Aussie gun dog is back for good

By Daneka Hill

Aug 18, 2022

Yarrawonga residents Leon and Debbie Wright have been using retrieving dogs for decades. After a long stint with German shorthaired pointers, Mr Wright circled back to an old Australian breed known by many names and almost forgotten by history.

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What brought you to the Murray River retriever?

My family had one in the 1940s. I mainly got them for the retrieving aspect when I go duck shooting. I’m very pleased I got sucked back into them.

They are Australia’s oldest gun dog and people say they are very similar to the boykin spaniel (United States breed) or curly coated retriever (English breed), but DNA testing proves they aren’t related at all.

An old family picture of Leon Wright’s uncle with Tibby, a Murray River retriever, in the 1940s. Photo by Daneka Hill

How many MRRs do you have?

I have Missy who’s 10 years old and Cobber who is three. They are a magnificent dog. The Murray River Retriever Association has pictures of them back in the 1800s but they were only recognised in February as a gun dog breed by the Australian National Kennel Club. Now that the breed is recognised, they can be used for trialling and the price for one will go up accordingly, as it tends to do. We have a friend who has two Murray River retrievers which are champion trackers and they are amazing to watch.

How are they as gun dogs?

I don’t think I’ve ever lost a duck because of Missy. Cobber is keen as mustard but still has a lot of work to be as good as her. Missy pulls him into line.

I had a GSP for 18 years but I got sick of the whinging. If that GSP wasn’t out hunting, it was at the back door whinging. The Murray River retrievers don’t do that, they are happy to lie down. But Missy, if she thinks I am going hunting, she’ll bring me stones. I found two stones in the lounge room this morning.

Missy on the job. She’s known to never miss a downed duck. Cobber once swam back carrying two ducks. Photo by Supplied

How are they as pets?

They are so loyal and their level of intelligence is unreal. I can control Missy with hand signals. I took her out with a friend who’s hunted his whole life. He said ‘I’ve never seen a dog that will wait for you to finish shooting before bringing them (ducks) in’. I can tell Missy to sit and I’ll walk away out back and when I return, I know she’ll be sitting right where I left her.

They are good with kids, which is another reason people get them. And if a stranger comes up to the door they won’t let you in, but once I let you inside they’ll lick you to death.

Do you feel the breed is growing in popularity?

They are growing in number because people are buying them as pets. When they are puppies they look very much like a labradoodle but they don’t have the price tag. I got stopped by a lady down the street once, she said I had a lovely labradoodle and said, ‘lady, do I look like someone who’d own a labradoodle?’

I know half a dozen people in Yarrawonga who’ve got one. The association has a yearly meet in Echuca and it’s amazing how many people turn up with their dogs. We are very much now seeing a shift. There are more of them, but less hunting. Then people ring me up wondering why their dog is chasing ducks when they never trained it.

Leon Wright with Cobber (left) and Missy (right). Photo by Daneka Hill

Why did they suffer such a drop?

They were the number one duck hunting dog right up to the 1960s, but then the Labrador (1929) and German shorthaired pointers (1962) were imported and people jumped to those.

I had a look at our local council records. Between 1930 and 1940 over 40 were registered with the Yarrawonga Council, and this was back in the day when you didn’t have to register them. Most were listed as red dogs or curlies. I still call them curlies.

They were really rare for a number of years there. The breed was effectively gone except for the few duck hunters who’d kept them. Most of those hunters were in Gippsland and around Bairnsdale. They are mad duck hunters down there. Missy is from Bairnsdale way.