This is a famous painting of a Chesapeake Bay retriever, a curly, and an Irish water spaniel working for a waterfowler.
The painting is only realistic if the curly is absent. Many American waterfowlers in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries used Irish water spaniels and Chessies. The original American retriever culture was based upon water spaniels, both American and Irish, and the native “Chesapeake ducking dog.” The Irish water spaniel was common enough in the nineteenth century that it was among the first breeds recognized by the AKC.
By the twentieth century, the curly was mostly a regional English breed that sometimes appeared as a curiosity at dog shows. It had originally been the poacher’s retriever– a totally purpose-bred dog, but it had very little room in the retriever fancy and the retriever trial culture. It was never popular in America, and it is still quite rare.
This painting always appears in generic encyclopedia books about dogs that mention retrievers. It shows three breeds that are not the majority breeds in any retriever culture. The Chessie is still widely celebrated in its homeland, but the other two are quite rare dogs.
The American retriever culture would be based upon waterfowling. The British retriever culture would be based upon the estate shoot in which pheasants, partridge, quail, and pigeons were shot along with hares and rabbits. Americans would originally prefer dogs that were a definite water dog type, as all three of these dogs were. Labradors, flat-coats, and goldens were all a bit suspect, simply because they were working terrestrial shoots.
I don’t understand this sentence:
“Labradors, flat-coats, and goldens were all a bit suspect, simply because they were working terrestrial shoots.”
Suspect by whom? And who are “they”? — the dogs? or whoever is finding the dogs suspect?
Patrice
http://patricedodd.wordpress.com/
American duck hunters. The retrievers from Britain had a very hard time being established here because the water spaniel and Chessie were so dominant.
And those British dogs were estate shoot dogs, not open water retrievers (generally).