Every Dog Breed Explained (Part 1) | WIRED
– Hi, I’m Gail Miller Bisher,
the voice of the Westminster Kennel Club,
and this is every single breed of dog.
[light upbeat music]
There are 205 breeds
that we’re gonna go over,
so grab your lead, your
bait, and let’s head out
to the show floor.
[light upbeat music]
The 205 breeds that we’re looking at
are all AKC recognized breeds.
That means the American Kennel Club
has deemed these breeds as eligible
to show at AKC recognized dog shows,
such as the Westminster Kennel Club.
Today we have seven groups:
hound, toy, non-sporting, herding,
working, terrier, and sporting.
The groups are determined
by the original function
the dog was bred for.
We have a couple of them
put together in subgroups.
That’s because there’s something
that relates these breeds in some way.
It might be country of origin,
it maybe the coat texture,
it may be temperament.
There are hundreds of
breeds across the world
that aren’t even in the United States,
but as they become popular in the U.S.,
that’s when they’re
added to AKC recognition,
and that’s when they
can show at dog shows,
and they have to fit
into one of these groups.
Herding.
There are 31 breeds in the herding group.
The herding group is comprised of breeds
that were moving livestock
from one point to another.
It might be sheep, it might be cattle.
That is their main goal, is to make sure
they’re helping humans
keep their livestock safe,
and keep them moving.
Originally herding breeds
were part of the working group
and then in 1983, because
there were so many dogs
in the working group, they
split off the herding breeds,
and formed the herding group.
The Australian Cattle Dog,
the Australian Shepherd,
and the Miniature American Shepherd,
are grouped here because they’re all
hard working herding breeds.
The Australian Cattle Dog,
originally from Australia,
is known as a wonderful breed for cattle.
They’re really known to be brave.
Cows are kicking, the
dogs have to be fast,
they have to be determined,
and they cannot be
swayed by a kicking cow.
The Australian Shepherd
actually is a misnomer.
They’re not from Australia.
They’re actually were developed
in the wester part of the
United States by ranchers.
They’re a wonderful herding dog,
that has a strong drive,
just like the Australian Cattle Dog.
The Miniature American Shepherd
is actually just a smaller version
of the Australian Shepherd.
The ranchers wanted
something a little smaller,
is a little more portable,
and that they could use in quick ways,
and it’s become highly
popular with city dwellers.
The subgroup of the Bearded
Collie and Border Collie,
is that they’re both from Scotland.
They’re Scottish herding breeds
and the Bearded Collie has
much more profuse coat,
they were in a cold temperature,
whereas the Border Collie
was as the name says,
on the border of Scotland and England,
and both of them are great herding dogs,
but they have very
different herding styles.
They have a double coat, they
come in four different colors,
fawn, brown, black, and blue.
There’s regular grooming
with that long coat,
but they’re versatile and they participate
in all dog sports.
This subgroup is what we
call the Belgian group.
So these obviously are all from Belgium,
but they have different coat textures,
and they have a different coloring,
and the reason is they’re from
different regions in Belgium.
They would have different
needs of coat texture
and type, based on the terrain,
based on the weather, and the conditions
that the dog would be working.
The Belgian Malinois
has become very popular
with the police, and with military use.
They can be very focused,
and highly trainable,
and very quick to move, and very in tune
with their handler.
The Belgian Sheepdog is all black.
They’re again a very serious minded dog.
They’re a hard working dog.
They’re a large size, though.
I mean, this is the type of thing
you have to take into consideration.
They’re larger than the Malinois.
The Belgian Tervuren has
a double coat as well.
They often have that reddish
color, mahogany color,
with the black overlay.
A black mask, upright ears.
One thing you notice with
all three of these breeds
is they don’t have a long
stride in their gait.
They have a powerful
gait that can go all day,
and that’s a very unique
part of these three breeds.
I’ll talk about how the
dogs gait differently.
The gait is how they trot,
and there’s a different trot
based on the dog’s function.
Sometimes they have to have
a stilted gait in the back,
that means they’re pushing.
If they’re a sled dog,
or a dog that’s pulling,
bone structure is such
that they can push easily.
There are other breeds,
like herding breeds,
some of them have a lot of
extension in their gait,
and that’s so they can
cover a lot of ground
in a short amount of time.
Then there are other dogs
that have a medium stretch of gait,
the endurance gait, so they
can continue all day long
and work all day long.
