breed of large sporting dog developed in England in the mid-19th cent. It stands about 23 in. (58 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs about 65 lb (30 kg). Its dense, flat coat of long, shiny hair may be liver or black in color. Counting the Labrador retriever as one of its ancestors, the flat-coated retriever is a natural water dog. Today it is trained to retrieve from both land and water and is used on a wide variety of game birds. See dog .
