THE LABRADOR RETRIEVER 
has not suffered from excessive showing, and it is earnestly to be hoped 
never will do, though now that the leading show-promoting societies 
offer prizes for them the risk of becoming spoilt is very great, for there 
are many men who do not first ascertain if the prizewinner is a good 
worker and a soft-mouthed broken dog, before making use of him. One 
can hardly conceive a course of procedure more fatal to the breed as a 
whole or more diametrically opposed to the result the owner is really 
striving to attain. In the earlier types of Labradors in the sixties there is 
ample evidence that the great majority had light eyes and often very 
bad tails, and very often white on the chest and sometimes white on a 
toe. The white on the chest most probably comes from the original New- 
foundland retriever and probably the indifferent tail is a legacy from the 
same, but it is hard to adduce any valid reason for the light eye. It is no 
blemish and is in fact the proper colour, but popular fancy prefers a 
dark eye, and the eyes of two-thirds of present-day Labradors are dark 
in colour, which gives a more pleasing expression to the countenance. 
In body conformation the Labrador should be well and strongly built, 
with good, clean, straight forelegs, not out at elbows, with plenty of bone 
and no feather. The body must be well ribbed up, deep in girth and with 
strong loins and quarters (not dropping away behind) and with a tail well 
set on, straight and shaped like that of an otter and of a fair length. The 
head must be of medium length and breadth, rather wide across the skull 
with plenty of room for brains, and with an open type of countenance. A 
long narrow snipey sort of head is entirely wrong. The nose should not be 
too short nor in any way like that of the pug, and the nostrils fairly open. 
The ears well set on, not too low down and of medium size. The small ear 
set on rather high, or the big one like a vine leaf in shape, should be 
avoided. The coat must always be short and wiry, and with a good sort of 
close under coat. It must not show any wave or curl or brokenness; where 
this is apparent it is almost certain to arise from some flat-coat cross, and, 
lastly, the coat must have a good hard feel. In many of the breed, if the 
hair is examined, it will be found to be like that of the badger near the 
roots. In colour the Labrador should be pure black. 
There are, however, two sub -varieties: the yellow, owned by Captain 
Radclyffe and by the Earl of Lonsdale and others, and the white, owned by 
Mr Austin Mackenzie at Carradale in Argyllshire. The whites are typical 
as to coat and make and differ merely in colour. They originated from a 
dog owned by Mr R. Fenwick, called Sam, who was by Shift out of Sloe. 
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