Here we have the Beauceron,
we have the Berger Picard,
the Bouvier Des Flandres,
and the Briard.
And of course these are all
very different looking dogs,
that’s because they had
different functions.
The Beauceron is a little more protective.
Very obedient, very gentle.
The Berger Picard has that tousled look.
It’s a very wiry coat.
They’re supposed to be very
natural when they’re shown,
they’re not supposed to be
trimmed and soft furred.
They’re supposed to be rough and tumble.
The Bouvier Des Flandres,
similar to the Old English
Sheepdog, was a drover.
They definitely were on watch.
Could be used as a
guardian of flock and home.
They are also a large size,
so they could also be used
to pull carts if needed.
And then you have the Briard.
They are a wonderful herding breed.
It’s a French breed known
for its upright ear carriage,
which gives it an
interesting look to the face,
and head shape.
Here we have the Cardigan Welsh Corgi,
and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
As the name implies,
they’re both from Wales.
The Queen is very well
known for having Corgis.
If you look at the head
shape, the head size,
the body shape in the front,
they’re very different.
Again, they’re for
livestock, mostly cattle.
Having that low center of gravity,
when a cow kicks its hoof out back,
the dog is low and back far enough
that it can’t get hit.
Another thing that’s
interesting is both these dogs
have the flat heat,
especially the Pembroke,
has a flat top skull,
so that if it does get kicked by a cow,
it won’t hurt the dog’s skull.
Here we have the Rough Collie,
which is the coated one.
The Smooth Collie, and
then the Shetland Sheepdog,
which isn’t a Collie, but
looks like a miniature Collie.
Oftentimes people think the Sheltie
is just a miniaturized Collie,
but it is a separate breed.
So the Collie of course became famous
when Lassie had his TV show,
and they were actually entered
at the Westminster Dog Show in the 1800s.
JP Morgan had his Collies at our dog show.
The Smooth Collie, as the name implies,
they have a smoother coat.
The reason is of course temperature.
You might be in the Bramalls of Scotland.
You don’t wanna have to worry about
that coat getting tangled up,
so here you have a nice smooth breed.
If you’re a shepherd, you don’t wanna have
to worry about grooming your dog.
You wanna make sure dogs
are happy and healthy.
Then there’s the Shetland Sheepdog.
Now the Shetland Sheepdog is
such a trainable awesome breed
that they’re in so many different sports.
They excel in agility, obedience.
You see them everywhere,
and that’s because they
want to please their owners,
like most herding breeds.
The next subgroup is
the Scandinavian breeds,
and of course these all were herding dogs,
but they herd in different ways,
and in different climates.
That would account for why their size,
and their coats are different.
There’s the Finnish Lapphund,
who has a little thicker coat.
We have the Norwegian Buhund,
who has a shorter coat,
and always a black mask.
And then we have the Swedish Vallhund,
who is a little lower to the ground,
because he was working cattle.
Here we have the two Hungarian breeds
that are known for being
really tough herding dogs.
They don’t take any guff from anybody.
They may look cute and fluffy,
but believe me, they are serious.
The Puli head can be corded or not corded,
and the Pumi’s characteristic feature
is those high ears that are lifted up,
and look super cute, and
they have a very soft coat
that’s a single coat.
Don’t be fooled, that is a
very serious herding dog.
The Bergamasco is known
as working very closely
with its owner.
They sometimes can be a
little suspicious of others,
because that what they
were originally bred to do,
is work with the shepherd,
and to make sure that their flock is safe.
They have a very thick corded coat.
It’s made of three
different types of hair.
The Canaan Dog has a very
strong effortless gait,
and they’re known to
be able to cover ground
in an effortless manner.
Old English Sheepdog is known as a drover,
which means they weren’t
necessarily running all day
to capture or bring back a loose sheep.
What they were really used for
is keeping the flock together
and moving them down the road.
Maybe they’re taking them
to the market for sale,
maybe there moving them
to another paddock,
but it’s really just driving the sheep,
versus herding the sheep,
which is a great skill to have.
The Entlebucher Mountain
Dog is the smallest
of the four Swiss breeds.
The German Shepherd Dog
has long been a favorite
of family, and police and military.
They are very courageous.
They have an exceptional trainability.
They’re very versatile.
They’re very attentive,
and what they’re most known
for is their work ethic.
They will not slow down on the job.
They’re always ready to
go, ready for action.
They have a very unique gait,
and originally they were
called a living fence,
because they would trot
around the entire flock
to keep it safe.
