Dog types are broad categories of domestic
dogs based on form, function, or style of work, lineage, or appearance. Some may be locally adapted dog types (or ''
landraces'') that may have the visual characteristics of a modern purebred dog. In contrast, modern ''
dog breeds'' strictly adhere to long-established
breed standard
In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...
s, that began with documented foundation breeding stock sharing a common set of inheritable characteristics,
developed by long-established, reputable
kennel clubs that recognize the dog as a purebred.
A "dog type" can be referred to broadly, as in
gun dog, or more specifically, as in
spaniel. Dogs raised and trained for a specific working ability rather than appearance may not closely resemble other dogs doing the same work, or any of the dogs of the analogous breed group of purebred dogs.
Names in English
The earliest books in the English language to mention numbers of dog types are from the "Cynegetica" (hunting literature), namely, ''The Art of Venery'' (1327) by Twiti (Twici), a treatise that describes hunting with the
limer (a leashed
bloodhound type); the pack of ''running hounds'', which included ''barcelets'' and ''brachetz'' (both
scent hound
Franz Rudolf Frisching in the uniform of an officer of the Bernese Huntsmen Corps with his Berner Laufhund, painted by Jean Preudhomme in 1785
Scent hounds (or scenthounds) are a Dog type, type of hound that primarily hunts by scent rather than ...
s); and the
sighthound
Sighthounds, also called gazehounds, are a type of dog, hounds that hunt primarily by sight and speed, rather than by scent and endurance as scent hounds do.
Appearance
These dogs specialize in pursuing prey, keeping it in sight, and overp ...
and
greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...
. More significant in recording the use and description of various dog types is ''
The Master of Game'' (circa 1406) by
Edward of York, a treatise that describes dogs and their work, such as the
alaunt, greyhound, pack scent hounds,
spaniel, and
mastiff, used by the privileged and wealthy for hunting purposes. ''The Master of Game'' is a combination of the earlier ''Art of Venery'' and the French hunting treatise ''
Livre de Chasse'' by
Gaston Phoebus (circa 1387). ''
The Book of Saint Albans
''The Book of Saint Albans'' (or ''Boke of Seynt Albans'') is the common title of a book printed in 1486 that is a compilation of matters relating to the interests of the time of a gentleman. It was the last of eight books printed by the St Alba ...
'', published in 1486, a "school" book about
hawking, hunting, fishing, and
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
, attributed to
Juliana Berners (Barnes), lists dogs of the time mainly by function: "First there is a greyhound, a bastard, a
mongrel
A mongrel, mutt or mixed-breed dog is a dog that does not belong to one officially recognized breed and including those that are the result of intentional breeding. Although the term ''mixed-breed dog'' is sometimes preferred, many mongre ...
, a mastiff, a limer, a spaniel, "
raches" (small-to-medium-sized scenthounds), "kennets" (small hunting dogs),
terrier
Terrier (from Latin ''terra'', 'earth') is a type of dog originally bred to hunt vermin. A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of the terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, game, and fearless. Terrier breeds vary ...
s, "butcher's hounds", dung-heap dogs, "trundel tails" (
lapdogs?) and prick-eared
curs, and small ladies puppies that bear away the
flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, ...
s and diverse small sorts."
Almost 100 years later, another book in English, ''De Canibus Britannicus'', by the author/physician
John Caius, translated (Fleming) from Latin in 1576, attempted the first systematic approach to defining different types of dogs in various categories, demonstrating an apparent increase in types and population. "English dogs": the gentle (i.e., well-bred) kind, serving game—
harriers, terriers,
bloodhounds,
gazehounds, greyhounds, limers, tumblers, and stealers; "the homely kind"; "the currish kind",
toys; "Fowling dogs"—
setter
The setter is a type of gundog used most often for hunting game such as quail, pheasant, and grouse.
In the UK, the four setter breeds, together with the pointers, usually form a subgroup within the gundog group as they share a common ...
s and spaniels; as well as the pastoral or
shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' ' herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, ...
types, mastiffs or
bandog
A mastiff is a large and powerful type of dog. Mastiffs are among the largest dogs, and typically have a short coat, a long low-set tail and large feet; the skull is large and bulky, the muzzle broad and short ( brachycephalic) and the ears dr ...
s, and various village dogs. Subtypes describing the function of dogs in each group were also included.
