Album of Dogs by Marguerite Henry

Author:Marguerite Henry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

THE LABRADOR, KING OF RETRIEVERS

ON THE FAR-OFF ISLAND OF Newfoundland there was once a big breed of black dogs used as fishermen’s helpers. They swam from ship to shore, dragging nets of cod and salmon, herring and lobster.

“St. John’s Water Dogs” they were called, after St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland. But the name did not hold—all because of an Englishman, the Earl of Malmesbury. He liked to watch the ships from Newfoundland unloading their cargo at Poole Harbor, England. But it was not the cargo that fascinated him; it was the fishermen’s dogs! They could retrieve anything, in any kind of water, in any weather.

The Earl had been wanting just such help. His own brace of Spaniels were fine at flushing a bird into the air, but when it fell into rough or icy waters, he needed a true water dog to fetch it.

So he negotiated with the ship’s captain and bought several of the coal-black dogs. Instead of calling them “Newfoundlands,” he misnamed them “Labradors.” But the “Retriever” in the dog’s name fits exactly, for his work in life is to bring back the birds from wherever they fall.

The Earl never ceased to marvel at his new breed. “With a few shakes,” he wrote, “the dogs can shed water like oil.”

The real miracle of today’s Labrador, however, is not his coat but his self-control. A whole flock of ducks can whiz right past his nose, and he will remain steady as a tree stump. Even when the guns fire, and ducks tumble out of the sky, he neither flinches nor pursues. He waits. Then at the command, “Fetch!” he’s off like a bullet, crashing through the brush, leaping into the water, heading for the bird.

On windless days he brings it back with lightning speed. But when the wind is high and the tide strong, the fallen bird often drifts out of his sight. Howling for help, he looks ashore, his raised head asking, “Where, Boss? Where?”

“It’s over there!” the boss signals with a wave of his arm. To signal after signal the dog responds, until at last he finds the duck bobbing on the water. Then with tender mouth he carries it back to his master.

“For me,” one hunter says, “the teamwork between us is the thrill of the sport.”

Another hunter, a white-haired veteran, claims that his thrill comes when the bird is delivered so gently that not a feather is ruffled. “What other animal,” he asks, “would bring such a tasty morsel to me instead of gobbling it up himself?”

Most Labradors are naturally tender with their birds. For proof, the same old hunter tells a remarkable story. Satin-Soot, a frolicsome pup, was at play one day with two of his litter sisters. Romping in and out of a creek, the sisters were chasing Satin-Soot, who had something in his mouth.

Curious, the old man called the puppy in and took from between his teeth a live baby thrush, whole and unhurt! With words of praise he made this incident the puppy’s first lesson in retrieving.

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