What’s interesting with
the German Shepherd
is if they need to then move into action,
they can switch gears very quickly,
and become powerful trotters instantly,
to get to where they need to be.
They continue to help man in
many different capacities.
Even our best in show winner, Rumor,
who won in 2017, has now gone
on and had litters of puppies.
She has two puppies right now
that have been placed
with veterans with PTSD.
Icelandic Sheepdog is
Iceland’s only native dog,
and they’ve appeared on
their postage stamps.
They come in two types of coat,
the long haired and the short haired.
The Polish Lowland Sheepdog
is very similar looking
to the Bearded Collie,
and they’ve a very different coat texture.
There may be some Polish Lowland
behind the Bearded Collie
several centuries back,
but they are different breeds,
and they have different temperaments.
The Polish Lowland is a
little more suspicious.
They’re a little more cautious,
whereas the Bearded Collie is
generally jumping up on people
and very outgoing.
The Pyrenean Shepherd
is supposed to be shown
in a very natural state.
They’re supposed to be rough and rugged,
and the have a harsh
coat that is important
for the job, and the location
where they would work.
They are a wonderful
breed and a great size,
and they can be in city or country.
The Spanish Water Dog
has a very curly coat,
and as the name says,
they worked in water,
and on land as a general farm dog.
Many people think that this is one
of the original breeds behind
many of today’s water breeds.
Hounds.
The Hound group is the largest group,
with 32 breeds, and these are broken out,
basically by the scent
Hounds, and the sight Hounds.
So the first subgroup
has the Afghan Hound,
the Saluki, the Azawakh,
and also the Sloughi,
and these are all breeds that were
with desert nomads, traveling.
They were hunting things
out in the desert,
and they are super, super fast.
These are sight hounds.
They can see a hare a human cannot see,
and they can go out and
be independent hunters,
work away from the people,
and bring down that game.
The first pair of Afghan Hounds
were brought to the United
States by Zeppo Marx.
The Azawakh, this breed
is a smooth coated,
very tall sight Hound.
They’re rather aloof,
as a lot of Hounds are,
but they make wonderful companions.
When you watch a Saluki go around the ring
at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show,
you’ll see an elegant, effortless gait.
They have a feathering on their legs,
and on their ears.
They’re very independent.
They’re very beautiful.
They’re very elegant and dignified.
The Sloughi first appeared
at Westminster in 2017.
This is a very fast,
smooth coated sight Hound,
that sometimes is hard to say the name,
but it is a graceful and noble breed.
The next subgroup is
the American Foxhound,
the English Foxhound, and the Harrier.
There are slight differences
in these three dogs.
The American Foxhound is taller on leg,
has a little narrower head.
The English Foxhound is a little sturdier,
a little thicker, has a wider skull.
And then of course the Harrier
is also has more substance,
but it’s smaller overall.
And so the hunters used these dogs
based on where they’re hunting,
and what their needs are.
So a taller legged dog, they’d be useful
if you’re going through brush,
whereas the shorter dog might be
when you’re on an open field.
Here we have the Basset
Hound, the Bloodhound,
and the Otterhound,
and the one thing these
three all have in common,
are the very long Hound ears.
Those ears aren’t just
cute and wonderful to hold,
there’s a purpose.
The purpose is to bring in scent.
So when the dog’s head is
on the ground sniffing,
and trying to follow a scent,
the ears actually help collect scent,
and help the dog follow.
Now Otterhound of course is interesting,
because he’s in the water a lot,
and he has webbed feet for that.
Form follows function.
These dogs are shaped,
and have these features based
on what their jobs were.
Here we have the Beagles,
the 15 in, and the 13 inch.
Everyone knows that Beagles
are so friendly and outgoing,
and that’s because they are a pack animal,
and they have to be able to
get along with other dogs,
and people, and work for humans together.
That’s part of the reason Beagles
have always been a favorite
in the United States.
Here we have the American
English Coonhound,
the Black and Tan Coonhound,
the Bluetick Coonhound,
the Redbone Coonhound,
and the Treeing Walker Coonhound.
And then of course
there’s the Plott Hound,
which is named after a person.
So the Bluetick Coonhound is known
by that ticking in the coat.
That means the little
dots, the little spots,
and that bluish tone to
it, it’s a beautiful coat.
And then the Redbone,
it’s a beautiful red color
of varying shades.
