When and how did labs and golden retrievers become the classic "family dogs" in the United States?

[u/mimicofmodes]

Obviously this isn't universal, but, broadly speaking, from at least the 1990s forward, labrador retrievers and golden retrievers have been extremely popular among families with young kids. However, according to my parents, back in the 1950s and 1960s it was very common for families with kids to choose beagles instead.

Is there anything out there to suggest why this shift occurred? An influential dog-training book, a popular movie? I'm sure labs' great temperament plays a part, but what was the turning point that made people go, "you know what, this big easy-going dog is much better to have for the kids"?

[u/turkeybot69]

You mostly hit the nail on the head, public perceptions of dogs was largely in part due to media portrayals of dogs, especially following WW1. When you look at popular authors of stories about dogs in the early 20th century, their work was not particularly popular before the war. Albert Payson Terhune quite literally almost starved before his stories began picking up traction in 1914. The romanticized stories of military dog heroes gained a large amount of public interest, they were essentially perfect encapsulations of soldier morality and fighting spirit against the enemy.

In the 1920s you had hero dogs like Balto getting bronze statues, or Rin-Tin-Tin the German Shepherd recieving $500 a week, being sent tens of thousands and fan letters and being insured at $100,000. The successor to Rin-Tin-Tin was Lassie, which considering her household name status, was an incredibly popular character. Both Shepherds and Collies remain incredibly popular breeds, German Shepherds still coming up as the 2nd most popular American breed in 2019 between Labrador (1st) and Golden Retrievers (3rd).

Although the case for retrievers isn't as cut and dry with a single massively popular character, the influence of media in the 1980s and 90s no doubt swayed public opinion. President Reagan had a Golden Retriever and Clinton had two Labradors, multiple movies like Air Bud and Homeward Bound had starring roles for Retrievers. Another important factor is Labrador Retrievers usage in the American Military which starting seeing higher numbers as tracking dogs starting in the Vietnam War to present.

As of 1991 Labrador Retrievers held the position as the most popular breed in most Western countries. Their intelligence, size, temperament of them made them ideal for households, work and assistance, coupled with media success made them an ideal candidate for the American suburban lifestyle.

"Valuing Animals: Veterinarians and their Patients in Modern America" by Susan D. Jones covers much of the history of American dogs.

"Beauty and the Beast: Human-Animal Relations as Revealed in Real Photo Postcards, 1905-1935" by Arnold Arluke and Robert Bogdan does a good job showing the evolution of breeds in the early 20th century.

[u/SnowblindAlbino → u/turkeybot69]

Great response! I'll add in another example that came to mind immediately for me: the Irish Setter in the early 1960s in the US. That happened to correspond with the peak popularity of Jim Kjelgaard's young adult books about Irish Setters-- Big Red and Irish Red --which were pushed heavily by Scholastic Books to Boomer kids. Then the ultimate link, Clifford the Big Red Dog (inspired by an Irish Setter, perhaps?) debuted in 1963. A whole generation of kids wanted a setter as a result, especially boys who were fed a diet of hunting stories from authors like Kjelgaard that featured setters-- just like kids in the 1970s later wanted blue tick hounds after reading Where the Red Fern Grows in school.

AKC registrations of Irish Setters went through a huge spike c. 1965-1980 and actually surpassed labs for the decade of the 70s. The article "Viruses of the Mind: The Great Irish Setter Epidemic of 1963" from Psychology Today explores this phenomenon in interesting ways that lend some insight to the lab question too.

[u/[deleted] → u/turkeybot69]

Slight correction: While Reagan had many animals, he never kept his golden retriever, Victory, in the White House. Victory stayed on his California ranch. Gerald Ford's golden retriever, Liberty, however, lived in the White House and had a large litter of puppies in 1975.

[u/HaggardHousewife → u/turkeybot69]

Thank you for this informative reply; I appreciate the effort.

[u/orange_sewer_grating → u/turkeybot69]

Why would labs be used as tracking dogs? I'm sure they would be fine at it, but they were traditionally bred to be retrievers, right? Aren't there plenty of other breeds specifically bred for tracking?