The origin of the Curly Coated Retriever is one of doubt, but he is popularly believed to be descended from the sixteenth centry English Water Spaniel, and from the retrieving setter. Some maintain the Irish Water Spaniel was his ancestor and it is more than probably that a cross was made with this Spaniel from time to time. The liver colour being a recognized colour for the Curly as well as the black.

Whichever Spaniel was his progenitor, it is certain that added to the mixture of Water Spaniel and retrieving setter was the small, or St. John's Newfoundland, which, according to records, first arrived in England in 1835 as a ship's dog on board the boats that brought salted cod from Newfoundland. The St. John's dog, curiously enough, is sometimes called a Labrador by early writers, a fact which has given rise to some confusion with resplect to the modern Labrador.

In the early eighties, the Curly is said to have been crossed again with the Poodle (the one-time retriever of France), this cross taken with the object of giving his coat a tight curl. In the absence of very early records, the correct origin of the Curly must, however, always remain a matter of conjecture, but there appears little doubt that he is one of the oldest of all breeds now classified as Retrievers.

The popular gun dog following the old English Water Spaniel, the Curly was first exhibited in 1860 at England's Birmingham show. In 1889 specimens were exported to New Zealand, where they have long been used for retrieving duck and California quail. In Australia too, where they are used in the swamps and lagoons of the Murray River on duck, they are much admired as steady and tender mouth retrievers quite unsurpassed in the water. A dog and a bitch were exported to the United States about 1907; both were trained to the gun and exhibited successfully at shows.

In the British Isles in 1896, was formed the Curly Retriever Club which, however, ceased to exist some years before the founding in England of the present Curly Retriever Club in 1933. Its object: "To promote the breeding of pure Curly Retrievers and to foster the interests of the breed particularly as a working gun dog, while preserving the correct type for the dual purpose of the field and the show bench.: A special committee was selected to consider and possibly revise the standard of the breed as drawn up by the former club. After considerable deliberation at the March 1933 meeting, our present standard was approved by a general meeting shortly afterward. The club was fortunate to have as president at that time, the noted breed enthusiast, Lord Ashburton, who present a magnificent silver cup to be competed for at field trials organized by the club for Curly Retrievers.

Many assert that the Curly Retriever is temperamentally easy to train. He is affectionate, enduring, hardy and will practically live in the water. Moreover, his thick coat enables him to face the most punishing covert. He is a charming and faithful companion and an excellent guard.