The Modern Labrador

The history of the faithfull Labrador Retriever

The modern Labrador’s ancestors originated on the island of Newfoundland, now part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The founding breed of the Labrador was the St Johns Water Dog, a breed that emerged through ad-hoc breedings by early settlers of the island in the 16th century. The forebears of the St. John’s Dog are not known, but were likely a random-bred mix of English, Irish, and Portuguese working breeds. The Newfoundland (known then as the Greater Newfoundland) is likely a result of the St. John’s Dog breeding with mastiffs brought to the island by the generations of Portuguese fishermen who had been fishing offshore since the 16th century.READ MORE