This breed of Portuguese livestock and farm guardian is a probable ancestor of the St. John's water dog and the retrievers.
Remember when I said that brindle sometimes appears in Chesapeake Bay retrievers?
Well, brindle used to be somewhat common in retrievers. “The early specimens had frequently shown tan and brindle,” Charles Eley writes about the first wavy-coats that were bred from the St. John’s water dog in The History of Retrievers (1921, pg. 4). Eley goes on to say that all the old water dogs were called Labrador, and he seems to associate brindle with the early imports to Britain from Newfoundland. Brindle is a disqualifying marking in Labrador retrievers today in the AKC, as are tan markings. (Tan markings are allowed in the KC/FCI standard for black Labradors; it’s not even mentioned as a fault. See this.) There are also faulty brindle Chessies.
Now, where did this brindle color come from?
Well, to answer that question, we have to understand the history of Newfoundland. Newfoundland is well-known for having the first proven European settlements in the New World, the Norse settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. Contrary to some pseudo-history, it is unlikely that any Norse dogs remained in Newfoundland after the Norse abandoned the settlements. The native Beothuck were unusual among Native Americans from North American in that the they had no dogs, either of North American or European ancestry. (Although there are some people who would argue with me on this).
The most likely source for brindle European dogs is in Iberia. The first Europeans to really begin to exploit the Grand Banks were the Spanish Basques, followed by the French Basques and the Portuguese. The Portuguese are worth paying attention to, because they do have a native livestock guardian dog that is brindle in color.
This dog is the Cão de Castro Laboreiro. It is a landrace farm dog that often roams as a feral animal in northeastern Portugal. It has been around for many, many years in that part of the world.
Well, that’s nice, but how does it connect to the Portuguese fishermen in Newfoundland?
Several retriever authorities, such as Marcia Schlehr, think that this is an anacestor of retrievers, and I was skeptical, until I learned of the brindle coloration that existed in the St. John’s water dogs.
Then I learned that this breed has a descendant from the Azores, the Cao de Fila de Sao Miguel. It is a brindle mastiff that is used as a farm dog, although it is an active herding breed, used for driving cattle.
This tells me that the Portuguese explorers and fishermen were keeping their brindle farm dogs on the ships with them.
They also probably had some of the poodle-type water dogs on their ships with them. It is possible that some of these dogs were left in Newfoundland, just as the British and French were settling there. They then bred the poodle-type water dogs and the brindle farm dogs together and then added setter, water spaniel, and collie to the mix. Hounds may have been used, but I don’t remember reading any records of large numbers of scent hounds being brought to Newfoundland in the early days of settlement. If you mix all of those breeds together for several generations, while selecting those that were the best net haulers, retrievers, and working dogs, you’d get the St. John’s water dog.
I think that a confusion of the word “Laboreiro” in the dog’s name is the reason why these dogs were sometimes called Labradors. Labrador– “the land God gave to Cain,” as Jacques Cartier called it– was part of Newfoundland at this time (It is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador). It does have a native dog, the Labrador husky, which arrived with the Inuit people around the year 1300. It has no other native dogs. All St. John’s water dogs come from the island of Newfoundland, which is much more heavily settled. However, it would make sense that a British settler would confuse the names.
Now, the region called Labrador is actually named for a Portuguese explorer Joao Fernandes, who was given the title of Lavrador (landholder). It was he who explored this region first (after the Norse). He sailed first for Portugal, but then Henry VII hired him to explore the same region and claim it for England. On that expedition, he disappeared. Because the English settled Newfoundland and eventually claimed that whole region, the region was called Labrador.
Now, what about temperament?
The Castro Laboreiro dog is a protective guardian, and most retrievers are not. However, one of the earliest strains of retriever descended from the St. John’s water dog is the Chesapeake Bay duck dog (Chesapeake Bay retriever). For those of you who don’t already know, Chessies are much more protective than the other retrievers. At one time, they were even considered to be an aggressive breed, although I think that they have been greatly mellowed out in modern times. The dogs were used to guard fishing boats and the boats of market hunters.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hawker (1814) also wrote of the early “Newfoundlands” as a dog good for “running, swimming, or fighting.” This suggests that the early St. John’s water dog could be a bit sharper dog than the modern retrievers. (Hawker flips the usual distinction between the way we view Newfoundlands and Labradors, with the big hairy ones being called “proper Labradors” and the 70 pounders as “Newfoundlands.”)
So I have posited what most experts believe is the source of the brindle color that is so disliked in retrievers. It comes from a livestock guardian dog that lives a very rugged life in Portugal.
