Dog dealers, Kennel Club matrons, and book authors will name three different breeds out of the same litter and dance up incredible stories claiming aristocratic, mysterious, and always ancient, roots.
That’s not metaphor either. At early dog shows the same dog would be shown as a Fox Terrier at one show and a “White Lakeland” at another.
The breeder of “Old English Black and Tans” one year was presenting the same dogs as “Welsh Terriers” a year later.
A dog that was a Skye Terrier at one show was renamed and presented as a Cairn Terrier — a brand new ancient breed — at another.
Within the same litter were found a Tibetan Terrier, a Lhasa Apso, and a Tibetan Spaniel based on differing coat type and tail carriage alone.
And of course there must always be mystery and Gypsies — maybe even pirates and Dukes — in the breed origin story.
Look at that first picture. What’s that dog behind Tommy Dobson? Dobbie? What? A Harry Potter terrier? Fantastic!
And that dog in second picture is a Fell-type Border Terrier? Nice — an adjective and a noun. Very different from a Border-type Fell Terrier, I am sure, and quite different from a Border-type Patterdale, or a Patterdale-type Border. All very different dogs, don’t you know.
And so it goes throughout the dog world, where early poodles were shivered into a half dozen “water dogs” and as many types of poodles, all distinct and without much of a difference.
The same thing happened to shepherds, pointers, retrievers, bull dogs, lap dogs…. it’s quite a list.
And, to be sure, the names and histories *are* important because once you’ve removed the dog from the field and the work, then the name, contrived history, and vacuous “standard” is all you have left.
What else is there to sell but the brand, the book, and the entry fee for the next show?
Nothing!
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