Two of these dogs are not terriers at all, but have "terrier" in their name and are included here for that reason alone. One is a type of miniature molosser breed (the Staffordshire), the other a type of spaniel (the Tibetan).
Only one type of true working terrier is shown: a Jack Russell type. Absent are the Patterdale terrier, the red Fell terrier, the Border terrier, and the Plummer terrier.
Several large breeds that are not true terriers are also not shown: Airedale, Black Russian and American Staffordshire (aka the Pit Bull).
Form follows function? It is a line that has always been complete nonsense, as I have noted in the past, unless the function you are talking about is collecting blue ribbons and green cash!
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5 comments:
You wrote the other a type of spaniel (the Tibetan), the Tibetan Terrier is not a hunting dog (spaniel), but a small herding dog.
What is the dog 12th from the bottom? - the sort of black & tan (with short wire coat?)
The Tibetan terrier is a western creation and is neither herding dog or hunting dog, but lap dog and temple mascot.
Here's a start for a true history >> http://books.google.com/books?id=fJ1copqUhbIC&pg=PA301&lpg=PA301&dq=Bhuteer+Terrier&source=bl&ots=jot9Fruu1v&sig=2ZbL6mWokeUpH3uobBi6SlQu6rM&hl=en&ei=HfEQTIPrPMWblgeY3IDsBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=Bhuteer%20Terrier&f=false
This dog showed up in the UK in the 1920s and in the US in the 1950s).
Since the Tibetans do not recognize "breeds" as the KC and AKC knows them (narrow standards, closed registries, etc.) one is left wondering when did a Lhasa Apso become and Tibetan Terrier vs a Tibetan Spaniel?
In fact, as the breed club more-or-less admits, this "breed" was invented in the West around the turn of the 20th Centur, based on looks alone. Dogs in the same litter would be deemed to be Lhasa Apso or Tibetan Terriers based on coat type (this was previously done for many other breeds based on ears up or down, etc).
How big was the registry before it was closed? Twenty dogs? Forty?
Of course, as you will find out if you research, the Lhasa Apso, the Tibetan Terrier and the Tibetan Spaniel are all from the same lap dog stock and not too differentiated in Tibet.
As noted in this report from 1904 (http://www.lhasa-apso.org/articles/origins/1930.html )
"There are Tibetan Terriers as large as Russian Poodles, and have others almost as small as Maltese. A few would appear to have Terrier instincts, but many have the habits of the large dog of Tibet. The Lhasa Terrier has now (i.e.:1900) found a foothold in India and is bred there, though not in considerable numbers. At one time it was only to be obtained in its purity at Lhasa, and the breed was once, it is said, jealously guarded by the Bhuddist priests. But, traders finding a demand among the dog loving public of India, contrived to convey specimens to Leh and Kashmir, westward, and to Darjeeling, eastward. Of these little creatures there are to be two contrary types, the terrier and the spaniel. At the Muree (an Indian Hill Station, bordering Kashmir) dog show of September 1900, there was for the first time a separate class granted for this breed, and both types were conspicuously represented. The terrier type (though all Tibetan dogs have the tail curling strongly over the back), strongly resembles the Skye Terrier."
So, to put a point on it, the Tibetan Terrier, Tibetan Spaniel and Lhasa Apso are all the same thing, show in the same show, interbred, and simply classed and differentiated and created by show ring folks.
That's a German Hunt terrier. History is here >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2004/11/german-hunt-terriers.html?m=1
Actually, if you want to carry the Tibetan landrace concept further, the Pekingese is also a member. Pekingese and small Tibetan Spaniels have long been interbred and traded among gentry and Buddhist monks.
Lhasa Apsos sometimes throw recessive short-coated "prapsos" ("perhaps Apsos")in their litters, lending evidence to the shared heritage. These specimens are identical to what we call Tibetan Spaniels.
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