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Dog Breeds
What breed of dog is right for you?
Dog Breeds Discussed in This Section:
Choosing the Right Breed
Sight hounds
Scent hounds
Working and guard dogs
Toy and companion dogs
Northern dogs
Flushing spaniels
Water Spaniels/retrievers
Pointers
Terriers
Herding dogs
Why dog breeds are so important:
Choosing a dog with a personality and temperament that really fits your own may be the most important aspect of choosing the perfect dog for your family. Different dogs think and act differently – some will fit in with your family, and some won’t. This isn’t just a matter of knowing the rules and being housebroken – it’s about how the dog’s personality fits with yours.
I once found a beautiful Brittany spaniel in the local Humane Society that was loving, intelligent, loyal, and fun-loving – the “perfect” dog. But she and I just didn’t get along. We were constantly bickering with each other over the slightest things, like college roommates complaining about each other’s dirty socks.
After about six months I gave her to a family that needed a new dog. A few days later I got a call from the father who thanked me profusely for giving them such a wonderful, well trained dog. I couldn’t believe he was talking about the spaniel I had found so irritating. I have no doubt that Marci was far happier living with a family where her people understood spaniels.
Knowing the breed dog that fits your personality may take some trial and error, but in the end it’s the key to finding the perfect dog.
There are two different ways you can go about choosing the dog breed you want. Well, three, if you include going to the local animal shelter and getting to know each dog that appeals to you. (That isn’t a bad way to do it, actually, but some research ahead of time could keep you from bringing home too much of a surprise).
How to choose a dog breed
The first way is to pick a general breed group based on the dogs’ historic roles in human life. The other way is to pick a general category of dogs from the way they tend to interact (or not) with people.
The breed listings on this site are all purebreds, for simplicity, but mutts and mixes of two or more breeds, perhaps from two different groupings, can create a wonderful personality and temperament. Terriers crossed with almost anything, for instance, will temper the terrier’s famous hyperactivity. A greyhound crossed with almost anything will bring a mellow touch to the mix.
The Canine Studies Institute in Aurora, Ohio has found through gene mapping that all dogs can be classified into 10 major groupings, based on their genetic relationships to each other. The following list is from Dog Genome Project, which groups dogs into closely related families:
• Sight hounds
• Scent hounds
• Working and guard dogs
• Toy and companion dogs
• Northern dogs
• Flushing spaniels
• Water Spaniels/retrievers
• Pointers
• Terriers
• Herding dogs
All these types of dogs are closely related because they come from ancestral stock that stood out for a particular behavior – a behavior that humans were able to put to work. Humans bred dogs together that would pass on their particular talents, and prevented untalented offspring from breeding. Through years of effort the wild dog was transformed into the beautiful and varied dogs of today.
Remember, unless your chosen dog is a retired senior, he will need to express the behaviors that he has been bred for. He cannot rearrange his own genetic heritage to suit your needs, and your training and patience will do little to temper his instincts. However, older dogs will still display lots of the breed personality, with considerably less physical activity and mischief to go with it.
To learn more about dog breeds, click on the links below:
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Sight houndsSaluki, greyhound, whippet, Afghan hound, Irish Wolfhound, etc. |
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Scent houndsBloodhounds, foxhounds, beagles, dachshunds, basset hounds, etc. |
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Working and guard dogsMastiff, Rottweiler, St. Bernard, English Bulldog, Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull), etc. |
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Northern breedsAlaskan Husky, Malamute, Akita, Samoyed, Pomeranian, etc. |
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Flushing spanielsAmerican and English Cocker spaniels, Springer spaniel, Clumber spaniel, Field spaniel, etc. |
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Water spaniels and retrieversLabrador retrievers, Golden retrievers, etc. |
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PointersEnglish shorthair pointers, German shorthair pointers, Irish setters, English setters, Gordon setters, Weimaraner, Brittany spaniel. etc. |
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TerriersScots Highland terrier, Jack Russell terrier, Airedale terriers, Bedlington terriers, Cairn terriers, Norwich terriers, etc. |
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Herding dogsGerman shepherds, Welsh corgi, Old English sheepdog, Border collie, Australian shepherd, etc. |
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Companion dogMaltese, pug, toy poodle, pomeranian, shih tzu, Papillon, Lhasa Apso, etc. |
Another way to choose a dog.
