Ever wonder why so many black Labs and mixes have white chests, feet, or muzzles?

Question

I found out why - it's because of their breed ancestor, the St. John's Water Dog, a hunting dog that was created in Newfoundland and started to go extinct in the 19th century due to heavy dog-ownership taxes. They died out completely in the 1930's.

They were not only used to create Labrador Retrievers, but also used in varying quantities to create Newfoundlands (crossed with Mastiffs) and all the other types of retrievers as well.

Funny thing is - if you are at all familiar with animal rescue, you know that big black dogs are very difficult to adopt out and are also VERY common. Well, these dogs look exactly like the typical big black lab mix that populates half of the kennels at most pounds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Water_Dog

I rather want to start calling the Big Black Dogs (BBD's as we refer to them in shorthand in the AR community) St. John's dogs to try to remove some of the stigma of the name. Who's with me?

Opt to Adopt · Accepted Answer

Very interesting, though it could lead to misconceptions, someone would adopt the dog, thinking that's what it is, and, possibly, become very angry when they discover its not a St. John's dog.

WyrDachsie · Answer

I'm glad you posted that.  I had a wonderful beagle/lab mix that looked like that, only beagle sized.  Wonderful dog.  Just like you said, it had a tuxedo pattern on her chest and as she got older, white on the muzzle.

Ninja Babe ♥ · Answer

kewl cause look at my puppies paws and she is a mix and she is a lab

(she is the pic)

Ladybugstar · Answer

hmm interesting

Ever wonder why so many black Labs and mixes have white chests, feet, or muzzles?

4 Answers