Dog type

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For a list of dog types, see List of dog types.
Cart dogs, c. 1900. Different in appearance but doing the same work.
Cart dogs, c. 1900. Different in appearance but doing the same work.

Dog types are broad categories of dogs based on function;[1] dog types are not identical to modern dog breeds but dogs identified primarily by specific function or style of work rather than by lineage or appearance, including ancestral forms (or landraces) that arose undocumented over a long period of time.

The terms dog breed and dog type are sometimes used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. A modern dog breed is standardized,[note 1] with a documented descent from known ancestors.[2] All members of a modern dog breed closely resemble each other,[3] while 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.[4]

A dog type can be referred to broadly, as in Bird dog, or more specifically, as in Spaniel.

Contents

[edit] Origins of dog types

For the history of the dog, see Dog, Origin of the domestic dog, and Ancient dog breeds

With the beginnings of agriculture, approximately 12,000 years ago, humans began making use of dogs in various ways. Molecular biologist and founder of the Canine Genome Project Elaine Ostrander comments, "When we became an agricultural society, what we needed dogs for changed enormously, and a further and irrevocable division [between dogs and wolves] occurred at that point."[5] There is a great deal of speculation about the early uses of dogs, but recent genetic analysis shows that the earliest ancestors of modern breeds (those with the least genetic divergence from the ancestral wolf) include lap dog types (Pekingese, Shih Tzu) along with hunting dog and working dog types.[note 2]

[edit] Dog type names in English

The earliest book in the English language to mention dog types was The Boke of St. Albans, written in 1486.[6] In a book about hawking, hunting, fishing, and heraldry, the author, Juliana Berners, lists dogs of her time by function.[note 3]

Almost one hundred years later, another book was published in English, De Canibus Britannicus, translated from Latin in 1576. The author, John Caius, described types of dogs in four main categories: hunting dogs, lap dogs, farm dogs, and mongrels. Sub-types describing the function of dogs in each group were also included.[note 4]

In 1758, Carl Linnaeus in Systema naturae named the domestic dog “familiaris” and added other dog species. More dog types were described as species by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1888, and by Robert Kerr in his English translation of Systema naturae (The Animal Kingdom) in 1792.[note 5] Today the species Linnaeus named are identifiable as dog types, not species or subspecies. Some, such as Canis aegyptius, a hairless dog type of Peru, have been documented and registered as breeds (Peruvian Hairless Dog). There are only two categories (subspecies) of domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris and C. l. dingo, recognized by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN Code). [7]

Beginning with the advent of dog shows in the mid-1800s in England, dog fanciers established stud books and began refining breeds from the various types of dogs in use.[8]

[edit] Dog types and modern breeds

"It is important," reminds Ann 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."[9] The attempts to classify dogs into different 'species' shows 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."[10] The human manipulation was very indirect. In a very few cases, Emperors or monasteries or wealthy hunters might maintain lines of special dogs, from which we have today Pekinese, St. Bernards, and foxhounds.

At the beginning of the 1800s there were only a few dogs identified as breeds, but when dog fighting was outlawed in England in 1835, a new sport of dog showing begain. Along with this sport came rules and written records and closed stud books. 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 littler of puppies.[11] In 1873 only 40 breeds and varieties were known;[12] today there are many hundreds of breeds, some 400 are recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale.

Dog types today are recognized in the names of Group or Section categories of dog breed registries.[note 6] But dog types have not disappeared. Types of feral dogs are being discovered and registered as breeds, as with the New Guinea Singing Dog and Carolina Dog. Types re-emerge from mixes of breeds, like the Longdogs from Lurchers and Greyhounds. 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).[13]

[edit] Other uses of the word type in dogs

For biologists, a type fixes a name to a taxon. 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”.[14] 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.[15] Type also is used to refer to "dogs of a well established line"[16], an identifiable style of dog within the breed type, usually from a specific kennel.

[edit] Notes

note 1. ^ Every modern dog breed has a written Standard, that describes in detail aspects of appearance. 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.

note 2. ^ Presumed to be of older lineage are modern dog breeds Shiba Inu, Chow Chow, Alaskan Malamute, Basenji, Shar Pei, Siberian Husky, Afghan Hound, Saluki, Tibetan Terrier, Lhasa Apso, Samoyed, Pekingese, and Shih Tzu.[17]

note 3. ^ Dog types in use in 1486: Grehoun, Bastard, Mengrell, Mastiff, Lemor, Spanyel, Raches, Kenettyes, Teroures, Butchers’ Houndes, Myddyng dogges, Tryndel taylles, Prikherid currys, and smalle ladyes’ poppees. Some of these dog types are still identifiable today.

