THE FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER 
M any of our more ancient of breeds of dogs can boast 
of a pedigree which stretches back to remote periods, 
when records were either not kept at all, or kept so care- 
lessly as to be of little value in determining the different 
species from which the breeds were originally drawn. 
Such has not been the case with the fiat -coated retriever. 
Dating back some sixty or seventy years, this breed was initiated by 
crossing the small variety of Newfoundland or Labrador dog with the 
setter bitch. The Labrador of those days was a long-haired dog and quite 
different in appearance from the dogs of the present day; the setter used 
was generally either the Gordon or Irish. The rapid improvement in the 
flat-coated retriever was due to the genius of Mr S. Evelyn Shirley, of 
Ettington, the founder of the Kennel Club, who has rightly been called 
“ the father of the breed.” Obviously, in order to establish a desirable 
type, a considerable amount of inbreeding had to be done, but so skilfully 
has it been effected that the flat-coated retriever of to-day shows no signs 
of softness or deterioration. 
After Mr Shirley came Mr L. Allen Shuter , Mr H. Reginald Cooke, Mr Hard- 
ing Cox, Colonel Cornwall Legh, Mr Money Wigram, Mr Lewis D. Wigan 
and others, all of v/hom have done much for the breed. Mr Shirley owned 
many good dogs, including Hopeful, Harvester, Tacit, Homestead and 
Think, but the pick of them all was Moonstone, and there are not lacking 
good judges who consider him the best-looking retriever of all time. 
Bred by his owner, he was by Mr Thorpe Bartram’s Zelstone ex Think; 
he was good all over and carried an absolutely perfect coat, but un- 
fortunately he was never broken. A daughter of his, Donna by name, 
was the dam of Darenth, whom Mr Allen Shuter bred and also broke. 
Darenth was by Hopeful, and it is doubtful if any dog has had a 
greater all-round influence on the breed, for, in addition to winning 
the Championship at the Kennel Club shows from 1891-1898 inclusive 
(twice in 1894), he was a first-rate worker. His owner tells a story of once 
killing fifteen brace of partridges in a field of heavy kale: Darenth was the 
only dog out, and picked the lot, though four birds were strong runners. 
At the stud he was a conspicuous success, and earned for his owner no 
less than £1,500 in stud fees and prizes, a huge figure when we come 
to consider the relatively lower fees charged in those days. His most 
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