Narrative

    This is our dog Sebastian.  He was my son's birthday present three years ago, so Sebastian is really his dog.  We got Sebastian from the Kingston Animal Shelter when he was six months old.  My wife called the shelter and asked what kind of dogs were available for adoption.  They mentioned Sebastian and described him as part black Labrador Retriever and part Golden Retriever. My wife wanted "a real dog and not a little yipper" so Sebastian sounded interesting.  The whole family took a ride to see him and he seemed really friendly. He got along very well with another dog that was in a pen right next to him and seemed to have a very pleasant disposition.  I especially liked the fact that he was already housebroken because I cannot stand that whole training process. He was already named Sebastian, and the woman that previously owned him moved and her new apartment would not allow pets, so she gave him up. Sebastian ended up coming home with us.  He is a real family dog who loves to play and run.  We call him Sab for short.
    Sab has been a very healthy dog but he does have some idiosyncrasies.  For some reason he is scared of our back hall and will not walk down it.  We sometimes tease him by putting one of his toys in that hall where he can just see it, but he doesn't seem to be able to summon up the courage it would take to venture into the hall and retrieve his plaything.  Sab used to walk down that hall just fine but something must have spooked him because he won't do it any longer.  We suspect that one day when we weren't home, he was running around like a nut and slid down the back hall and crashed into the kitchen cabinets.
    Like many dogs, Sebastian will put his head on your lap until you pat him, and look at you with eyes that say, "I'm so cute, how can you resist me?".  Once you begin to pat him it is a long process because he enjoys it so much he will not let you stop.  He has longish black hair that never stays on him too long and ends up in little clumps all over the house.  Sab does not like staying home alone and is always excited to see everybody at the end of the day.
 

Sebastian's Heredity

From the information they gave us at the Kingston Animal Shelter, we believe that Sebastian is part Golden Retriever and part black Labrador Retriever.  He is black, so the black gene was a dominant trait.  Since he is part Golden Retriever, he does have a recessive gene for that color which could show up in a later generation.  He is what is referred to as a mongrel or mutt, which is a mixed breed.  The way he goes after objects that are thrown underscores the fact that both of his parents' breeds have been bred for retrieving.

Historical Background

The Labrador Retriever is a real example of breeders using what they know about genetics.  They were developed in England in the mid 1800's in an attempt to create the perfect hunting dog.  Many dogs by nature are frightened by the sound of a gun being discharged - a real drawback for a hunting dog.  The Labrador Retriever is a dog that is not scared of a gun's noise and is also instinctively a "retriever".  With training, he will retrieve game that has been shot by his master.

To learn more about Labrador Retrievers visit this site:
 

The Golden Retriever is also a breed that is a result of genetic engineering.  They were bred in England during the mid nineteenth century in an attempt to develop the perfect hunting dog. The genealogy of Golden Retrievers is extremely well documented and can be traced back to the work of  Sir Dudley Marjoribanks .
 

To learn more about Golden Retrievers and their origins, please visit these two excellent sites:

Geographic Origins of the Breeds
 

Both breeds had their origins in the United Kingdom which includes England and Ireland as well.  The United Kingdom is considered part of Europe but is not attached to the continent.  It is an island in the Atlantic and consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  These countries all are mentioned as having had dogs that were part of the overall genealogy of both the Labrador Retriever and the Golden Retriever.  The Newfoundland and Labrador members of the retriever family all appear to have had their origins in the United Kingdom.  Newfoundland and Labrador are on the other side of the Atlantic.  They are part of North America in the country of Canada.

To view maps of these locations, please view these sites:

Maps of Newfoundland and Labrador:
 
 

Map of the United Kingdom
 

^{Authored by Philip Holt.  October 1999.  All rights reserved.}