note 4. ^ Many modern breeds of dogs still use the names of early types, although they may or may not resemble the old types. Dogs listed in the 1576 translation of De Canibus Britannicus:

  • Hunting Dogs in two main categories, Venatici type (from Latin venari, 'to hunt, pursue'), and Agaseus (Gazehound, sighthound type.) The Venatici type includes Leverarws or Harriers (dogs used by hunters on foot or on a horse to chase rabbits, later foxes), Terrarius or Terrars (Terriers), Sanguinarius (Bloodhounds; humorist James Thurber complained that the Latin word means bloodthirsty, not purebred, and that it does not fit the gentle modern dog[18]) The Agaseus type includes Leporanus (Grehounds that run after game); Loranus or Lyemmer (dogs hunted on a leash, or ‘lyem’), Vertigus or Tumbler (a type of lurcher [19]), Canis Furax (from Latin furax, "thievish" - belonging to a poacher) and Aucupatorii type (from Latin aucuper, bird-catching), including the Index (Pointer, Setter, a dog for upland hunting) Aquaticus (water dog, retriever) and Spaniell (Hunting Spaniel.)
  • Spaniel Gentle or Comforter (pets and lap dogs, especially dogs similar to today’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, bred down in size from the hunting dog to a lap dog.)
  • Farm Dogs Canis Pastoalis or Shepherd’s Dogge (collies, other herding dogs), Mastive or Bandogge (ban means “tied up” and indicates a watchdog type.)
  • Mongrels - even the mongrels are subdivided into types: Admonitor or Wapp (yappy - a watch dog); Vernepator or Turnespet (dogs were used to operate machinery of the day, especially in those used to turn large pieces of meat over a fire[20]); Saltator (from Latin saltare, to jump, leap, dance - dogs trained for entertainment by beggars)[21])

note 5. ^ Historical note on the early attempts to catagorize dogs as species (not actually species, today considered dog types) of Canis. Described by Carl Linnaeus in Systema naturae, 1758, Gmelin in1788, Kerr in 1792.[22] Names and descriptions ot the dog 'species' are from books in English between 1792 an 1840, see References.[23] Some of the 'species' are recognizable forerunners of modern breeds, others are dog types, with much duplication and overlap.

Canis (now Canis lupus) named by Linnaeus: familiaris (subspecies name today, originally for mutts), aegyptius (hairless dogs found in Egypt, Peru, and other areas), aquaticus (water dogs), domesticus (originally for the domestic dog, now synonymous with familiarus), fricatrix (at the time the word meant 'Lesbian', the hyena?), graius (wolfhounds), mastinus (mastiffs), melitaeus (an old type of lapdog, today represented by the Maltese and Bichon), mustelinus (means weasel-like --short legged types, forerunners of today's Basset Hound, Dachshund and some terriers), and sagax (hounds).

Species of Canis added by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revision of Systema naturae in 1788, some of which are dog types, some of which are recognizable as early forms of modern dog breeds, and some of which have completely disappeared: americanus (Native American dog types), anglicus (the English Dog, described as a dog of the largest type or mastiff), antarcticus (a large extinct fox, called the Falkland Islands Wolf, now Dusicyon australis), aprinus (Boar hunting dogs, from aper, wild boar), aquatilis (large type of water dogs, similar to today's Portuguese Water Dog and Poodle breeds), avicularis (pointers), brevipilis ('short-haired', refers to the smaller spaniel lapdogs, the Cocker, the Blenheim, the Gredin, and the King Charles Spaniel), cursorius ('courser', dogs used for racing, similar to the modern Greyhound breed), extrarius (hunting Spaniels, means foreigner - Spaniels came from Spain, and the describer was British) , fricator (Pugs, Doquin, Chien d'Alicante, and the Artois, short-muzzled pug-like dogs; described as "totally worthless"), fuillus ('of a sow', German pig-hunting dogs) gallicus (Dog of France), graius (greyhounds; the Irish, Scotch, Russian, Italian, Albanian and Turkish types are mentioned in 1829 both as graius and as separately named species of dogs; in 1840, graius is called the Grecian greyhound), hibernicus (the original Irish and Scottish wolfhounds, "largest of all"), hirsutus (referring to the rough (shaggy) coat, large wolf hunting dogs, "Russian and Tahtar"), hybridus (the Roquet, 'known by a round head, short muzzle, large eyes, small pendulous ears, slender limbs, tail turned upwards and forwards, color often slaty or blackish, with white about the limbs."), islandicus (sled dogs from Iceland; assumed to have been obtained originally from the Aleuts by the first Vikings in Greenland), italicus (small geyhound type companion dog from Italy, similar to the modern Italian Greyhound breed), laniarius (lurchers, a type of rough-coated greyhound and greyhound crosses, used by poachers), leoninus (little lion dog, today's Lowchen breed, at the time considered a type of small spaniel/extrarius), major (?), melitacus (a Bichon or Maltese type lapdog), minor (Petit barbet-small waterdog or poodle), molossus (molossers), obesus (a fat or huge dog; a walrus is Odobenus obesus), orientalis (Persian greyhound), plancus (howling dog? guard dog? saying Consule planco - In the consulship of Plancus, ie, In the good old days), pomeranus (wolf-like dogs, ancestor to today's Keeshound breed, Chows, and long-haired white dogs from India), sagaces (same as Linn. sagax, hounds or Talbots), scoticus (Scottish greyhound, recogized here as separate though it is also lumped in with graius and hibernicus and maybe venaticus too) , sibiricus (sled dog of the Siberians), turcicus (small snub-nosed dog), urcani (the mastiffs of Tibet), variegatus (black and white Harlequin Dogs, similar to the Roquet; the little Danish dog), venaticus (all the types of sighthounds, divided into log furred and short furred), and vertegus (turnspits).

