To describe a Flat Coated Retriever you might hear descriptions of "like a
long haired Lab", "picture a Lab/Collie mix." Both these explanations, though
leaving a lot of room for a more elegant description, do get to the heart of the
appearance of a Flatcoated Retriever.
Forgiving the Portuguese Water Spaniels, all major retriever breeds have their
foundations either in the British Isles or America. The Lab, Flatcoat and Curly
coated Retrievers can trace their existence to both shores.
Prior to the 1800s retrievers were not considered a class of gun dogs; pointers,
setters and spaniels were designed to both locate and retrieve game. Today, the
true purest, will hunt with both a pointer or setter and a retriever, one to
locate game and one to retrieve. But thankfully the true purest, those packing a
$10,000 DU gun, are many times outnumbered by those of us that still change our
own plugs.
With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, general purpose machines gave way
to special purpose devices, and so follows the history of gun dogs. The same dog
that was adequate for general hunting could not hold a candle to the dogs
specifically bred for a purpose in that environment. And so we started to see
many breeds evolve for specific purposes. It was in this environment that the
Flatcoated Retriever came on to the scene. It was one of the few emerging
designed to be larger and faster than the old mainstays.
The St Johns or Newfoundland Retriever was brought to England from American. It
was quite the dog with solid genes for it was the basis for Labs, Flatcoats and
Curlycoats. In about 1810 the St Johns was introduced by the 1860s all three
breeds had been formally established. The Flatcoats evolved around the 1840s
from crosses of the St Johns dog and setters of the time.
In the 1860s as dogs shows began there was two classes of retrievers:
curlycoated, and wavycoated or smoothcoated. The wavycoats were the basis for
the Flatcoated Retriever. By 1864, the wavycoats became its own class.
The wavycoats became the most popular dog of the gamekeepers on the estates of
England. The popularity lead to it being called the "Keeper's Dog." Two famous
Flatcoats of the time were "Old Bounce" and "Young Bounce". These two bitches
who won in both show and field competition and were owned by a gamekeeper named
Mr. D Hull. These dogs brought some great notoriety to the breed.
With most breeds there is some person usually an eccentric who creates a
standard for the breed. For the Flatcoats that eccentric is Dr. Bond Moore of
Wolverhampton England. Dr. Moore was also a judge of the breed. One of the
problems of an evolving breed is it's features that link it to it's past. For
the Flatcoats they had setters in their past, so periodically a few white hairs
would show up on some of the dogs coats. For Dr. Moore this was a reason for
disqualification. Was this unrealistic for a dog bred for birds? Perhaps, but it
is through standards and people of this type that breed distinction become
established.
Another of the founders of the Flatcoat sometimes considered the "father" of the
breed is Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, a wealthy member of Parliament, who hunted the
breed. He bred his dogs from a kennel in Ettington. He used descendants of "Old
Bounce" and "Young Bounce" for his breeding program. Soon the dogs became known
as Shirley Retrievers. Shirley worked on the Flatcoats coat to make it less
feathered than it's setter relatives. One of his best sires "Zelstone" was
considered the beginning of the Flatcoats we know today. Shirley, did much more
than work with Flatcoats. He was active in and became the first president of the
England Kennel Club in 1873.
With the closing of the 19th century the Flatcoat was the retriever of choice in
England. But its days on top were numbered. The Labrador Retriever was just
evolving and soon outnumbered the Flatcoats. The Labs were bred a bit heavier
and handled the cold water better than the Flatcoats of those days.
A few breeders of the early 1900s wanted to do more upland work with the
Flatcoats and decided it needed longer jaws to carry pheasant and hare. To
achieve this, the Flatcoat was crossed with the Borzoi. The head of the Flatcoat
then became long and thin. This was is in stark contrast to its stockier Lab
cousin. As with any change it took several years for the new head design to be
accept but accepted it was. The changing of the head hurt the future of the
Flatcoat. The new design made for a weaker grip in retrieves and alienated many
of the active breeders.
Though the head change did damage to the future of the Flatcoats it was the two
world wars that created the great rift in numbers between the Lab and the
Flatcoat. The Flatcoat was always considered the dog of gamekeepers of England.
But when the wars started most of the Flatcoats were kept and bred by
gamekeepers. The large kennels were breeding Labs and Golden Retrievers. The
gamekeepers were the first to volunteer for service. Many of the gamekeepers
were lost in the war, and many more Flatcoats were destroyed when they left.
In 1915, the American Kennel Club recognized the breed with Sand Bridge Jester
being the first dog registered. It has slowly grown but has never really caught
on in great numbers. Last year there was about 900 newly registered Flatcoats.
The breed standard calls for males to stand 23-24 1/2" and weight 60-80 pounds.
Bitches stand 22-23 1/2" and weight 55-70 pounds. Eyes must be dark brown or
hazel with black being a serious fault. The Flatcoat has a heavy undercoat. It
has thick feathering on the chest, thighs and on the tail. Flatcoats can be
found in both black and much rarer liver color. The dogs shed seasonally and
need to be brushed regularly during that time.
So why would someone want a Flatcoat? The breed just loves being with people.
This love of people and life continues into old age. Flatcoats are extremely
intelligent which makes them perfect for the show and the obedience ring. They
make great family dogs and love to play with children.
In the field it is a perfect hunting companion. It is grace in motion to see it
work. The longer jaw has been strengthened with time and now it can carry the
larger prey including rabbits if asked to, yet it still has a soft mouth. It
does not fair quite so well in field trials, dominated by Labs because it has an
independent streak that works well in the field but not under the tight
restrictions of the field trial circuit.
But if your looking for a soft retriever that's soft with kids, the Flat-coat
might be a good choice for your next dog.