Dog Breeds: Old vs New, Working vs Show- with many pictures

[HeritageGoose13]

I know there's a lot of dog people on this forum, so I thought I would make this thread- something similar has probably been done before.

This is a thread to discuss breeds of dogs how they were a long time ago vs how they are now, and also the differences (appearance, health, temperament, etc) in working-bred dogs versus show bred dogs. I know some show breeders have their dogs work as well. What I mean by a working dog is one who is bred solely for work, and by show dog I mean a dog bred mostly for conforming to the standard.

Here are some pictures from the internet to get the discussion started. Note, I did not add words to any of these, that was already there as part of the picture.













Something interesting to me is show dogs are bred for appearance, yet the working dogs are almost always so much more visually appearing.

 

[GitaBooks]

Yeah, its really sad how many dogs suffer terrible health defects today. People lose dogs so young because of inbreeding, dwarfisim, ect. I've studied it a lot and it makes me so frustrated that people care more about appearance than they do about the health of their dogs.

I could rant all day, so I should probably stop now before I write four pages. LOL

 

[HeritageGoose13]

The thing is, I think most of the working dogs look better than the show ones.

Consider this, a traditional Chinese shar-pei;



or this, a show dog:



American sharpei have so many health problems from all those wrinkles (and in-breeding). The Chinese call their traditional type "bone-mouth" and the American show type, "meat-mouth."

This dog...



looks so much happier than this dog...



Now maybe this dog is happy, but how can I know? It cannot make facial expressions. I would be willing to bet this is a reason sharpei are known for attacking people - you can't read their face and see the warning signs like with other "clean-faced" dogs. I wonder if there are any breeders of the bone-mouth type outside of China...

 

[GitaBooks]

I completely agree with you.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Thankfully there is progress being made. Many of the old breeds are being preserved or re-created.

Here are some old paintings showing what English bulldogs looked like long ago:





This does not look anything like the modern English bulldog...



Someone wanted to get back to the old type of dogs:

Quote:
The end result:








A working dog that can actually breathe!

I'm going to share more of these working breeds, either very old forgotten ones or modern recreations. I think many people would like these kinds of dogs but just don't know they're out there.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I acquired an Olde English Bulldog from a breeder that's more geared towards the working type. He's a very healthy guy. Not much of a farm dog, more of a couch-holder-downer, but I love him to pieces.
I couldn't imagine dealing with all those wrinkles (and associated skin problems) and breathing issues. He's mostly Hermes lines, but theres some Leavitt in there as well.

I feel so sorry for some of those breeds, they just LOOK unhappy :/

 

[collie1470]

I have a Brussels Griffon. The work was bred out of them a long time ago. They used to be ratters. Mine missed the memo. She adores every single living thing she sees. She is not a show line, her breeder hates the extreme pushed in nose. So she is still brachycephalic, but her nose isn't an indent ._.

Totally useless for ratting, but a phenomenal companion animal. Which is fine for my current needs.

 

[collie1470]

My fiance wants a working line GSD, and I want a working line Doberman (I miss driven dogs terribly). Those will be after we get the house and property all set up. Working dogs without jobs are miserable, so we're waiting until we have jobs ready.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

My fiance wants a working line GSD, and I want a working line Doberman (I miss driven dogs terribly). Those will be after we get the house and property all set up. Working dogs without jobs are miserable, so we're waiting until we have jobs ready.

What is it you like about dobermans and your fiance likes about GSD? Do you want them for any particular reason/work or do you just enjoy those dog breeds?

 

[collie1470]

Both, actually. We're getting livestock, so some sort of herding breed will be a must, otherwise we'll be going insane. The guarding abilities of both are highly desired, as we're already rural types, but are moving to the lesser populated region of Maine (not the coast). So, we'll need the extra eyes and ears while out in the heavily wooded raw land on the property (much of which we plan to keep as raw as possible). And I love shepherds, but the agility of a working line Doberman is very hard to beat, and that agility will come in handy getting through the trees, and the inevitable fallen trees all over.

I put a lot more faith into the protective abilities of a well-raised Dobe than I do in my ability to fire a gun at something I need to go away (I'm a military sharpshooter, but a Doberman is faster than my hands are, and their instinct is better than mine).

I'll be spending a good amount of time further from the house tending the gardens (my fiance is allergic to bees, so the gardens will have to be far enough away to minimize the risk of a sting).