Dog types and modern breeds
"It is important", reminded
Anne Rogers Clark and Andrew Brace, "not to claim great age for breeds, though it is quite legitimate to claim considerable antiquity for types of dogs". Attempts to classify dogs into different 'species' show that dog types could be quite distinctive, from the ''Canis melitaeus'' of lapdogs descended from ancient Roman pet dogs to the even more ancient ''Canis molossus'', the
Molossan types, to the ''Canis saultor'', the dancing mongrel of beggars. These types were uniform enough to appear to have been selectively bred, but as
Raymond Coppinger wrote, "Natural processes can produce, could produce, and do produce populations of unusual and uniform dogs, that is, dogs with a distinctive conformation." Human manipulation was very indirect. In a very few cases emperors, monasteries, or wealthy hunters might maintain lines of special dogs, from which we have today's
Pekingese,
St. Bernards, and
foxhounds.
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were only a few dogs identified as breeds, but when
dog fighting
Dog fighting is a type of blood sport that turns game and fighting dogs against each other in a physical fight, generally to the death, for the purposes of gambling or entertainment to the spectators. In rural areas, fights are often staged i ...
was outlawed in England in 1835, a new sport of
dog showing began. Along with this sport came rules, written records, and closed
stud books.
Dog fanciers began refining breeds from the various types of dogs in use. Some of the old types no longer needed for work (such as the
wolfhound) were remade and kept from extinction as show dogs, and other old types were refined into many new breeds. Sometimes, multiple new breeds might be born in the same litter of puppies. In 1873, only forty breeds and varieties were known; today, there are many hundreds of breeds, some 400 of them recognized by the
Fédération Cynologique Internationale
The Fédération cynologique internationale (FCI) (English: International Canine Federation) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs. It is based in Thuin, Belgium.
History
The FCI was founded in 1911 under the auspices ...
(FCI) alone. Dog types today are recognized in the names of Group or Section categories of
dog breed registries. Named types of dogs that are not dog breeds are still being used where function or use is more important than appearance, especially for herding or hunting, as with the herding dog types of New Zealand that are described by their exact function (Heading Dog,
Huntaway
The Huntaway (also known as the New Zealand Huntaway) is a large, strongly-built breed of dog used for general sheep-herding tasks in New Zealand, where they originate. They were bred to use their loud, deep bark to drive sheep.
The breed dates ...
, Stopping Dog, etc.—functional terms, not necessarily breed names).
Other uses of the word '"type" in dogs
For biologists, a
"type" fixes a name to a
taxon
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
. Dog fanciers use the term
"breed type" in the sense of "qualities (as of bodily contour and carriage) that are felt to indicate excellence in members of a group". "Breed type" is specific to each dog breed's written
standard. A dog that closely resembles the appearance laid out in the standard is said to be "typey". "Type" also is used to refer to "dogs of a well established line", an identifiable style of dog within the "breed type", usually from a specific kennel.
Trainability and boldness
In 2011, a study found that
herding dogs were more
trainable
Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
than
hound
A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.
Description
Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. ...
s, toy dogs, and non-sporting dogs.
Sporting dogs
Gun dogs, or bird dogs, are types of hunting dogs developed to assist hunters in finding and retrieving game, usually quail, dove, or duck. Gun dogs are divided into three primary types: retrievers, flushing dogs, and pointing breeds.
Types ...
were more trainable than non-sporting dogs. Terriers were bolder than hounds and herding dogs. Breeds with ancient Asian or African origin were less trainable than breeds in the herding/sighthound cluster and the hunting breeds. Breeds in the mastiff/terrier cluster were bolder than the ancient breeds, the breeds in the herding/sighthound cluster, and the hunting breeds.
Notes
Note 1: Every modern dog breed has a written
"standard" that describes in detail aspects of its appearance. Modern breed standards are the basis of the sport of dog showing, as each dog is compared against the ideal of the written standard, and awards are based on how closely the dog resembles the standard. Their origin comes from the earliest European cynegetica: on a "sound hunting dog" see
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...
, and the "correct type" of good sighthound, the ''vertragus'', see
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; )
was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.
''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...
.
Note 2: Many modern breeds of dogs still use the names of early types, although they may or may not resemble the original types.
References
External links
Canis lupus on ITIS
{{Dog nav