the Curly Retriever. The Flat-Coated Retriever was initially referred to as the Wavy-Coated Retriever due to the wavy coat the earlier variants of the breed sported thanks to their partial Setter dog breed heritage. However as time and generations passed that wavy-coated characteristic faded and so the name was dropped and replaced.

The Flat-Coated Retriever which also went by the name of Black Wavy Retriever was once referred to as the quintessential Gamekeeper’s Dog due to its extensive and widespread use on large estates in England. The Flat-Coated Retriever was said to have a softer mouth and more docile temperament than the Curly-Coated Retriever that it replaced.

Article on  flat-coated retriever written by Kayye Nynne

• 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

Golden Retriever Dog History

The Golden Retriever, as its name so obviously suggests, is a member of the retrieving class of dogs. The retriever dog came about because the British sportsman of Victorian ages was frustrated with the game retrieving abilities of the Setter, Pointer and Spaniel dog breeds that were largely used for such purpose at the time. Though the Spaniel dog breeds were favored as being more adept retrievers they were still not considered as optimal retriever dogs on account of their small size.

In 1865 Sir Dudley Majoribanks (later to become Lord Tweedmouth) embarked on a breeding program to develop the most efficient and capable retrieving gun dog in the world. What is undisputed is the fact that his Golden Retriever dog breeding program all started with a yellow retriever called Nous. What is not quite so clear is the history and origins of Nous.

One story has it that Nous was purchased from a Russian circus trainer in Brighton, another tale contends that Nous was obtained from a Brighton cobbler, while yet another source claims that Nous previous owner was either a gypsy or the somewhat more distinguished Lord Chichester.

Golden Retriever Dog Breed Foundation Stock

Conflicting origins of Nous notwithstanding, what is not under contention is the fact that Nous was the only yellow puppy from a litter of black Wavy-Coated Retrievers. In 1868 Nous, the yellow Wavy-coated Retriever, was mated with a Tweed Water Spaniel bitch called Belle. The resultant litter consisted of four yellow puppies of which Lord Tweedmouth then crossbred the best bitch (a dog named Cowslip) to a Red Setter and a Tweed Water Spaniel.

Offspring from those two litters were then recrossed with black Wavy-coated Retrievers and from the resultant litter (that ranged from very dark colored puppies to very light colored ones) those that were golden were selected and mated together. It should be noted that there are some who claim that the Bloodhound dog was introduced to the mix but such talk is largely unsubstantiated and probably unlikely. Anyway it was in this fashion that Lord Tweedmouth of Scotland produced the foundation stock of the Golden Retriever dog breed.

The Golden Retriever was initially called the Flat Coated Golden Retriever (due to the fact that it was descended from the Flat Coated Retriever, a dog breed it largely came to eclipse in popularity) and was registered with The Kennel Club (British) under that name in 1903. Later on when the Golden Retriever Club was formed in 1911 it was categorized as a separate dog breed under the name “Yellow or Golden Retriever”. Further down along the line the “Yellow or” was dropped and ever since then this dog breed has gone by the name of Golden Retriever.

The Golden Retriever came to the shores of the North Americas in the late 19th century, reaching Canada first in 1881 and then the United States in 1890. It was finally registered with the Canadian Kennel Club in 1922 and then by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1932. Since its entry into the show ring from the 1930s, the Golden Retriever has become one of the most recognized and popular dog breeds, consistently ranking within the top ten most popular dog breeds according to the AKC listing.

Article on golden retriever written by Kayye Nynne