Labbe

The Labbe is a designer dog from the United States and was developed by crossing the Labrador Retriever and the Beagle, a scent hound developed primarily for hunting hare. Beagle-type dogs have been around for 2,500 years but the modern breed was developed in Britain around the 1830s. Talbot hounds which are now extinct which were brought to England by William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest in 1066 are thought to be the ancestors of the Beagle and the Foxhound. There are historical reports of very small hounds known as Glove Beagles which could be held in a gloved hand as well as Singing Beagles who were reportedly popular with Queen Elizabeth I. She apparently let them prance about on the royal table royal table to entertain guests. Reverend Phillip Honeywood bred Beagles in Essex, England, in the mid 1800s for hunting which are believed to be the ancestors of the modern Beagle. They arrived in America around the same time and were used to hunt rabbits. In 1884 the American Kennel Club and the first Beagle specialty club were founded. The Labrador Retriever was also bred to be a working dog by the fishermen in Newfoundland in Canada in the 1700s. They were originally called St. John's Water Dogs and helped the fishermen pull in nets and even retrieve fish. As well as their good work ethic the breed was a loyal and affectionate companion and was also a companion dog to the fishermen at the end of the day. But they nearly died out following a dog tax in the 1880s which saw a number of females culled. But they thrived in England where they were taken as gundogs. It was there that they first got their name “Labrador” after the third Earl of Malmesbury referred to them as such in a letter. They arrived in the United States in the early 1920s.