Labrador: The Story of the World’s Favourite Dog. Ben Fogle

      

       ABOUT THE BOOK

      A social history of Labradors, and how they have become the world’s most beloved dogs, by writer, presenter and long-time dog lover Ben Fogle, whose beloved black Labrador, Inca, famously accompanied him on numerous journeys and adventures.

      

       DEDICATION

      To all the Labradors who have loved

       and been loved.

COPYRIGHT

      William Collins

       An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       WilliamCollinsBooks.com

      This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2015

      Text © Ben Fogle, 2015

      Excerpt from The Shipping News by Annie Proulx © Dead Line Ltd, 1993 Excerpt from Marley & Me © John Grogan, 2005

      Photographs © Individual copyright holders

      Cover credit © Shutterstock

      Ben Fogle asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this eBook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

      Source ISBN: 9780007549016

      Ebook Edition © October 2015 ISBN: 9780007549030

      Version: 2016-03-09

      CONTENTS

       COVER

ABOUT THE BOOK

       TITLE PAGE

DEDICATION

COPYRIGHT

Prologue: THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Chapter One: SALTY SEA DOGS

Chapter Two: FISHY TAILS

Chapter Three: BANCHORY BOLO AND BEN

Chapter Four: THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

       Chapter Five: BLUE-BLOODED HOUND

       Chapter Six: ROCK AND ROLLOVER

       Chapter Seven: THE NOSE KNOWS

       Chapter Eight: YELLOW COATS

       Chapter Nine: ALL THE PRESIDENTS’ DOGS

       Chapter Ten: LAB OF ALL TRADES

       Chapter Eleven: LABS OF WAR

       Chapter Twelve: THE END OF THE INCAS

       Chapter Thirteen: A PERFECT STORM

       PICTURE SECTION

       FOOTNOTES

       INDEX

       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       ABOUT THE AUTHOR

       ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

      Labrador – noun \

\ any of a breed of medium-sized strongly built retrievers largely developed in England from stock originating in Newfoundland and having a short, dense, black, yellow or chocolate coat and a thick rounded tail – called also Lab.

      

      ‘Don’t cry because it ended,

      smile because it happened.’

       Dr Seuss

      I called Dad.

      ‘What do you think?’ he asked.

      There was a pause. Not because I was thinking, but because I knew. I knew the answer but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

      ‘Then we know the answer,’ he replied.

      I burst into uncontrollable