IT’S been a long time coming, but attitudes towards chocolate labradors are changing,’ declares Dorothy WallsDuffin of Grangemead Labradors. ‘You always used to hear that chocolates were no good in the shooting field—now, an awful lot of gamekeepers have them. That speaks for itself.’
As a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover, nor should a labrador be judged by its colour, but the general opinion among the country set has long been that blacks rule the roost, yellow and fox reds are modern favourites and chocolates belong in the show ring. Even the name ‘chocolate’ alludes to a pampered pet—the shade was called ‘liver’ for the first half of the 20th century, but was changed to sound more appealing.
The earliest record of chocolates is two ‘liver’ pups born in the Buccleuch kennel in 1892, but the black coat was the colour of choice at the time and remained so when the labrador was officially recognised in 1903. Although there were notable attempts to popularise chocolates, it wasn’t until after the Second World War that they began to gain attention. With their rich brown coats, gentle eyes and devoted nature, the dogs were embraced by show enthusiasts and became a big hit as family pets, but continued to be largely ignored by the shooting world. Consequently, their trainability and working instinct was bred out of them—this is the challenge for today’s chocolate devotees.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin October 20, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin October 20, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
