Breed History

From Fisherman’s Friend to America’s Sweetheart

Freezing temperatures, frigid winds, icy waters, little to eat, constant invasion, lawlessness, oppression, colonization…and really excellent fishing. Welcome to Newfoundland, the birthplace of the Labrador Retriever. This conveniently located (if awfully chilly) island off the coast of Labrador in eastern Canada has been home to cod fisherman, and a stop-off for traders and explorers, for hundreds of years.

And for hundreds of years, right beside their resilient human owners, the equally resilient ancestors of the Labrador Retriever lived and worked. more