The dog breeds of old?

Question

Dog breeds change extensively over the decades to suit our needs and lifestyles. Sometimes the original structure and standards are forgotten completely or adapted and rewritten. The dogs that were in existence years ago, the founding dogs of our breeds today, have been forgotten. We have altered everything about these breeds, so that the dogs of the past are sometimes not recognizable as the breed they have come to represent today. To me, the history of my breed is just as important as their present existence.

I would like to know how your breed has changed over the decades. What did the first of your breed look like? Has your breed changed at all over the years? If so, has your breed changed for the better?

Lastly, which do you prefer - the earlier founding dogs of your breed or the representatives of your breed of today?

Some earlier examples of my breed, the German Shepherd Dog.

http://www.ovejerismo.com/articulos/images/horand.jpg

http://www.valvygne.com/Files/16664/HectorScwaben.jpg

http://dragongsd.com/Beowulf.jpg

http://dragongsd.com/VA_Beowulf_vom_Nahegau.jpg

Answer 1

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/...

http://www.pitbullhelp.com/images/famous... - Helen Keller with her Pit Bull

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1293/7560...

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1339/7560... - first dog to travel the country in a car.

http://www.pitbullregistry.com/images/Pe...

http://www.governorsfootguard.com/stubby... - Sgt, Stubby most decorated war dog ever saved over 1000 lives.

i love the original Pit Bull they were great dogs, and an American Icon, i wish we could go back to that instead of trying to ban these american heroes. it sickening what people are doing to this breed, and what they are turning it into.

heres the latest "thing" they are doing to these dogs.

http://kinnemankennels.com/images/life1....

disgusting and is a complete slap in the face to the REAL American Pit Bull Terriers

Great Question by the way, Thanks alot.

i completely agree with their history is just as important as their present, i love reading the history on Pit Bulls, although some isnt the greatest, but its very interesting

Answer 2

Here's a collection of Crested born prior to 1985.. some are dated from 1965.  (there's some dated 1900 on the last page, but as they are color photos, they are obviously incorrect)

http://www.chinesecrested.no/en/registry...

Although current cresteds still vary, there is more consitency today with the overall body structure.  The cresteds of yesterday tho were true hairless.  Today people focus on the flashy furnishings, and the result is dogs with more body hair.  I prefer the true hairless, as they are suppossed to be a hairless dog.

Answer 3

From this..

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/show...

To this..

http://www.azgard.co.uk/RetiredWorkingDo...

(Best of Breed at Crufts )

The British have bred a racier dog instead of an endurance dog.. (Although there are little places for a Siberian to run for 30miles over here.)

Can you see the difference? Does that look like the same breed to you?

I do not see why they are changing the breed to fit Morden racing standards. Siberian Huskies are not “sprint” dogs, they should not be bred as such!

Answer 4

Excellent question, and first I've gotta say, GO Ulva! :) Excellent response!

The important thing to remember about the Siberian is that the word "moderate" is used in the standard 16 times. There is to be no exaggeration in this dog. Medium-sized, medium speeds, medium loads.

You've seen the old pic of Leonard Seppala (father of the Siberian in North America) and his dogs that Ulva posted. Like many working breeds, we seem to have gone two different ways. Not only has modern racing produced extreme examples of the breed:

http://www.seppalasleddogs.com/sssd_imag...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/2771...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/2772...

The show ring has also warped the vision of some breeders, who will sacrifice athleticism for "flying side gait" that gets them noticed in the ring. This inevitably produces a dog that is short on leg and heavy-bodied, but "pretty"...

http://www.utopialands.com/Images/Branni...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2771...

Yes, the dogs in all of the examples I gave are the same breed! :)

Neither of these is correct, and I'm not at all convinced that the breed has changed for the "better". What I strive to produce is something similar to the original imports -- they were the dogs built to get the job done, and I would prefer to maintain their integrity than try to "improve" upon what was near perfect to begin with. These were the dogs upon which the SHCA Standard was based, and in breeding to the Standard, you should be producing dogs similar to those standing with Leonard Seppala.

That's why I've never been fond of the phrase, Breeding to "improve the breed". My breed was fine for thousands of years. It doesn't require "improvement". I would prefer to maintain the traits that make the breed what it is, rather than change them to make me more competitive. As you can see, there are people who have not necessarily done that, although they may have achieved success in their respective venues.

Answer 5

I AGREE W/ SARAH .........

Answer 6

Aww gosh.. I just logged on cuz I had a few minutes and I HOPE I'll have time to come back later and add in some photos etc.. of some of the originally imported Samoyeds.

For the most part, world wide, Samoyeds have become cute, overstuffed/overfluffed furballs that barely look like the same breed as the original imports--- I will add that there were ALWAYS some of that type of Samoyed as well as the longer, leaner, leggier type of Samoyed.

The Samoyed is a multi-purpose utility dog.  Due to this there is a divergence of type within the breed.  There will be the dogs that look like sledge pulling dogs... and there will be dogs that conformationally look more like a herding dog (think Rough Collie or Sheltie).  BOTH of these types are allowed... what is not allowed is extremeness of type- a proper Samoyed should look nothing like a cobby white Chow... NOR should it look anything like a Siberian Husky (while they are the same height and roughly the same structure- with a bit more angulation in a Sam to accomplish the "turn on a dime" herding manuevers, a Samoyed should have a LOT more bone/substance as well as a completely different head and profile).  

Here are some photos of rather famous early Samoyeds.  Some of these could easily be shown in the ring today.  

http://www.dashingsams.com/id45.html

Take a look at Antarctic Buck, who was one of the best of the breed ever-- today, in most countries and under most judges he would be considered too "wolfy"... yet, he was the epitome of the Samoyed breed at that time.

Look at Vilna and Ayesha- either of these could be shown in the US today and win, although they would probably not win in England or Australia as they are not cobby enough.

Take a look at Peter the Great--- who was a nearly chocolate brown Samoyed... and realize that as the breed was becoming popular in England in the early 1900's it was decided to concentrate only on the white Samoyeds (and allow bisquit) as, at that time, there were no white dogs of the size in the kennel club.

I am opting NOT to show dogs of today as I don't know that I can do so without being prejudiced.