 Marjoribanks had purchased Nous in 1865 from an unregistered litter of otherwise black wavy-coated retriever pups.In 1868, this cross produced a litter that included four pups; these four became the basis of a breeding program which included the Irish Setter, the sandy-coloured Bloodhound, the St. John's water dog of Newfoundland, and two more wavy-coated black retrievers.The bloodline was also inbred and selected for trueness to Marjoribanks' idea of the ultimate hunting dog.