The Cão de Castro Laboreiro's similarities with the Labrador retriever are not mere coincidences.
The Cão de Castro Laboreiro is a livestock guardian breed from far northeastern Portugal. It is typically brindle or rather dark brindle in coloration. It is most likely an ancestor of the St. John’s water dog.
Now, its temperament is very different from retrievers. It is a much fiercer guard dog than any Chesapeake Bay retriever, and I’ve never heard of one with retrieving instinct. However, it lived in very Spartan conditions in northern Portugal, defending its master’s livestock from wolves and bears, until the bears and wolves were exteriminated into relict populations.
I think it is very likely that Portuguese fishermen brought these dogs on their fishing boats. The poodle-type water dogs were probably not much protection from pirates and other dangers on the high seas. The fleet most likely needed a guard dog, and no better dog could found than those of northern Portugal. It is also possible that Spanish Basques may have brought the dog to Newfoundland, for the northern part of Portugal is not far from the Basque lands of the Pyrenees and the Bay of Biscay. (It is possible that the Basques could have brought the Pyrenean shepherd, the Spanish version of the poodle-type water dog, and the livestock guardian mastiffs, which we call the Pyrenean Mastiff and the Great Pyrenees, to the island. All of these could have played a role in developing in developing the St. John’s water dog.)
This breed is technically a mastiff, although centuries of living nearly wild in the Portuguese countryside has resulted in less exaggeration than any other breed of molosser. It is mesocephalic, like any retriever, and it possesses an insulating coat of dense hair that protects it from the elements.
Now, these dogs are invariably brindle, and if anyone has read a retriever breed standard, brindle is not an acceptable color. However, just because brindle isn’t an acceptable color to a standard dosn’t mean that it doesn’t mean they don’t occur. Brindle Chesapeakes and brindle Labradors still exist.
It is very likely that the appellation “Labrador” for the St. John’s water dog-derived retrievers kept by the Earls of Malmebury and later by the Dukes of Buccleuch actually comes from a misunderstanding or mishearing of the “Laboreiro” in the Portuguese dog’s name. After all, these dogs came from the northeasternmost parts of North America, where there is a place called Labrador.
Further, in Chales Eely’s The History of Retrievers, the author mentions that many early wavy-coats were brindle or had tan markings. Now, the tan markings most likely came from the old-strain of farm collie, not dissimilar to the English shepherd. (See how the dog in the top photo looks a lot like a black and tan golden retriever?)
It’s likely that early European dogs that arrived in Newfoundland were a motley crew. After all the French and Spanish Basques used the island as a whaling and fishing ground, as did the Portuguese and, later, the French, Dutch, and English. Any dog that could survive in this wilderness on the edge of the known world would have to be tough, and the dogs of Castro Laboreiro would have already been adapted to such austere places. They were probably crossed with the poodle-type water dogs and maybe some other Iberian breeds. Then the British and French came with spaniels, water spaniels, and herding dogs of all sorts. Other types of mastiff could have been brought and added ot the mix. It is possible that someone imported the Labrador Husky (an Inuit nordic dog) to the island, and these dogs also mixed in with crowd.
Out of this canine soup came the St. John’s water dog. It was a landrace that varied greatly in appearance. The fishermen preferred the 60 or 70 pound dogs that had shorter coats. Longer-haired pups were often not kept and sent as export. A few strains may have been developed for hauling loads, and these dogs were selected to be a bit a larger, maybe through crossing in white, long-haired mastiffs. This strain became popular as a family pet in the late eighteenth century through to the end of the nineteenth century. It was invariably a black and white dog that was mass produced as the middle class family dog. It is from this strain that we get the larger dog we now call the Newfoundland and Landseer breeds.
However, the brindle coloration in early retrievers was said to reflect “Labrador” blood. One can only assume that this brindle idea was a misinterpretation of the name Cão de Castro Laboreiro. ( The name for the region called Labrador is similarly a misinterpretation of the Portuguese title lavrador, which means “landholder.” A Portugues navigatior named João Fernandes came to explore the region just south of Greenland in 1498. This was right after Portugal realized that its maritime monolopy was about to be very much challenged by Spain’s discovery of the New World, and it sent people west to challenge Spain. When Fernandes saw this part of North America, he claimed it for Portugal. Portugal responed by giving Fernandes the land and the title João Fernandes Lavrador. For some reason, the English thought “lavrador” was his last name and named the land after him. If they had been more intelligent they would have called the land Fernandes.)
While we can look at the Portuguese water dogs and poodle-types as an important ancestor of the St. John’s water dog, one should not leave out thise working livestock guardian breed. It is probably from this breed that the Chesapeake Bay retriever inherited its protective instincts, and why some early accounts of the St. John’s water dog say that they are good at fighting.
Interesting blog post.
I like looking at the pictures of mismarks on this site:
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/mismarks.html
Right now my Lab is temporary-brindle (aka, Muddy).
The weird black marks on the yellows on that website are not inheritable. It’s called the black spot phenomenon. It’s a somatic mutation.
The stud dog we used many, many years ago had a black spot on his tongue, which is caused by the same thing. None his progeny had black spots on their tongues, which is what we would have had, if had the father been a Chow.
If you see black spots on a golden’s tongue, that’s not unusual. It doesn’t mean that a Chow is somehow involved.
Originally, black and tan technically was allowed in the UK Kennel Club standard for Labradors. It didn’t list tan markings as a fault in explicit terms.
