#breedspotlight

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During the early 1900s, Flat-Coated Retrievers were favoured by gamekeepers. Now, they’re also accepted as great family pets due to their friendly and puppy-like nature!

Flat-Coated Retrievers are a high energy breed, requiring around 2 hours of exercise a day. As a utility dog, they're bred for the dual purpose of land retrieving and water retrieving. This versatility is what makes them a great asset to gamekeepers!

In an article (linked below) Karen Peterson explains that during the breed's development, the following traits were emphasized: "intelligence, nose, ability to follow the trail of wounded game, aptitude for carrying, combined with a soft mouth, strength and courage in water, obedience, steadiness and desire to please." (Peterson, A Brief History of The Flat-Coated Retriever, 2012).

BONUS SILLY IMAGE!!!!

Image source https://pin.it/2RZiKhq

Sources:

Peterson, K. (2012) ‘A Brief History of The Flat-Coated Retriever’, Show-Sight Magazine, February, pp. 165–172. Available at: https://fcrsa.org/history-flat-coated-retriever/ (Accessed: 09 January 2024)

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Widely believed to be a descendant of the extinct Tesem, the Azawakh originates from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. This sighthound is mostly utilised as a guardian, and a gazelle hunter (hunting in packs). This breed wasn't seen outside of Africa until the 1970s, but now that it's available in the US, the breed also excels in lure coursing.

Sources:

Azawakh (IMP) (no date) The Kennel Club. Available at: https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/search/breeds-a-to-z/breeds/hound/azawakh-imp/ (Accessed: 09 January 2024).

Azawakh (no date a) Purina. Available at: https://www.purina.co.uk/find-a-pet/dog-breeds/azawakh (Accessed: 09 January 2024).

Azawakh (no date b) DogTime. Available at: https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/azawakh (Accessed: 09 January 2024).

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Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, more easily known as “Tollers” are a unique sporting and gun dog. Whilst they look similar to a Golden Retriever, these small retrievers are different in many ways.

Duck Tollers are naturally high energy dogs, as they were bred as gun dogs. Typically, a hunter will hide by some water, and send the dog out into the water (by throwing a ball or stick) and then will call the dog back to the hiding place - wild ducks see this strange orange dog appearing and reappearing, and are inclined to investigate. Once the ducks come close enough, the hunter shoots, and the dog is sent to retrieve the prey.

Thus, Duck Tolling Retrievers are drawn to the water, and love to swim. These energetic dogs are capable of excelling in many sports, such as dock jumping, lure coursing and fly ball.

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The Karakachan is a livestock guardian. Particularly loyal, Karakachans are willing to fight off any predator - it may be due to this nature that they are so cautious with strangers. A Karakachan is typically very intelligent and happy to do it’s own thing, making it a hard feat to train.

Due to their working purpose being to guard livestock, Karakachans will often patrol and guard their flock - in a home setting, a Karakachan will likely patrol the garden. As they are so protective, Karakachan’s tend to form strong bonds with their family or pack.

The name “Karakachan” is derived from the nomadic group of native shepherding people named “Karakachani”. Karakachan dogs are also known as Thracian Mollos or Ovcharsko Kuche.

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I would also like to spotlight this photo :)