Color: Black
Owner: William Averill Harriman, United States Ambassador to the U.K.
Breeder: William Averill Harriman, United States Ambassador to the U.K.
Website: www.feilbach.org/blind-of-arden.html
Description: To Southampton, L. I., Nov. 20 came 22 of the best U.S. retrieving dogs for their No. 1 test of the year -- the open all-age stake of the Long Island Retriever Club. For two days the dogs fetched pheasant shot in the field and duck shot over water. Long before the end of the tests, it was evident that W. Averell Harriman's Labrador, Blind of Arden was the best in the filed for 1938. Working without a mistake, this picture retriever capped a great performance with a remarkable blind recovery. For this event, a dead duck, unseen by the dogs, was planted on an island. At signal from his handler, Blind jumped into the water and swam to the island. There he scented the bird, looked back only twice to the handler, who with his arm waved him in the right direction. Quickly finding the duck, blind picked it up with a firm mouth, started swimming back to his handler. Then, after delivering bird, he sat stylishly on his haunches. This, however, was pure showmanship, and the judges were instructed to pay no attention to it. A marvelously intelligent, stocky dog, always friendly with children and the favorite of lady spectators at the trial, the jet-black Labrador has become popular in the U.S. only in the last ten years. Originally a breed of hunting dogs in Newfoundland, they were imported into England by fisherman during the early 19th Century. Because of English ignorance of New World geography, they were called "Labradors," were brought to the U.S. under that name. In 1933 they were officially registered by the American Kennel Club.

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