These are from a John Emms painting from 1876:
Note the large Amounts of white on one of these dogs. The one on the far right really looks like a certain golden retriever.
These are the Irish setters that would have been around when the Tweedmouth strain was developing. These dogs are an important source for the white markings we get with some lines of golden retrievers.
At what point in history did the Clubs begin to favor the more beefy Newfoundland/Spaniel look over the elegant Setter/ Pointer look?
Do you see this becoming a trend in any other breed? We already know the Story on labradors.
On the other hand I’ve learned first hand that even in conformation that certain breeds with rather generous amounts of hair can actually cover any serious flaws and still take an award or even a best in breed or possibly best in show…. So to that realization it sort of fouls the air around conformation since the concept was supposed to present the best representations for breeding stock.
????
The 1938 standard for the golden retriever in the UK.
But even before that it was instructed to select dogs with lighter color and heavier bone.