Dr.
Stanley Coren, a professor of psychology at the University of British
Columbia uses a different grouping of dog breeds than the one we looked
at previously. Instead of using the genetic history of the breeds for his
categories, he designates seven different groups based on their general
personalities. He believes that you will love a dog that has a personality
that is similar to your own.
In some cases his groupings agree with the Dog Genome Project’s
genetic groups, and in other cases they don’t.
Dr. Coren’s theory is actually quite realistic – there are some dogs and people who just don’t like each other and there are some dogs and people that seem to “click” right from the start. He believes that you will be happiest (and your pooch will be happiest with you) if you choose a dog with your personality in mind. His groupings are:
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– breeds that generally have this personality trait are Border terriers, cocker spaniels, English setters, golden retrievers and Old English sheepdogs. |
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– this grouping corresponds with most of the working and guard dogs, including the Rottweilers, bull terriers and boxers, among others. |
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– in this group Dr. Coren lists most of the terrier breeds. |
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– Pugs and Pekinese are listed in this group. |
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– this group includes most of the scent hounds, bulldogs, Great Danes and St. Bernards. |
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– this grouping includes those dogs that always find their place at the top of any doggy intelligence test, the Border collies, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds and poodles. |
These grouping can be used to narrow your search, but remember that these are generalized traits and characteristics.
As we have discussed before, there will always be puppies – even purebreds, which don’t have the breed’s characteristic instincts, and there will be puppies born with temperaments that fall far outside the expected norm for their breed. But as a general rule, you can expect a Border collie to be good at herding sheep (or children), you can expect a Rottwieler to be assertive and protective, and you can expect a Golden retriever to be a gentle, loving companion who won’t complain overly much if she never gets to hunt – as long as she has a ball to chase or a fitness buddy to run with.
There will be dogs that fall outside the breed’s expectations in a way that actually makes them better companions for a family. Pit bulls have been bred for many years to be fighters, and some have genetic tendencies that make them dangerous family pets. However, my mother’s favorite dog was a Staffordshire terrier, sometimes known as an English pit bull, and he was calm and gentle around children and other animals. Most breed characteristics can be bred out of strain, if a breeder takes the trouble to breed for a specific temperament.
Therefore, if you are offered an older dog that isn’t quite what
you thought you wanted, you may want to get to know him a little better.
He may have exactly the personality you need, in a package that looks much
different than you expected.
Once you have narrowed your search to a grouping of dogs, either
because of the jobs they perform or because of the personalities
they usually exhibit, it is now time to do specific research.
You can do this by reading the breed standard of several breeds
you may be considering, which you can do online at http://www.akc.org/
The AKC groups dogs along slightly different lines than the ones
we’ve just discussed, but they are close enough to be highly
useful for your research.
An alternative is to read the excellent book by Sara Wilson and Brian Kilcommons, two of the best known dog trainers in America. Their book, Paws to Consider: Choosing the Right Dog for You and Your Family, gives their expert opinions on the best qualities each breed offers, along with the real drawbacks that the AKC breed standards will probably not tell you.
When studying the AKC standards be sure to pay far more attention to the characteristic temperament described in the breed standards than the physical characteristics, unless you really intend to enter your new dog in the show ring. If the standard does not mention temperament or personality, and many of them don’t, you should be able to find websites devoted to the specific breed you’re considering. To find one, just type in the name of the breed in the search bar at http://www.google.com
Don’t skip this research because you intend to find a mutt at the pound. Almost all mixed breed dogs have at least one recognizable parent. If he looks more or less like a Golden retriever he will probably love to swim, and he’ll probably chase a ball. He may even have the mellow, happy-go-lucky attitude towards everything life throws at him. If you would like to know more about mixed breeds and their potential personalities and traits, read the excellent book by Brian Kilcommons and Michael Capuzzo, called Mutts, America’s Dogs: A Guide to Choosing, Loving and Living with Our Most Popular Canine.