The Landseer is a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

that originated in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is a black-and-white variety of the

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

that is recognised as an independent

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

History

The Landseer ECT is descended from dogs used by fishermen in the

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

region of Canada. It is believed these dogs are descended from

water dog A water dog is a type of gundog bred to flush and retrieve game from water. Water dogs are considered the progenitors of most modern retriever dog breeds. Description Water dogs are usually medium-sized, active dogs; their most distinctive f ...

s and

livestock guardian dog A livestock guardian dog (LGD) is a dog type bred for the purpose of protecting livestock from predators. Livestock guardian dogs stay with the group of animals they protect as a full-time member of the flock or herd. Their ability to guard t ...

s imported by Portuguese and Basque fishing vessels. In the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

black-and-white Newfoundland dogs were more popular than the solid black coloration, and they were the subject of a number of 19th-century artists including

Sydenham Edwards Sydenham Teast Edwards (5 August 1768 – 8 February 1819) was a natural history illustrator. He illustrated plants, birds and importantly published an illustrated book on the breeds of dogs in Britain, ''Cynographia Britannica''. Edwards was bo ...

Philip Reinagle Philip Reinagle (1749 – 27 November 1833) was an English painter of animals, landscapes, and botanical scenes. The son of a Hungarian musician living in Edinburgh, Reinagle came to London in 1763 and after serving an apprenticeship, later be ...

, Samuel Jones, and most famously

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. His best-known work is the lion sculptures at the base of Nelso ...

, whose name was used to describe black-and-white Newfoundlands as early as 1896. In the 20th century the solid black coloration became more popular and supplanted the bi-colored animals, so much so that in the 1930s a concerted effort was made to recreate the dogs seen in the paintings of Landseer. The efforts of these breeders resulted in the Landseer breed. In Great Britain and North America, Landseer colored dogs are considered a variety of the Newfoundland breed. In 1960 a separate breed club for Landseer-colored dogs were created in Germany by crossing livestock guardian dogs with Landseer-colored Newfoundlands. Similar clubs soon followed in Belgium and Holland. Although the American Kennel Club does not recognize the Landseer ECT as a separate breed, some people consider it to be distinct from the Newfoundland.

Genetics

The Landseer's black and white coloration arises from the recessive

piebald A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backg ...

color

allele An allele is a variant of the sequence of nucleotides at a particular location, or Locus (genetics), locus, on a DNA molecule. Alleles can differ at a single position through Single-nucleotide polymorphism, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), ...

found in Newfoundlands; the piebald coloration is a recessive trait so a single litter can have both Landseer and solid-colored puppies, depending on the

genotype The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...

of the parents. With this split in recognition gradual differences in appearance began to appear between the two forms: the European form is taller with longer legs and less bulk, and a longer, more tapered head – its coat is said to be curlier whilst the Newfoundland's is said to be wavier. A study in 2015 found a special gene in Landseers with muscular dystrophy, called COL6A1. The affected dogs represent a closer animal model for human

Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD) is a form of congenital muscular dystrophy. There are two forms: UCMD1 and UCMD2. UCMD1 is associated with variants of type VI collagen, while UCMD2 is associated with variants of type XII collagen. UC ...

than that previously created in mice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landseer (Dog) Dog breeds originating in Canada FCI breeds

History

Genetics

See also

References