That the Labrador Retriever had its beginning with two English Aristocrats, the Second Earl of Malmesbury, and the Fifth Duke of Buccleuch, is well known, as it the fact that it was a chance meeting between their sons during a shoot that brought together two isolated kennels and individual breeding programs. The first two entries in the Stud Book of the Duke of Buccleuch Labrador Retrievers were, in fact, the gifts made by Lord Malmesbury to the 6th Duke.
When these dogs were mated with bitches descended from those originally imported by the 5th Duke, a strong bloodline was developed starting with Buccleuch Ned in 1882 and Buccleuch Avon in 1885. The line continues to this day. Enduring interest in the breed more recently led to “deeper dives” into the Duke of Buccleuch’s stud book, and what resulted was the belief of breed historians now that the two stud dogs who laid the foundation for the modern Labrador were “Peter of Faskally” (owned by Mr. A. C. Butter) and “Flapper” (owned by Major Portal). The pedigrees of these dogs dated back to 1878 which, as far as we can tell, makes theirs the longest traceable bloodlines in the records of the breed. We stand corrected if a Lab fancier knows otherwise…
Image: “California Dreamers” by Molly A Poole
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Look up lhasa apso. Been around before 800 AD
We suspect you might have misunderstood the post, Bridget. There are many many breeds that, like the fabulous Lhasa Apso, date back to antiquity. In this particular post, we were talking about bloodlines that appear in pedigrees, not the age of the breed.