If you don’t believe me, have a look at these pictures:
Cao de Castro Laboriero? Wow! I never would have guessed it, and am rather ashamed because I have read both Mark Kurlansky’s books, “Cod” and “Salt”, and should have been able to figure out for myself that Portuguese dogs contributed to the founding of St John’s water dogs. Doh!
I had a lovely brindle lab girl come in with her chocoloate sister for training today. Her coat looked like a darker version of the ‘dead grass’ color you see in some Chessies. Nice dog, good drive, very nicely put together. Several dumbass ‘experts’ at an AKC trial told them they should not breed this dog – despite good pedigree, excellent hips, PRA clear, balanced temperament and good drive — ’cause, you know her COLOR is wrong.
I do not understand this obsessive focus with very minor aesthetic properties of dogs. People who will make wild rationalizations to breed a cow-hocked, dysplastic, epileptic POC shudder at the thought of breeding a dog that’s the wrong color or has a somewhat different ear set.
[shakes head in consternation]
I’m surprised that at trial person would say such a thing. At one time, brindle in a retriever was a sign of quality, of “Labrador extraction.”
So she would be a brown-skinned yellow with the brindle factor. Brindle is rather uncommon in Labs. In fact, I thought it was entirely bred out.
I actually have a baby lab she is brindle all her brother and sisters and yellow, brown and black but she has a brindle color. This is such a weird color but she is the best.
The owners plan to come back in June for more work with this dog. I’ll try to get photos and permission to cross-post.
BTW they do have DNA on the dog and its lab parents – owners offered this info because I’d never seen a dog like her and wondered out loud if she was a Chessie mix. Her chocolate sister / littermate is remarkable only in that she’s rather petite. Most of the chocolates I see are built like oxen.
I have pic of my puppy and I been wanting for help to determined my puppy origin this article help me so much understand their breed.
One thing I know about the Cao de Castro Laboeiro is, it doesn’t have double coat, that is essential if one is going to survive under the circumstances of the newfoundlandian winter. I think, all these first european dog breeds had to cross first with thick-coated native dogs to survive and to really settle down.
There is no evidence of any native dogs on Newfoundland. None. Except really old ones. I have some speculation from Farley Mowat that says they did, but it’s very unlikely that the Beothuck ever owned dogs.
Cao de Castro Laboreiros do have an under coat. In fact, you can see from looking at the photos of them. It has a coat just like a Labrador’s: https://retrieverman.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/cao-de-castro-laboreiro-i.jpg
Compare with a boxer, a breed we all know has no double coat: http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/boxer/pics/boxer1.jpg
Castro Laboreiro is in the North of Portugual, which has a harsher climate. It is in the northern mountains where there are frequent snows. So yes, this breed does have a double coat.
It was basically a village guard dog that was meant to live outside in all conditions.
Also, that’s not all they have in them. You add collie-types, water spaniels, the ancestor of the Portuguese water dog and also natural selection,.
The FCI standard is wrong– I’ve never seen one without an undercoat, though it’s not like a Labrador’s.
http://ccl.planetaclix.pt/descP2.htm
They have undercoat, but “no wool.”
[…] a water dog without the traditional poodle coat in Newfoundland. It is often suggested that the Cao de Castro Laboreiro had some role in its development, and because this breed is a really hardy, multipurpose farm dog […]
the head shot of the brindle lab looks like mine abeautiful animal
my puppy looks just like that. I saved her from going to the pound. she is about 12 weeks old now. She is one of the most even tempered dogs that i have ever had.
Castros also come in solid black, and in yellow/brown brindle. (Brindle being essentially dominant, albeit maskable, it’s fairly easy to “lose” the trait.) Some are utterly indistinguishable from a good quality classic working Lab, say from the 1930s or 40s.
As to ancestry, per DNA tests Castros are indeed a primary ancestor of the Lab — 60% for English Labs (which have had a lot more crossbreeding than American-lineage Labs). The Castro itself has a 100% self-contained gene pool, with NO outcrosses to other breeds. I vaguely recall that the testing was done at the U of Portugal.
As to Labs not being “protective” … http://www.komar.org/faq/dog-versus-coyote/
And if you don’t think the average fieldbred Lab is a good watchdog, you need to check back when the dog’s owner isn’t around. You’ll get a nasty surprise.
Some really old-type Labs do the Castro rising-scream when their owner’s property is threatened (by human, coyote, or rattlesnake). I have one who behaves as a “flock guardian” with little puppies — he rounds ’em up and stands guard exactly as if they were sheep, and he wants to do the same with the neighbour’s goats.
BTW all of those brindle dogs pictured are Castros, not Labs.
As to the “double coat” — if you can SEE a Lab’s undercoat, there’s too much undercoat and not enough topcoat. It’s there but the coat should be closed and hard, to resist water penetration. This is often mistaken for a single coat (until they start shedding!)