A fascinating article.
Countess Lorna Howe | Natural History I've been told that Countess Howe was
one of the most influential people in establishing the breed standard.
On the one hand, we know that the St. Johns Water Dogs were one of the labrador's progenitors. (Hence the thought that they are necessarily purposed to be cold water dogs.) But then the story of the breed shifts from North America, to the United Kingdom. This is where I got confused.
In the UK, FT's were and are largely upland game affairs. The Water Dog wouldn't stand a chance. But for whatever reason, Countess Howe (and I'm sure others were involved) crossed the water dog with the Flat Coat and produced the world's most popular and versatile breed. Whatever her purpose and vision was, she pretty much defined what we recognize as the breed standard. Visualize the two lines that were brought together. Too thick and heavy, too plush a coat... you're veering back toward the St. John's Water Dog. Too lanky with a longer snout and narrower head, with too whispy of a coat... you're getting more of a "closed coated" Flat Coat.
I thought it was an illuminating history. The author of the article posits that maybe the Lab will fade in popularity as did the Flat Coat. I don't think so. The genius of the people that developed the breed was that they brought together two breeds that were sort of polar opposites. Therein lies the dynamic and versatile nature of the Labrador Retriever.