Dog types are broad categories of domesticdogs based on form, function, style of work, lineage, or appearance. Some may be locally adapted dog types (orlandraces) that may have the visual characteristics of a modern purebred dog. In contrast, moderndog breeds strictly adhere to long-establishedbreed standards,[note 1] that began with documented foundation breeding stock sharing a common set of inheritable characteristics,[1][2] developed by long-established, reputablekennel clubs that recognize the dog as a purebred.
A "dog type" can be referred to broadly, as ingun dog, or more specifically, as inspaniel. 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.[3]
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 thelimer (a leashedbloodhound type); the pack ofrunning hounds, which includedbarcelets andbrachetz (bothscent hounds); and thesighthound andgreyhound.[4] More significant in recording the use and description of various dog types isThe Master of Game (circa 1406) byEdward of York,[5][6] a treatise that describes dogs and their work, such as thealaunt, greyhound, pack scent hounds,spaniel, andmastiff, used by the privileged and wealthy for hunting purposes.The Master of Game is a combination of the earlierArt of Venery and the French hunting treatiseLivre de Chasse byGaston Phoebus (circa 1387).[7]The Book of Saint Albans, published in 1486,[8][9] a "school" book abouthawking, hunting, fishing, andheraldry, attributed toJuliana Berners (Barnes), lists dogs of the time mainly by function: "First there is a greyhound, a bastard, amongrel, a mastiff, a limer, a spaniel, "raches" (small-to-medium-sized scenthounds), "kennets" (small hunting dogs),terriers, "butcher's hounds", dung-heap dogs, "trundel tails" (lapdogs?) and prick-earedcurs, and small ladies puppies that bear away thefleas and diverse small sorts."
Almost 100 years later, another book in English,De Canibus Britannicus, by the author/physicianJohn Caius, translated (Fleming) from Latin in 1576,[10] 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"—setters and spaniels; as well as the pastoral orshepherd types, mastiffs orbandogs, and various village dogs. Subtypes describing the function of dogs in each group were also included.[note 2]
"It is important", remindedAnne 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".[11] Attempts to classify dogs into different 'species' show that dog types could be quite distinctive, from theCanis melitaeus of lapdogs descended from ancient Roman pet dogs to the even more ancientCanis molossus, theMolossan types, to theCanis saultor, the dancing mongrel of beggars. These types were uniform enough to appear to have been selectively bred, but asRaymond Coppinger wrote, "Natural processes can produce, could produce, and do produce populations of unusual and uniform dogs, that is, dogs with a distinctive conformation."[12] 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'sPekingese,St. Bernards, andfoxhounds.
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were only a few dogs identified as breeds, but whendog fighting was outlawed in England in 1835, a new sport ofdog showing began. Along with this sport came rules, written records, and closedstud books.Dog fanciers began refining breeds from the various types of dogs in use.[13] Some of the old types no longer needed for work (such as thewolfhound) 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.[14] In 1873, only forty breeds and varieties were known;[15] today, there are many hundreds of breeds, some 400 of them recognized by theFédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) alone. Dog types today are recognized in the names of Group or Section categories ofdog 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, Stopping Dog, etc.—functional terms, not necessarily breed names).[16]
For biologists, a"type" fixes a name to ataxon. 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".[17] "Breed type" is specific to each dog breed's writtenstandard. A dog that closely resembles the appearance laid out in the standard is said to be "typey".[18] "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.
In 2011, a study found thatherding dogs were moretrainable thanhounds, toy dogs, and non-sporting dogs.Sporting dogs 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.[19]
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 Europeancynegetica: on a "sound hunting dog" seeXenophon, and the "correct type" of good sighthound, thevertragus, seeArrian.
Note 2:^ Many modern breeds of dogs still use the names of early types, although they may or may not resemble the original types.
A breed is a group of domestic animals related through common ancestors andvisibly similar in most characteristics, having been differentiated from others by human influence; a distinctive group of domesticated animals differentiated from the wild type under the influence of man, the sum of the progeny of aknown and designated foundation stock without admixture of other blood.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)In the strictest sense, dog breeds date back only to the last couple of decades of the nineteenth century, or to more recent decades in this (the twentieth) century but distinct types of dogs have existed centuries earlier.
In the strictest sense, dog breeds date back only to the last couple of decades of the nineteenth century, or to more recent decades in this (the twentieth) century but distinct types of dogs have existed centuries earlier.
qualities (as of bodily contour and carriage) that are felt to indicate excellence in members of a group <won the show with a beagle of superior ~>
typey: showing the breed characteristics to maximum effect
