THE BACKGROUND BREEDING of
the Labrador Retriever may never be established, but
it is safe to assume that the breed's ancestors were taken to
Newfoundland by explorers,
fishermen, and settlers from England, Europe, and Norway. Thus
the dogs, which
subsequently were thought to be native to Labrador and
Newfoundland, were in all probability
the descendants of dogs left there in early years. They adapted
to their environment, and by
natural selection had evolved into two distinct types: one was
the large heavy-coated dog
which became known as the Newfoundland and the other, the smaller
shorter-coated, was
called the "black Water Dog," the "lesser
Newfoundland," and later the "St. John's
dog."
Both were excellent water
dogs, had strong inherent hunting ability acquired from
generations
of living off the land and thick double coats which protected
them against the elements.
In the early 1800s several
keen sportsmen and members of the English nobility acquired a
few
of the smaller-type dogs that fishermen were bringing back to
England. These were found to
be excellent retrievers of fish and game. For many years the
breed was kept pure, but
difficulty arose in obtaining fresh breeding stock, so Labradors
were crossed with other
sporting breeds, in particular the Flat-Coated Retriever, the
Tweed Water Spaniel, and the
Curly-Coated Retriever. The Labrador, as we know it today, was
thus a British development.
As a sporting dog the
Labrador soon took over from the Flat-Coated Retriever as
Britain's
most popular gun dog, a position the breed has held up to the
present time. In addition, the
Lab has earned world-wide respect as a war dog, police dog and as
a guide dog for the blind.
In 1903 the breed was
officially recognized by The Kennel Club (England) and was
first
registered in Canada in 1905.
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