These are the last two of the St. John’s water dogs. They were found in Newfoundland in the late 70’s and were featured in Richard Wolters’s The Labrador Retriever…The People…The History…Revisited. The dogs were two ancient males– 13 and 15 years old. One of them was named “Lassie.” Because they were both dogs, there were no bitches to breed them to, and for some reason, nobody thought of breeding them to Labs and other retrievers to save the strain. Remember, all modern retrievers and the Tweed water dog descend from these dogs.
A breed that had once hauled nets and longlines for the Newfoundland fisherman and retrieved shot ptarmigan and seals became extinct when those two dogs died. Newfoundland’s fisheries were never what they were in the halcyon days of the “water dogs.”
The Newfoundland government passed a law that created high taxes on any dogs that were not used in the production of sheep, and many Newfoundlanders got rid of their water dogs, often selling them to British dog dealers who sold them to people wanting to improve their retriever lines.
The 6th Duke of Buccleuch imported some of these dogs in the 1930’s to further add to the Buccleuch strain. This strain had been created through crossing dogs belonging to the Earls of Malmesbury with earlier imports from Newfoundland. These dogs were not well-known in Britain at the time, but they were the ancestral strain of retriever that became known as the Labrador as we know it today.
The last two St. John’s water dogs look a lot like Lab crosses. These dogs could be another source for the white we see in so many breeds of modern retriever.
I can see traces of these dogs in my late “golden boxer.” Those old water dog probably genes run dormant in all of our retrievers. It just takes an unsual cross-breeding to make them appear.
Unlike those dogs, though, she was a terrible swimmer, especially when compared to the golden retrievers with which she shared her life. She had no retrieving instinct, and her favorite quarry were skunks.
She died of osteosarcoma at the age of 11. She was a good dog. Extremely gentle with kids, though a bit dominant towards other dogs.
I got her for free from an accidental mating. Today, these dogs are being intentionally bred and sold for high prices.
I think I could have passed her off as the last surviving member of long-lost St. John’s water dog breed. And I’m sure some gullible fool would’ve believed it.
Natural History 
” And I’m sure some gullible fool would’ve believed it.”
Yup. There’s one born every minute.
How interesting. Thanks for sharing that photo. What strikes me as noteworthy is how large their feet are and though the dogs are old, you can see where the shoulder lay is on the one you can see best and those feet are tight, not splayed. You can’t really see evidence of cloudiness in those bright eye’s either!
Both of those dogs were quite old. They were both older than the typical Labrador life expectancy of today, which is about 12, and Wolters remarked about how playful they were.
These dogs used to be found all over Newfoundland. Everyone had at least a pair of them, and they varied in size and coat length. They bred some bigger ones for hauling carts loaded with cod, and these became the dogs we call the Newfoundland today. It gets really confusing in the early literature, because “Newfoundland” can refer to the big dog or this retriever-type dog.
Never have seen this photo – thank you. I wonder if the breed was longer lived in general or if these two were on the end of the curve.
Was your dog’s face always that white or was that from old age? (I can see the tail in mid wag there! (: )
That photo was taken when she was about 10, and yes, she wagged her tail all the time.
She had inherited the natural tail for a boxer, which is long and like a whip. The original bulldog type had a whip-like tail.
Hi,
Thank you for this information – I got here via wikipedia while looking up my dog’s genetics. A picture I found there of a dog lying down in the snow is EXACTLY my dog.
I had assumed some border collie in either parents (both Heinz 57’s) but reading this, a throwback to this dog is more a possibility.
I live in Atlantic Canada (the dog is also from here), so is it a possibility that a St. John’s water dog is an ancestor of my dogs?
[…] old Scotch Collie has dodged a bullet, they narrowly escaped extinction and avoided the fate of the St. Johnʼs Water Dog which quietly met extinction at about the same time and under similar circumstances. They now have […]
I got here while researching the history of Lab’s. It’s a shame that this breed is not around any more. I have two labs one yellow and one black. You can really see the resemblance to the St. John’s Water Dog in my black lab. Thanks for the info.
My Lab has just had puppies. Eight! Merry Christmas! She has a small white blaze on her chest. ALL of the puppies are marked with white. The sire is my black lab that we bought from a local hunter as a puppy. We have seen most of his relatives and there
is no white in his line. One of the puppies looks just like the St John’s dog. He has a full white chest, white on his muzzle and four white feet. The bitch has had two other litters with this sire and this has not come up before. I wonder about future litters with this pairing?
The white spot on the chest is not genetic. It actually depends upon how the puppy develops in the womb. Many golden retrievers are born with white spots on their chests and white blazes, which they lose by the time they are a month old.
St Johns water dog was also used to create the golden retriever. That is why the spots show up. It is genetic.
St. John’s water dogs are at the foundation of all retrievers, except tollers, which are more closely related to collies.
I don’t think this will disappear it is more like a shirt front. I will send pics when they are a little older.
they are 1 day old .
If it’s as big as you say it is, then it’s genetic.
I don’t think Your Lab x Boxer cross has much to do with the fisherman’s dog.
Wish I could hear this photo. What a mad couple!
A bit aggro to other dogs? -Perhaps the chesapeake has kept a few more of their traits (with a bit too much coon added). Really appreciative of your thoughts on these guys, and casting much needed clear thought on the history of the newfoundland. Now (sadly) these guys are a legend to rival the viking story.
Just took my four month old chessie (black and white like canton, grandma was a black lab) to the sea today and am amazed at how readilly it got its head under water.
I think I may have a throw back of a St Johns water dog
[…] On Monday I went to interview Claudia Goldin, the wide-ranging economic historian who is best known for her work on the underpinnings of the gender gap in wages for men and women. What we started with was a lesson on the history of golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers, two very different dogs with similar names. That lesson was delivered spontaneously, as I was walking with Goldin to her office at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Unbeknownst to me, Goldin shows golden retrievers, and has a friendly and insistent fellow at her office. I knew going into this interview that Goldin was a sponge for information and we would cover a lot of ground. I did not expect a lesson in the development of divergent strains of dogs from the St. John’s Water Dog. […]
[…] These friendly oafs roamed Newfoundland and were often exported to breeders, who would use them to produce a variety of different retrievers (Golden and Labrador, to name two). The original versions of the dog slowly died out in the 20th century until only two remained. Unfortunately, they were both males, so that was the end for the St. John’s water dog. You can view a photo of the poor doomed guys here. […]