Dog Breeds

Dogs have been selectively bred for thousands of years, sometimes by inbreeding dogs from the same ancestral lines, sometimes by mixing dogs from very different lines. Initially the selections would have centered on domestication and useful qualities such as hunting ability. Later, dogs were also selected to give attractive and distinctive forms resulting in a vast variety of types. The process continues today, resulting in a tremendous variety of dog breeds.

Dog breeds can be divided into different categories, such as:

Hunting Dogs

A hunting dog refers to any dog who assists humans in hunting, or whose breed was originally developed to do so.

Types of hunting dogs:

Hounds

A hound is a type of dog that assists hunters by tracking or chasing the animal being hunted.

Sight hounds
Scent hounds

Sporting Dogs / Gundogs / Bird Dogs

Sporting dogs, also called gun dogs or bird dogs, were developed to assist hunters or sports people to retrieve prey, usually birds.

Pointers
Setters
Retrievers
Spaniels

Terriers

The terrier is a group of dog breeds initially bred for hunting and killing vermin.

Working (or Utility) Dogs

Herding dogs

Guard Dogs

Sled dogs

Other Working Dogs

Toy Dogs

A toy dog is a very small dog kept as a pet.

Companion Dogs

Companion dog usually describes a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks. Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers, but any dog can be a companion dog

Generally, before a type of dog can be recognized as a breed, it must be shown that mating a pair of that type always produces dogs that have the same characteristics as the parents, usually both in appearance and in behavior. This is known as breeding true. There are many issues concerning what is considered breeding true.

The point at which a new variety becomes recognized as a breed can be difficult to decide. National kennel clubs often differ in their recognition of breeds and rare breeds might not be recognized outside their home country. Usually, only dogs recognized by a kennel club are eligible to compete in the club's dog shows and dog sports.

Many traditional dog breeds recognized by the main registries are said to be "purebred". Only individuals whose parentage consists only of other purebred examples of the breed are regarded as part of that breed. This concept has caused controversy both because of the difficulty of regulation and because of the possible genetic consequences of a limited population.

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