The Labrador Retriever, in spite of its name, is not from the Labrador area, but rather is indigenous to the Canadian province of Newfoundland. There were reports of a well trained water dog talented in retrieving fowl brought back to England from travelers in that region around 1822. The accounts reached the ear of the Earl of Malmesbury who arranged to have some imported for himself in the early nineteenth century, It’s thought that the breed got its name from him. In 1887, he wrote:  “We always call mine Labrador dogs, and I have kept the breed as pure as I could from the first I had from Poole, at that time carrying on a brisk trade with Newfoundland. The real breed may be known by its close coat which turns the water off like oil and, above all, a tail like an otter.”
“Rusty” by Kimberly Santini
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