The Dog in Health
and Disease
1859 & 1879

The most cited authority
of Victorian dog fancy.

John Henry Walsh, known by the pseudonym "Stonehenge", was editor of the Field — the British reference sporting journal — for over twenty years, and author of numerous books on dogs. His "The Dog in Health and Disease" was published in several editions between 1859 and 1882 and remained for decades the standard text of British dog fancy. Rawdon B. Lee, who in 1893 wrote "Modern Dogs", was his direct successor at the Field. Comparing the editions of 1859 and 1879 is particularly interesting: over twenty years the definition of the St. John's dog becomes more precise, and the word "wavy-coated" appears as a recognised technical term.

The two Newfoundland varieties:
Large Labrador and St. John's Lesser Labrador.

"This most valuable animal is of two very different kinds, viz. the large, loose-made, and long-haired variety, known as the Large Labrador; and the small, compact, and comparatively short-haired dog, known as the St. John's or Lesser Labrador breed. Both were originally natives of Newfoundland, and though many are bred in England, fresh specimens are constantly being imported from the island. All are now more or less crossed with the mastiff or setter. In this country they are chiefly used for ornamental purposes and as companions to their masters, the small breed being also crossed with the setter to make the retriever."

J.H. Walsh ("Stonehenge"), The Dog in Health and Disease, 1ª ed. 1859, pp. 122–123

Walsh in 1859 leaves no doubt: the two varieties are the same animal in different form — "both were originally natives of Newfoundland." The Large Labrador is "large, loose-made, and long-haired"; the St. John's or Lesser Labrador is "small, compact, and comparatively short-haired". The difference is morphological, not racial. Both were imported from Newfoundland. Both were crossed in England with setters and mastiffs.

The true St. John's recognisable
only through direct import.

"I have lately been shown several of these dogs which were said to have been recently imported, but all were evidently crossed with other breeds, and were therefore rejected."

J.H. Walsh ("Stonehenge"), The Dog in Health and Disease, 1ª ed. 1859, p. 126

Walsh already had in 1859 the problem that Anspach had described in 1827: the "pure" Newfoundland was rare to find even among dogs presented as directly imported. Selection and crossbreeding were already advanced. The morphological purity of the St. John's had already become an ideal difficult to achieve, not a widespread reality.

The St. John's = "wavy-coated retriever":
the word has entered the official lexicon.

"(c) THE ST. JOHN'S NEWFOUNDLAND OR LABRADOR DOG. In Great Britain the small variety of the Newfoundland is seldom kept as a mere companion, being chiefly used as a retriever, either pure or more or less crossed with the setter or spaniel. He is then commonly known as 'a retriever' of the wavy-coated kind, to distinguish him from the curly-coated cross with the water-spaniel. Many of these retrievers are imported direct from Newfoundland to Hull and other ports trading with that island; others are bred in this country from imported parents, but most breeders prefer to cross them for the sake of improving the nose."

J.H. Walsh ("Stonehenge"), The Dog in Health and Disease, 3ª ed. 1879, pp. 192–193

In twenty years the terminology has stabilised. The St. John's dog is no longer just "comparatively short-haired" as in 1859 — it has become "a retriever of the wavy-coated kind." The wavy/long coat had become the identifying characteristic of the type, so much so that Walsh uses it as a technical term to distinguish it from the curly-coated. Direct importation from Newfoundland was still ongoing in 1879 — they were still real dogs, not just history. And most breeders preferred to cross them to improve the nose.

Twenty years of evolution:
from "short-haired" to "wavy-coated."

The comparison between the first edition (1859) and the third (1879) is instructive. In 1859 Walsh describes the St. John's as "comparatively short-haired" — comparatively short-haired, not absolutely. In 1879 the same dog is called "wavy-coated" to distinguish it from the curly-coated. This change of terminology reflects twenty years of type standardisation: the wavy coat had become so characteristic of this dog that it was used as a name. Not because it had become longer — but because it had become the identifying mark of the type on British shooting grounds and at shows.