Robert Kerr translated Systema naturae into English in 1792, and gave the name Canis antarcticus to the Dingo.

The naming of "species" of dogs continued to increase in the 1800s. 13 species still shown as synonyms for Canis lupus familiaris were described by C. E. H. Smith in 1839, including sub categories of 'species' already described. One C. l. familiaris synonym is as late as 1950, hagenbecki (Krumbiegel, 1950), Hagenbeck wolf or Andean wolf, now Dasycyon hagenbecki (different genus from the Falkland wolf described by Gmelin. )

C. E. H. Smith's canis 'species' (actually types of domestic dog) described in 1839: alco (a Native American dog type, a subset of the previously described americanus), borealis (Inuit sled dog, "Eskimo Dog"), ferus (Feral dogs, possibly meaning the dingo or pariah type), glaucus ("great cur" of western Russia, Denmark, and northern Germany), haitensis (Feral Dog of St Domingo/Haiti; very large tracking dog), leporarius ("The ancient greyhound of Nubia and Abyssinia"), pacificus (Dogs of the South Sea Islands; "The Poe Dog, the Uri-Mahoi of Tahiti and Ilio of the Sandwich Islands"), sagaces (from L. sagax; scent or tracking hounds like the modern Bloodhound or Basset Hound - or a category including all hounds), sanguinarius (bloodthirsty, for human-tracking dogs), suillus (Suilot Dog, the guard dogs of the Ottoman Empire, and their descendants, boar hunting dogs of Hungary and Germany), terraenovae, terrarius (Terriers), and urcani (all Mastiff types).

In additon, there are multiple names for the other subspecies of domestic dog, Canis lupus dingo. First named Canis antarcticus (R. Kerr 1792) for the Australian Dingo, but that name was also used for other canids. The name was settled on Canis dingo (Meyer, 1793) in 1956 and Canis lupus dingo in 1982. Synonyms for Canis lupus dingo which referred specifically to the Dingo were C. familiaris australasiae (Demarest 1820), C. f. australiae (Gray, 1826), C. novaehollandiae (Voigt, 1831) (New Holland Dog was an old name for the Dingo), C. dingoides (Matschie, 1915), and C. macdonnellensis (Matschie, 1915).

Other synonyms for C. l. dingo describe other feral dogs closely related to the Dingo, including C. papuensis (Ramsay, 1879), (not clear what this is or was, papuensis indicates New Guinea); C. tenggerana (Kohlbrugge, 1896) ancient feral dog in India, related to Dingo, from archaelogical sites in the Indus Valley; C. harappensis (Prashad, 1936) named from animal remains from Harappa archeological sites in the Indus valley, collected in the 1920s and 1930s; and C. hallstromi (Troughton, 1957) name first given to the New Guinea Singing Dog.

note 6. ^ The Fédération Cynologique Internationale recognizes Terrier type dogs in four categories called sections: Large and medium-sized Terriers, Small-sized Terriers, Bull type Terriers, Toy Terriers. [24] All other major registries just list all terriers together, sometimes separating out the lap dog versions into a Toy group. [25]

