 The first St. John 's dog was said to be brought to England in or around 1820 , but the breed 's reputation had already spread to England ; there is a story that the 2nd Earl of Malmesbury saw a St. John 's dog on a fishing boat and immediately made arrangements with traders to have some of these dogs imported to England . These ancestors of the first labradors so impressed the Earl with their skill and ability for retrieving anything within the water and on shore that he devoted his entire kennel to developing and stabilizing the breed . 
