Coloured judgement

Just how important is the hue of a gundog’s coat? David Tomlinson examines the history behind the kaleidoscope of canine colours

- David Tomlinson

AS WE ALL KNOW, sound working-bred spaniel puppies are in high demand at the moment, so I was delighted to be able to tip offa friend about a litter I had heard about.

She arranged to see them and I was sure she would end up buying one. I gave her a call the day after the viewing. “Super puppies,” she confirmed, “but they were the wrong colour. I really want a liver-and-white bitch, not black and white.” I haven’t heard whether she has since regretted her decision but weeks later she is still looking for the perfect puppy.

We have all heard the old saying that a good horse can’t be a bad colour, but I’ve known hunting people who would never have a chestnut because they are reputed to have a fiery temperament. The only horse I’ve owned was a handsome chestnut hunter called Charlie, but he wasn’t fiery and the only temperamental thing about him was a deep mistrust of donkeys. It didn’t matter what colour the donkeys were, either.

I’m convinced that, like horses, a good dog can’t be a bad colour, but it’s true that most of us have strong preferences when it comes to the colour of our dogs. The majority of labrador owners I know are a bit like Henry Ford when it comes to colour. He famously remarked: “Any customer can have a car painted any colour he wants, so long as it is black.” He said that in 1909, when almost every labrador was black, though the first recorded yellow labrador, a dog called Ben, bred by a Major Radclyffe, had been born 10 years before.