[edit] References

  1. ^ (1967) in The Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Springfield, MA U.S.A.: G&C Merriam Company, pg 2476. “type (4a) the combination of character that fits an individual to a particular use or function (a strong horse of the draft type)” 
  2. ^ [1967] Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, The Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff (in English), Springfield, MA U.S.A.: G&C Merriam Company, 274. “A breed is a group of domestic animals related through common ancestors and visibly 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 a known and designated foundation stock without admixture of other blood.” 
  3. ^ ibid, Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. “visibly similar in most characteristics” 
  4. ^ McMasters, Jill. The Functional Labrador. Doindogs.com. Retrieved on 05/03, 2008. also A forum that includes photos of the differences between conformation and working dogs of the same breed; and description of differences between show and field (working) Springer Spaniels
  5. ^ Christine Mlot (June 28, 1997). Stalking the Ancient Dog. Science News Online. Retrieved on 04/20, 2008.
  6. ^ Berners, Juliana (Original 1486, Facsimile 1975). English hawking and hunting in the Boke of St. Albans : a facsimile edition of sigs. a2-f8 of the Boke of St. Albans (1486) / by Rachel Hands (Facsimile), Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198117159. 
  7. ^ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (editors). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp. (Available from Johns Hopkins University Press, 1-800-537-5487 or (410) 516-6900, or at http://www.press.jhu.edu)
  8. ^ (1995) The International Encyclopedia of Dogs. New York: Howell Book House, 8. ISBN 0-87605-624-9. “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.” 
  9. ^ (1995) The International Encyclopedia of Dogs. New York: Howell Book House, 8. ISBN 0-87605-624-9. “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.” 
  10. ^ (2001) Dog, A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution. New York: Scribner, pg. 87. ISBN 0-684-85530-5. 
  11. ^ The Scottish Terrier, the carin Terrier, and the West Highland White with the same pedigree.Marvin, John T. (1982). "2. Background and Heritage of the Terrier Family", The New Complete Scottish Terrier, Second Edition, New York, N.Y.: Howell Book House Inc., pg 27. ISBN 0-87605-306-1. 
  12. ^ The New Complete Scottish Terrier,pg 17
  13. ^ 'DOGS, WORKING', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 18-Sep-2007 URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/1966/D/DogsWorking/en
  14. ^ (1967) in The Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Springfield, MA U.S.A.: G&C Merriam Company, pg 2476. “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 ~>” 
  15. ^ (1997) "Glossary", Dog Eat Dog, A Very Human Book About Dogs and Dog Shows. New York, N.Y.: Sctibner, pg 186. ISBN 0-684-82253-9. “typey: showing the breed characteristics to maximum effect” 
  16. ^ Jessup, Diane. The Absolute Importance of Type. workingpitbull.com. Retrieved on 05/03, 2008.
  17. ^ Ostrander, Elaine A. (September-October 2007). Genetics and the Shape of Dogs; Studying the new sequence of the canine genome shows how tiny genetic changes can create enormous variation within a single species. American Scientist (online) page 2, chart page 4. www.americanscientist.org. Retrieved on 03/31, 2008.
  18. ^ Thurber, James. in Michael J. Rosen: The Dog Department (Book), Harper Collins, pg 200. 
  19. ^ Capt. Thomas Brown (1829). "“The Tumbler”", Biographical Sketches and Authentic Anecdotes of Dogs (book), Edinburgh & London: Simkin & Marshall, pg 416. 
  20. ^ Cunliffe, J (1991). The Turnspit. Kennel Gazette pp. 20-22. The Kennel Club (UK). Retrieved on 05/01, 2008.
  21. ^ (1577) "Of Our English Dogs And Their Qualities by William Harrison (1534-1593)", in Raphael Holinshed (1577), Lothrop Withington (1876): Holinshed's Chronicles. “[curs named dancers] being of a mongrel sort also, are taught and exercised to dance in measure at the musical sound of an instrument, as at the just stroke of a drum, sweet accent of the citharne, and pleasant harmony of the harp, shewing many tricks by the gesture of their bodies: as to stand bolt upright, to lie flat on the ground, to turn round as a ring holding their tails in their teeth, to saw and beg for meat, to take a man's cap from his head, and sundry such properties, which they learn of their idle roguish masters, whose instruments they are to gather gain, as old apes clothed in motley and coloured short-waisted jackets are for the like vagabonds, who seek no better living than that which they may get by fond pastime and idleness.” 
  22. ^ Linnaeus, C. (translated and revised by R. Kerr). 1792. The Animal Kingdom; or, zoological system of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus. Class I. Mammalia and Class II. Birds. Being a translation of that part of the Systema Naturae, as lately published with great improvements by Professor Gmelin, together with numerous additions from more recent zoological writers and illustrated with copperplates. J. Murray, London, 644 pp.
  23. ^ Additional books used to decipher the Latin names include "The Field Book, or, Sports and Pastimes of the United Kingdom" London, 1833 Effingham Wilson Publishers; and "The Natural History of Dogs" By Charles Hamilton Smith, W.H. Lizars, Oxford University, 1839/40, Volume 2
  24. ^ Fédération Cynologique Internationale. FCI - Breeds nomenclature Group 3. Retrieved on 05/01, 2008.
  25. ^ Canadian Kennel Club. Breed Standards, Terriers. Retrieved on 05/01, 2008.

[edit] See also

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