I think the black and tan and brindle mismarkings are unattractive, but that’s just me. The mismarks that are the somatic mutation are kind of cool–I’m glad they’re not heritable, though, or everyone would be breeding for them…
I’m partial to a white diamond on the chest (which is heritable, right?), even though it’s not desirable.
Black spot on the tongue–I was under the impression that this DID run in certain lines.
The black tongue spot might run in lines, but it’s not actually inheritable.
The white spot is inheritable. I’ve never raised a litter of goldens that didn’t have some white on them at the birth. Every single one of them had a white spot on its chest. A few had blazes and white tail tips. The only ones to retain these features were the ones with white feet. At least one of my bitches had a white tail tip, which only became really noticeable as she aged. For most her life, she had a few white hairs on the tip of her tail, but when she was ten, the whole tip turned white.
If you are saying Cao de Castro is very relative to that Cao de Azorro (not sure abput the exact name now), they have just made a mithocondrian search between the Portuguesian “old” dogs.
Here’s the section of article:
“- – – It would be interesting to compare the Portuguese Sheepdog mtDNA haplotypes with those of the Briard Sheepdogs, from which they are supposedly descending. Contrastingly, the insular Azores Cattle Dog did not share any haplotypes with continental Portuguese dogs, but mostly with dogs from Northern Europe. This suggests that the Azores Cattle Dog could descend maternally from Northern European rather than Portuguese mainland dogs, which is consistent with the historical reports.” source: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1180824
The mithocondrian (MtDNA) is inherited always from one’s mother. 95% of the Cao de Castro’s MtDNA is a type “A” and not common at alla with the other breeds in Portugal. Only Estrela Sheep dog and Cao de Castro seem to have some common types in their MtDNA.
After all, I’m not much into genetics with this brain, but intresting anyway.
It’s a very similar breed, although it is normally cropped and docked.
Here’s one undocked and uncropped: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Caofila.jpg
The Azores were an early Portuguese possession, and many Portuguese fishermen may have stopped there on their way to the Grand Banks.
Actually, it was the Portuguese and Basques (from Spain and then France) who first whaled and fished the Grand Banks. They were the first Europeans after the Norse to come to Newfoundland.
Yeah, right, but the researches say that
the Azores Cattle Dog don’t share ANY haplotypes with continental Portuguese dogs, BUT MOSTLY with dogs from NORTHERN EUROPE. This suggests that the Azores Cattle Dog could descend maternally, tho’, from Northern European RATHER THAN Portuguese mainland dogs. Which is, they say, already known.
Well, as I say, don’t know what’s the news in this, but I took it as “not so close relativ as it seems at the first sight”.
And that “Norht. European roots” is quite odd to me. The skandinavian dog breeds, aka maybe SPITZES in THAT animal…? Ööööh?
Haplo= half.
It could come from the father’s side.
You’d be amazed at which dogs are related.
Did you know that many Irish wolfhounds and Scottish deerhounds also share an ancestor with the modern English mastiff?
An English mastiff named “Lion” was bred to a Scottish deerhound bitch named Luffra. Their puppy named Marquis appears in the bloodlines of Mastiffs, Scottish deerhounds, and Irish wolfhounds.
If it is so, I bet (or, guess) there is some eskimo dog in the labrador.
As much as there is Cao de Castro.
Thanks for that haplo-half-thing!
It actually means “simple.”
When we study MtDNA, we’re just looking at the haplotypes from the mother’s side. MtDNA comes from the mother.
It IS interesting.
I’d like to think that Mr. Lawrence, with his water spaniel-husky type-crossing idea was as right as Roslin-Williams with hers.
This is the husky from Labrador. It is like the Greenland dog.
Some authorities think they are the same breed, but they are definitely related and similar.
Google “Labrador Husky and sled dog.”
And here’s a video about Sadie, half a lab, half a husky. And puffff.. the erect ears were history!
http://images.google.fi/imgres?imgurl=http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/LK0r-xPUWJs/hqdefault.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list%3Fp%3D116E27DA335F7CFA&usg=__KPEbzyeCGQ1ZaedWj4YgYtaHQyg=&h=360&w=480&sz=16&hl=fi&start=19&tbnid=6ZntuaEPLZiJtM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3DLabrador%2BHusky%2Bsled%2Bdog%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Dfi%26sa%3DG
Greenland dog and husky.. Husky (to me) is not so original “hippie” as the former one. Some differences are: Greenlandier is more robust, has smaller ears, head is wider, more round maybe, and her legs are not so tall as husky’s legs. Still I think the Greenlander as a more like a landrace – I mean, not “maken up”.
The husky that you are referring to is the Siberian husky.
I’m talking about an entirely different breed native to Labrador.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labrador_Husky
The Labrador Husky is closely related to the Qimmiq and Greenland dog: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Eskimo_Dog
(Eskimo is not politically correct, so I don’t use the term)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_Dog
This is a Labrador husky (the breed from Labrador, not a mix): http://www.greatdogsite.com/admin/uploaded_files/1198056154labrador_husky.jpg
Alright! A dog, not a product.
About mothers and theirs MtDNA… They say in that very same research that the origin of the Cao de Castro can be tracked into the few (two?) mothers of the wholly breed. There’ll come fathers, who give some “extra-new” – genes. But it seems that that kind of breed, still living in the very framed area, is quite inbred breed.
I have a Cão de Castro Laboreiro…and i must agree, at least, in one point!
They are, indeed very similar.
[…] Cão de Castro Laboreiro is a livestock guardian breed from far northeastern Portugal. It is typically brindle or rather […]