| This dog was stuffed when it died and put on display as a typical specimin of her breed in the Natural History Museum in Kensington (England)
Was the first Labrador Retriever to ever place in a Field Trial
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Registration: 215H
Sentry and Single are brother and sister, being by Sixty out of Scottie, but the photograph of the former scarcely does him justice, as it was taken when he was little more than a year old, and it makes him appear too throaty. His coat, moreover, is finer than it looks in the illus- tration, and he certainly stands more upriglit on his feet than portrayed. He is, in fact, a typical Labrador, but if anything a little narrow between the eyes, whilst his tail is a trifle long. Single, too, is an almost perfect specimen of her breed, but there is always an " if," and therefore it may be observed that perhaps she has a rather staring eye and her ears are a trifle too far back. The group of the Hon. A. Holland-Hibbert and his dogs includes the quartette above referred to, and, in addition, Sarah, the dam of Sixty, Sud- bourne, Psaltery, and Sober, every one of which may be accepted as a typical specimen of a most valuable variety of sporting dog which is far too seldom met with in this country.
By 1904, there was still only the I. G. L. Retriever Society holding trials. This year was a momentous one for the Labrador breed, not only was it the first time that a Labrador ran in a trial, but what is more, it was awarded a Certificate of Merit. This dog was the Hon. A. Holland-Hibbert's Munden Single.
Holland-Hibbert, (later Lord Knutsford) had owned Labradors since 1884 when he obtained a bitch from Viscount Grimston at Gorhambury, near St Alban’s; this bitch was basically Netherby/Gorhambury breeding. Holland-Hibbert had shown his dogs for some time, (Single had won a CC in 1904) but this was the first time he had competed with one at a field trial.
Clearly Single’s performance made an impression on the watching gallery, and there was fulsome praise in the reports on the trial on her work. Subsequent press interviews with the Hon. A. Holland-Hibbert soon informed the sporting public about the amenable nature of the Labrador, and its value as a game finding dog, little known until then outside the tight circle aristocratic and patrician homes.
https://thelabradorretrieverclub.com/fts-past-achievements-part-i-to-1914
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