This flat-coat is retrieving a shot European rabbit, a very common task for retrievers outside of North America. We erroneously believe that all of these dogs in the AKC “Sporting Group” are just bird dogs, but the Brits call these dogs “Gun dogs” for a reason. They work game to the gun in various ways– and the game varies from feathered to furred. “Furred” usually means rabbits or hares, but the Germans even use their native gun dogs to hunt foxes and wild boar.
This image comes from Country Life Illustrated (24 August 1901) in an article on working gun dogs. It is the only retriever depicted in the article, which is primarily about setters and pointers– and there are many photos of them in the piece.
This particular flat-coat actually possesses the wavy-coat type, which many working retriever enthusiasts preferred over the more stylish straight-coated dogs that came to make up the breed. (Hence the name “flat-coated retriever.” As I have noted many times, the original name was actually “wavy-coated retriever.” The very straight-coated dogs just became much more fashionable in the ring. Dogs with cowlicks were so yesterday!)
If Miley were black, she would look very much like this dog.
I still wonder how many of the conformation ring dogs of today have actual straight coats… it’s so hard to tell since they are blown dry. I don’t do conformation but I blew dry my wavy girl and her coat looked straight.
Also, I find that the coats seem to change over time too. My wavy girl’s coat was straight for 5 years and then matured to almost a curl (she looks like “Ch Michael Of Morton” now)
…When a dog is bred for physical traits like color and coat texture, does it affect other traits that the dog possesses in terms of personality, intelligence, ability… meaning, are those physical traits isolated from the rest of the dog. I ask that because I often hear people saying that a certain color Golden leans a certain way but isn’t that only due to the fact that the breeders of the different colors are into different aspects of the dog?
Also, are flat coats permitted to have wavy coats? …it gets confusing when reading back as far as with this article since the retriever breeds weren’t typed yet. Does flat coat dog = wavy coat dog? Is the term ‘flat coat’ used because the coat lays down against the skin and the waviness is neither here nor there?
Just trying to keep you busy with all of these questions… ;D
Miley is a true wavy-coat.
When she is given a blow dry after a bath, her waves are much, much more distinctive.
It may vary from dog to dog.
The dog in this photo is not nearly as wavy as were the earlier versions, nor as wavy as some of today’s (still very correct) Golden coats. Many of today’s Flat-Coats have coats very similar to this old dog, although with less undercoat. The FCRs seen at shows have undoubtedly been groomed to lessen any natural wave– as have most of the Goldens.
Culham Brass had a very wavy coat.
He was contemporary with this dog.
The retrievers worked fur and feather at Guisachan and in one of my readings, they also chased deer. I think it is from the Tweedmouth biography that is availabe on Google.
The tight curly coat comes back every so often. There is research being done on the Golden Retriever Coat by the Broad Institute. We we able to get them a dna sample of a dog born about 3 years ago that is a throwback to the really tight curly coats seen in England about 50 years ago.
Another friend in Colorado has a field bred American Golden that they named Curly Sue because of her tight curly coat.