These dogs where developed about 1850or so in England, and spread widely through Britain as a Gentlemen’s or Gamekeeper’s hunting dog. I like to tell mine that he would look so regal and elegant if his face wasn’t cracked open all the time. They have huge smile and make terrible guard dogs, they will let anyone cart off your TV. These dogs form strong family ties with their families and seem to like strangers and new places almost universally throughout the breed. They generally live about ten to fourteen years, and are lighter boned, less shedding (good for those of you people with dog allergies), easy to train dogs that the whole family can enjoy.

Below is proof positive these little guys are not just a life support system for a show coat, they were bred to hunt! Everything you are going to be teaching these little guys, remember repetitive drill is not the way to go. They get bored easily, and are fairly easy to train. I haven’t found the little ones to be horribly stubborn, mostly they like to clown through life and laugh.

The sky is the limit; you can train them to do almost anything.  They do love birds, remember that if you don’t want a large mammal molesting your poultry, get another breed.  That said, they are really gentle and I have never known mine to chew up any of my farmyard fowl.  Light and free moving, they make excellent jogging companions.  Their joints hold up reasonably well for anything you can think up, just being with their humans is all the sport they need.  Keep the activities widely varied and remember that they need lots of different things to be happy.

These guys are on the healthier side for sporting dogs, not as over bred as the Labradors and Golden Retrievers or Chesapeakes end up being, about the only thing that pops up with much frequency is cancer.  The Flat Coat Retriever Society of America keeps sharps tabs on cancer numbers within the breed and funds quite a few major university studies on the topic.  Keep your breeding females true to form, light but not underweight and spend extra cuddle time with her as her due date approaches.  She will not wish to be shut up in a whelping box all alone for any amount of time, and that is why she is guaranteed to prefer your bed for the task.