Now if you saw the dogs
next to each other,
you’d notice more than
just a coat difference.
They also have different head shapes.
They have different substance,
different amount of bone,
and that’s because it depends on
the hunting conditions
they would be used in.
Now the Dachshund’s have a lot of variety,
because there’s two sizes, the
miniature and the standard,
and then there’s three coat varieties,
the Longhair, the
Smoothcoat, and the Wirehair,
so there’s a little bit
of something for everyone,
and they have different temperaments.
The Wirehairs are more Terrier like.
The Smoothcoats are the original Hound,
and so they are more of a
Hound independent thinker.
And then the Longhairs are a
little sweeter I would say,
a little more wanting to
be in your lap companion,
and that’s probably because
they’re Spaniel introduced
when the long coat was needed.
You may ask, “Why do you
need three different coats?”
The reason is, again,
it’s temperature, weather.
If you have a colder temperature,
you want a dog that has fur on it,
so that it can keep hunting,
and these dogs, as I said before,
are very independent thinkers.
They were not, unlike the herding breeds,
who worked with man,
these work with humans,
but they worked away from them.
They didn’t take direct commands.
They would go out and find the badgers,
the hare, and different rabbits,
and different small game,
and then they would follow that vermin
into the ground, under in tunnels.
They have to be very bold
to go in a dark tunnel,
after a badger, and then they would bark
until the hunter found them,
and could get the quarry underground.
So they’re supposed to be bold,
they’re supposed to be bark-ey,
and they’re supposed to
be independent thinkers.
Here we have the Grand
Basset Griffon Vendeen,
and the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen.
They’re very similar looking tousled,
rough looking dogs, with the long ears.
Obviously the Grand is bigger,
and the Petit is smaller,
but there are other differences.
The Grand has a lot more girth to it.
They have a different
temperament somewhat.
Again, these are pack animals,
so they’re very outgoing,
and happy, and loving dogs.
They’re bred to work with other dogs,
but it depended on the job.
If you need a big one, use the big one,
if you need a small one,
you use the small one.
Now, the Pharaoh Hound,
and the Ibizan Hound,
both like to compete and say their dogs
are the ones that are at the entrance
of the tombs in Egypt.
I’m not sure which one
it is, we don’t know.
They are both ancient, ancient breed.
The Pharaoh Hound is known to blush,
and turn a little pink
in its cheeks and nose
when it’s excited, or anxious.
The Cirneco Dell’etna, however,
is much smaller than the other two,
but has a very similar
outline and that classic look
that you can see that it
looked like it may have been
in Egypt at some point.
Here we have the Irish Wolfhound,
the Scottish Deerhound, and the Borzoi,
which used to be called
the Russian Wolfhound.
These large breeds have Greyhound
behind them at some point.
They’re very fast.
They can take down large game.
They’re known for taking down wolves,
elk, deer, anything of larger size
that might be near the castle,
or might be a predator of some kind.
They were there to guard
and to hunt with noblemen.
They’ve been part of
the castle, as I said.
They weren’t necessarily out in the barn.
These were house dogs.
Here we have the
Greyhound, and the Whippet.
The look very similar to each other,
yet they are very distinct breeds.
The Whippet’s head is
very different shaped
than the Greyhound, but they
are both wonderful pets.
They’re super fast, so if you’re going
to have one at home,
you have to make sure you have a yard,
or always keep them on lead,
because otherwise if
they got away from you,
they could keep going.
What’s interesting is
most Greyhound people say
that their dogs are couch
potatoes in the house.
They really just like to lounge around,
but once outside, if they see something,
they’re gonna go after it.
The Basenji is an African breed,
with a ring tail, and it’s
known as the barkless dog,
although it does make sounds,
but it’s not known as the typical barker.
The Norwegian Elkhound
has a very thick coat,
and the name is actually
a little misleading,
because they didn’t hunk
elk, they hunted moose.
The Portuguese Podengo Pequeno
is a great little family dog.
They’re so fun, and feisty,
and ready for action.
They’re also known as the
national dog of Portugal.
The Rhodesian Ridgeback
has become more popular
in the United States in the last 10 years.
They’re beautiful outlined,
they’re known for that
ridge of fur on their back
that goes the wrong direction.
They’re known as being
stoic and very brave,
but you have to be if you’re
a lion hunter in Africa.
They were known to keep
lions at bay for the hunter.
Non-sporting.
In the beginning, there
was the sporting group,
and the non-sporting group,
and so if you weren’t
a Setter or a Spaniel,
you were put into this group.
