Four flat-coats with the day’s kill. If you look closely, you can see the dogs have fetched a rather large pile of rabbits!
This image comes from Country Life Illustrated (28 October 1899). The dog seated next to the largest pile more strongly resembles a golden retriever than a modern flat-coat, which is more evidence that both “golden retriever” and ” modern flat-coated” body types were evident in the original wavy/flat-coated breed.
Retrievers and other dogs in the sporting group are known as “gun dogs” in Europe. That means they hunt game with someone armed with a gun. This game might include birds, but no one would call such dogs “bird dogs,” as we do in the United States. That’s because these dogs are often required to work furred game. Retrievers often pick up rabbits or hares, and in Germany, their HPR’s are used on a wide variety of game, including foxes, boar, and deer.
Shooting rabbits appears a bit too utilitarian to be an activity for a sporting gentlemen of the nineteenth century. However, rabbits were– and still are– actively managed on estates for this purpose. Why did the European rabbit get introduced to Australia? It wasn’t an accident. It was intentionally introduced as a game animal. (A somewhat bad idea.)
In the tradition of the British battue shoot, the rabbits were driven into shooting range by spaniels while the retrievers sat steady near the shooters. When the rabbits were shot, each retriever was sent separately to fetch the bunnies.
In my part of the world, rabbit hunting is done with beagles– almost exclusively. The beagles are normally run in braces or small packs, and all they do is make the rabbit run. Cottontail rabbits run in a pattern that circles around several brier patches and brush heaps– where the rabbits seek refuge from the dogs. The beagles work the rabbits out of these refuges and make them run around until they come out in the open in front of the hunter’s gun. The beagles don’t retrieve, of course, but they will take to rabbit chases with almost no training. Sight hounds, which are used in more open parts of the world, are totally impractical here. The cover is too heavy for them to run at full speed, and the steep hillsides require dogs that are more sure-footed than the double-suspension gallop can provide.
Using a division of labor among the gun dogs in a shoot was more the sign of British affluence than anything else. The truth is a retriever can easily work as a spaniel, and many spaniels can be taught to retrieve. One could have cut down on the dogs used in a shoot very quickly, but that wasn’t the point.
Appearance is what mattered, and having separate retrievers and flushers was the proper way. It was also a good symbol of conspicuous consumption. More dogs require more training from the keepers, and more dogs require more care. Only people who are truly of means can afford such extravagances.
And that’s the important symbolism: I have the means to have several specialized dogs, so I am truly a person of worth.
on that website : http://www.falkirks.dk/golden_retriever.htm you can see danish GR retrieving rabbits
Yes. Europeans want retrievers to fetch rabbits. Americans don’t– at least officially.
They are seen as solely waterfowl dogs, which reflects certain biases inherent in the American culture. Our native retriever, the Chesapeake Bay retriever, is was used primarily on waterfowl. So all the rest should just be “duck dogs.”