St John's Water Dog

[destrekor]

Anyone else sad this ancestor of the Labrador Retriever (as well as a few other Retrievers), which was a natural landrace, basically got pushed to extinction by us having meddled with the natural order?

There are quite a few naturally-occurring "breeds" of dog, having obviously been a result of natural segregation and then reintroduction to other pockets of dogs. But this one was awesome, and we basically pushed it away. But at least we retained some of its genetic awesomeness.

 

[AreaCode707]

Whoa, I had a lab malamute mix when I was growing up that looked just like the lab mix showing the recessive traits photo on wiki. That's cool.

 

[destrekor]

Whoa, I had a lab malamute mix when I was growing up that looked just like the lab mix showing the recessive traits photo on wiki. That's cool.

Our Australian Shepherd and Lab mix has a spot-on tuxedo coat with the characteristic lab coat and sheen, though she's a little smaller than a pure Lab.

I absolutely love her coat.

It's a very strong genetic trait, it must be. It's not always a full "tuxedo coat", but many labs have some white patches in the appropriate areas. It's interesting how strong that appearance trait has proven to be... but then again, there are many personality-linked traits that have remained a principal component of the modern breeds based on the St John's Dog.

Also of note: another awesome species/breed out of North America. It seems that North America truly was the major "canine-country" - it's such a neat rustic image imagining the different canine species that roamed (and roam) the majority of the continent's wilderness.

 

[AreaCode707]

Also of note: another awesome species/breed out of North America. It seems that North America truly was the major "canine-country" - it's such a neat rustic image imagining the different canine species that roamed (and roam) the majority of the continent's wilderness.

I don't know about that... it seems the majority of breeds originated in England and were transported to the US later. The "native" US breeds (using the term loosely since most had some blood from overseas sources) seem rather few and far between, actually. And I say this with all authority of someone who's been reading about dogs on Wiki for the last hour. 😛

 

[lxskllr]

 

[destrekor]

I don't know about that... it seems the majority of breeds originated in England and were transported to the US later. The "native" US breeds (using the term loosely since most had some blood from overseas sources) seem rather few and far between, actually. And I say this with all authority of someone who's been reading about dogs on Wiki for the last hour. 😛

Well for canines in general, I'm talking overall species.

But yes, most domestic dog breeds originated in Europe and went with the people to early North American settlements. They did become more wild and shifted into distinct landraces here, and didn't get re-introduced until hundreds of years later.

But I will state I do not know the number of native breeds and which ones just ultimately mingled here for awhile.

 

[ElFenix]

2nd best landrace ever

(behind the texas longhorn)