The Boston Terrier, the
Bulldog, and the French Bulldog.
These were all Bulldog related breeds,
and they all have that really cute,
kind of smushed face.
A shorter muzzle is what it actually is,
and for the Bulldog,
they were bred in England
as bull baiters.
The dogs would latch onto the bull,
and their strong jaws would clamp on,
and they would release when
the owner said, “Release.”
But now they’re just
the cute lovable mascot
of many sports teams.
The French Bulldog of
course is very popular.
Part of that is because
of its bat-shaped ears.
They also have a very round face.
They’re a sturdy little dog.
They love to go places, they love people,
they kind of snort, and sneeze,
and something very cute
about them that people love.
Here we have the Chinese
Shar-Pei, and the Chow Chow.
Both from China, these
breeds, very different coats.
The Shar-Pei has almost
a sandpaper feel to it,
and the Chow Chow generally
has a very thick coat,
and so when you’re brushing that dog out,
you have to make sure
you get all the way down
to the skin.
Here we have the Bichon Frise,
and the Coton De Tulear.
The Bichon Frise won Best in Show
at Westminster most recently
in 2018, that was Flynn.
The Coton is the royal dog of Madagascar.
Here we have the Dalmatian,
and the Xoloitzcuintli.
Now the reason I put these two together,
is because they’re both very popular
in their original countries,
and because they’ve both become superstars
from Disney films.
The Dalmatian of course
is original coach dog,
who is in “101 Dalmations”,
and the Xolo was featured in
a recent Pixar film, “Coco”.
Here we have the Finnish
Spitz, and the Keeshond.
These are both Spitz breeds,
meaning they have got upright ears,
they have a fox-like face,
and the Keeshond of course
has a much thicker coat.
It’s similar to a Chow Chow
in that it’s a thick double coat.
Interestingly they have a black mask,
it looks like they’re wearing spectacles,
and they’re called the laughing Dutchman,
because when they open their mouth,
it looks like they’re smiling.
This was a barge dog that was used
as a all around guard dog, ratter,
whatever you needed it for.
This was an all purpose dog.
If you wanna bring a Finnish
Spitz into your home,
make sure you have a fenced yard,
or you keep that dog on leash.
They’re known to wanna roam.
Here we have the Miniature Poodle,
and the Standard Poodle
in the non-sporting group,
and of course the Standard Poodle is known
for being one of the most trainable
and human-like dogs in the dog world.
Sometimes people wonder why their coat
is clipped as it is,
and it’s important to remember
that the Standard Poodle was originally
a water retrieving dog,
and so the pom poms on its joints,
on its hips, and around its vital organs,
were left on there to
help keep the dog warm
in chilly water,
whereas the rest of the coat was removed,
so the dog would flow
through the water easily.
The Miniature Poodle is
the medium size poodle.
There’s the Standard, Miniature,
and then the Toy Poodle in the Toy group.
Here we have the Tibetan Spaniel,
and the Tibetan Terrier.
Obviously two breeds from Tibet.
Very different jobs, but
both of them are known
for being hearty, and
being very serious breeds.
The Tibetan Spaniel makes
a wonderful city dog.
They’re easy to groom,
they’re easy to transport.
So the Tibetan Terrier in the show ring
has a long, thick coat,
but if you want one as a pet,
you don’t have to keep that long coat.
You can clip it back, and still enjoy
the great features of that breed.
The American Eskimo was
known as a circus dog.
It’s very trainable, it’s cute,
it can learn things quickly,
and they’re very popular
in lots of dog sports.
The Lhasa Apso is a
wonderful lap dog today,
as it was centuries ago.
This breed was as guard dog in palaces,
but also a faithful companion.
The Lhasa Apso was the first Tibetan breed
to be recognized by the
American Kennel Club.
The Lowchen can come
in all kinds of colors.
They have that feature of
the tail over the back,
but it’s a teacup handle.
They’re fun, affectionate little breed.
The Norwegian Lundehund has
some very unique features.
They have six toes.
They have a very flexible neck.
And all of this is so
they can hunt puffin.
That’s what they were
originally bred to do.
The Schipperke is a
cabby little compact dog,
all in black.
Always alert and ready to go.
The Shiba Inu is a very
popular breed in Japan,
and they’re gaining popularity
in the United States.
They’re quiet in demeanor,
they’re very clean,
often called cat-like.
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