Mad Dogs and Englishmen
The Labrador and its ways by Kate MacDougall.
IF you had to offer up an example of the species known as “dog” to the unversed, you might well choose a Labrador. They are the most doggy of dogs – waggy of tail, bouncy of spirit, exuberant and always eager to please. It is no surprise that they are regularly top of the popularity charts in this country and further afield, with Australia, the US, Canada and Israel amongst others claiming that the Labrador is their nation’s favourite. Yellow, black, chocolate or the increasingly fashionable fox-red, it is a cold-hearted soul who can find nothing to like in this most charming of breeds.
Still, there is something about the Labrador that feels like they are somehow ours, part of our stock and our heritage. It might well be as simple as the fact that we see them everywhere: from cities to fields, down streets and up hills, so that, over time, they have just become part of our national canine landscape. They stride loyally alongside bachelors and ride, tongues lolling, in the back of family cars. They live in your village and down your street, and you can’t go to a park without seeing at least one bounding through the flowerbeds.
But there is more to it than that. As the “everydog” of the canine world, they manage to be the perfect companion without fuss or bother. Bigger, tinier, hairier or more fashionable “statement” dogs might speak for others, but it is the
Labrador’s comforting familiarity that pleases us the most. We don’t need to explain a Labrador, and that suits us to aT.
Despite the fact that over 30 of the world’s most sought-after dog breeds originate from England (and far more from the whole of the UK), our most popular dog’s origins actually lie across the Atlantic in Newfoundland, on the chilly north-eastern tip of Canada (just below the territory of Labrador from where the breed gets its name).
As far back as the 14th or 15th century, small, native water dogs were bred with the larger, shaggier Newfoundland dog to create a strong, agile and fearless breed confident in water and on land. It was named the St John’s Water Dog or Lesser Newfoundland, and now the Labrador Retriever. It was owned by fishermen and sent into the icy Atlantic waters to retrieve fish that had fallen off hooks or out of nets. The Labrador is, at its core, a working dog.
It is these qualities that first attracted the English to the breed. A dog’s usefulness was essential, and back in the 18th century the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury (an MP and hunting type who owned swathes of Dorset) first spotted one of the dogs leaping into the water at Poole Harbour from one of the many Newfoundland fishing vessels that docked on the south coast. He knew that he had found his right-hand man, a dog that would be by his side as he shot birds and roamed his estate.
The Englishman of yesteryear striding through the hills does not walk alongside a Dalmatian or a Dachshund; he has a Labrador. Something solid and agile. Medium to large, unfussy colouring, square headed, strong legged and eminently biddable.
It wasn’t long before the Labrador became a most desirable dog amongst the English gentry, as gun-dogs first and then as faithful companions, as the breed was carefully refined and standardised to the classic silhouette and appealing temperament that we know so well today.
In many ways the Labrador is a dog formed by the tastes of noble Englishmen and their traditional moral code. Their eagerness to please, their obedience and willingness to follow their master’s orders and their steadfast loyalty would have all been highly prized attributes.
It didn’t take long for the Labrador to become the ultimate aristocratic
accessory, the classic pairing of “one man and his dog” from the kennels of the Royal Family to the drawingrooms of Downton Abbey.
There has been a touch of the aspirational about the Labrador ever since. The now-dated posh tome The Sloane Ranger’s Handbook, published in the early 1980s and bible to all self-respecting members (and wannabe members) of English upper middle classes, claims that the Lab is really the only acceptable dog to be seen with. The mark of a Sloane is a Labrador, Caroline’s secret love, the one she can give all her thwarted affection to, the one whose smell she dotes on, the one she knows naps on the beds and hopes Henry won’t catch.
But it’s not just the elite who favour the Labrador. Around half a million households in the country own one. Patient, kind, gentle and full of fun, they are the breed suitable for all ages.
It is these affable, good-natured qualities that has ensured the Labrador’s continued success. The English have always prided themselves on their sense of humour and, as every Labrador owner will tell you, they can be hilarious.
They have a goofiness about them, their eagerness to get right to the action often overtaking their limbs. There is a cheery willingness to look silly, an unabashed glee at experiencing life at full force whether that be a pond, a patch of daisies or an Andrex toilet roll. The Labrador will go in with all guns blazing.
What about the breed’s other traits? What about the all-consuming, insatiable greed? However much your Labrador loves you, however close he sits by your side and looks adoringly into your eyes, he wouldn’t hesitate to pass you over for a medium-rare sirloin. Food is king to the Labrador. But we all have our flaws. That’s what makes us human, and in dogs, it’s what makes them so spirited and characterful. A bit of naughtiness is essential, and it is the Labrador’s wilfulness and, well, doggedness, that makes it so incredibly popular.
From guide dogs, rescue dogs, bomb dogs and even medical detection dogs, the Labrador’s impeccable nose and determination to get the job done will ensure it is used in the most important and trusted of roles for many years to come. If the tasty reward at the end of it is somewhat instrumental in this, so be it. We all need a little motivation in life.
And that might well be the crux of it all. We see ourselves in our dogs, our choice of breed reflecting our own ideals and values, even if we don’t always live up to them. Noble, loyal and hardworking, but also fun and kind and loving, these would all be characteristics that the English would like to be known for. With a little bit of naughtiness thrown in.