History

When English gamekeepers or poachers needed a meat dog -- a dog that could find and retrieve birds left by other dogs after a driven shoot, or a dog to find and retrieve birds in the middle of the night -- they often used a Curly Coated Retriever. The Curly, as the breed is nicknamed, has always been the "blue-collar" retriever, especially in its native home of England, where a Curly was more often owned by a gamekeeper or poacher than an aristocrat. While the term might be considered a slight by some other retriever breed owners, "meat dog" is the original description of a Curly Coated Retriever: a breed developed to find and retrieve birds, no matter the conditions or the 'pedigree' of the person on the other end of the leash.

Due to the increasing popularity of shooting flying birds (and the corresponding need to find the birds) in the mid 19th century, the initial Retriever breeds were developed. Some breeds, such as the Golden, were carefully bred for by a single individual, others such as the Labrador were isolated in one or two kennels for their development. Still others were developed as gun dog fanciers tried breeding the "best to the best" and intermixing a wide variety of breeds and abilities. The general confusion over the origins of the Retrievers partly lies in the fact that at this time the word "retriever" referred to the function rather than the breed of dog, and so any dog that proved itself capable of retrieving was considered one, whether purebred, crossbred or mongrel.

Spaniels, setters, and waterdogs quickly proved themselves the best at this type of work and provided the foundation for all of today's Retrievers, in varying proportions. However, the exact sequence of development is in many cases lost in the distance of history; even many contemporary accounts are considered flawed and mistaken today.

Development There are many references to a "sagacious" curly coated spaniel, or water dog, credited with outstanding retrieving and hunting abilities dating back to at least the mid fifteenth century. Even Shakespeare makes a reference or two to "Water Spaniells". These water dogs are most likely in the backgrounds of all the modern retriever breeds. Although a host of curly-coated breeds now exist, it is difficult to separate one from another in dog breeding in the 1800's. At this time there were a number of curly-coated breeds with varying names (including the Water Spaniel, the Tweed Water Spaniel, and the Wetterhoun) that could be ancestors of the modern Curly. Or the Curly could have been a contributing ancestor to the modern-day breeds with curly coats. Suffice it to say that at about the time of the development of the Curly-Coated Retriever, other curly-coated breeds, including the Poodle, Wetterhoun, Portuguese Water Dog, and Irish Water Spaniel were also under development. Some Curly historians have claimed knowledge of documented crosses between the Curly-Coated Retriever and Poodle, to improve the coat and elegance of the former and the staying power and sagacity of the latter. It is a fact, however, that the first breed classified as a retriever and exhibited at a dog show as such was the Curly-Coated Retriever. And, of all the curly breeds, it is the Curly-Coated Retriever who has the distinction of being named for its curled coat, which may be an indication that the Curly-Coated Retriever was the first of all the curly coated breeds.

In Britain

The Curly was first exhibited as a showdog in 1860, easily predating all the other Retriever breeds. In 1864, the Kennel Club split the retrievers into the Retrievers-curly coated and Retrievers-wavy coated classes.

....

Eng. Ch. Darelyn Crispian (Liver)

Interestingly, while well-regarded, the breed has never been highly popular and the Labrador began edging it out when it appeared on the scene in the 1890's. World Wars I and II severely reduced the breed's numbers, to the point where only 5 were registered in 1919, edging up to 35-40 in the late thirties and dropping again to 13 in 1942 and 1943. However, by 1947 there were 90 registrations, so the breed came back slowly but steadily from the war years.

In Australia and New Zealand

While records indicate that the Curly was an established breed by 1881 in Australia, most modern-day Curlies down under, that is, in both Australia and New Zealand, stem from breeding native Australian and New Zealand curlies with English imports. For instance, NZ and GFTCh. Dual CH. Waitoki Tamatakapua, who is behind many modern-day Australian and New Zealand bloodlines, was the product of a NZ field trial Ch. and an English import bitch.

In these countries, especially New Zealand, the Curly is an extremely popular hunting dog.

Comparing the records of British, New Zealand, Australian and U.S. Curlies, especially in the field, is difficult since the requirements differ drastically in each country. For instance, a NZ or Australian Field Trial Champion is about equivalent to a U.S. senior or master hunter. A U.K. full championship (as opposed to a show championship) is about the equivalent of a Championship plus a WC in the U.S., though comparisons between the two cannot accurately be made since the style of the tests are completely different.

In America

While Curlies were introduced in the United States around 1907, the first registered Curly was not until 1924. Many hunting enthusiasts thought that the Curly would become the most popular hunting dog in this country. Again, World War II had a severe impact on the breed where only 16 Curlies total were registered between 1941 and 1949. Unfortunately, no patron for the breed was to be had after WWII, and when coupled with false rumors about the breed's supposed hard mouth and difficult to care for coat, the breed was reduced to two registered dogs in 1964. As a result, American lines from prior to this time were lost.

In 1966 Dale Detweiler's English import, CH Siccawei Black Rod, proved the catalyst for turning the breed around. Not only was he extensively used and shown, but more dogs were subsequently imported from both Australia and England and became the base for revitalizing the breed in this country. Today, there are several well-respected lines that have been going for approximately 20 years with significant contributions to the breed.

In 1979 the turnaround was sufficient to form Curly Coated Retriever Club of America, now the national breed club for AKC registered Curlies.

The Curly Coated Retriever is still very much the breed it has always been - unique in looks, loving and easily trained, and fully capable of stepping from the show ring to the field every weekend. Although there are far more Curlies with Championships than with working titles, there are still more with titles at both ends of their names than most other sporting breeds.

Field activity in the breed is mostly in the National Club's WC/X/Q tests and in the hunting retriever tests held by the AKC, NAHRA and UKC, as well as the versatile hunting dog tests held by NAVHDA. A few Curlies have been run in Field Trials and have done fairly well, but since the breed is slow to mature, a Curly is usually not ready to compete until it is too old for Derby and most Curly owners/trainers do not have the time and money to commit to the upper stakes in Field Trials

(K9Web-Cindy Tittle Moore)

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