WHAT IS IT ABOUT flatcoated retrievers that makes them so successful at Crufts? It’s a question lots of showing enthusiasts have been asking themselves after Norwegian-owned flatcoated retriever Almanza Backseat Driver, or Baxer, took the coveted Best in Show title at the show last month (News, 23 March). This puts the flatcoat in joint fifth place in the list of the most successful breeds at Crufts, for this year’s win was the third for the breed. The first was in 1980, the second in 2011.
To put this success into perspective, you have to go back a long way. Labradors have also taken the title three times, but the last victory for Britain’s favourite breed of gundog was back in 1937, when Lorna, Countess Howe, won for the third time.…
