We came across a couple of lists the other day of the “World’s Oldest Dog Breeds” and noticed that they didn’t agree. That got us to wondering, so we did a Google search of “world’s oldest dog breeds,” and came across several lists. How they ranked their breeds appears below, whose list do you think is the most accurate?
I (heart) Dogs.com list:
1) Afghan Hound
2) Akita
3) Basenji
4) Shar-Pei
5) Chow Chow
6) Pekingese
7) Saluki
8) Samoyed
9) Shih Tzu
10) Tibetan Terrier
Discovery.com’s List:
1) Afghan Hound
3) Basenji
4) Shar-Pei
5) Chow Chow
7) Saluki
8) Samoyed
9) Shiba Inu
10) German Spitz
Pet 360’s List (which wasn’t originally numbered):
3) Basenji
4) Ibizan Hound
6) Carolina Dog
8) Borzoi
9) Greyhound
10) Saluki
Everlist’s List:
1) Afghan Hound
2) Akita
3) Alaskan Malamute
4) Basenji
5) Chow Chow
6) Lhasa Apso
7) Pekingese
8) Saluki
9) Samoyed
10) Shar-Pei
Animal Hearted.com’s List (originally unnumbered and longer)
1) Afghan Hound
2) Akita
3) Basenji
4) Shar-Pei
5) Chow Chow
6) Pekingese
7) Saluki
8) Siberian Husky
9) Shih Tzu
10) Tibetan Terrier
11) Alaskan Malamute
12) Shiba Inu
13) Lhasa Apso
Canest.com’s List:
1) Afghan Hound
2) Akita Inu
3) Alaskan Malamute
4) Basenji
5) Chow Chow
6) Pekingese
7) Saluki
8) Shar Pei
9) Shiba Inu
10) Siberian Husky
mypawsitivelypets.com
1) Afghan Hound
2) Akita
3) Basenji
4) Shar-Pei
5) Chow Chow
6) Pekingese
7) Saluki
8) Samoyed
9) Shih Tzu
10) Tibetan Terrier
11) Siberian Husky
12) Shiba Inu
13) Lhasa Apso
As for our image, we picked a breed that’s now extinct: The Talbot Hound, the predecessor of the modern beagle, Coonhound and closely related to the Bloodhound. Image found on Piterest and happily credited upon receipt of information.
I wonder… What were the criteria for the lists? According to Parker ”et al.” (2017) every list is wrong, and I tend to believe her. However, and as far as I know, the New Guinea Wild Dog was not a part of her study and may very well be the oldest living’ dog today. Thus the Basenji is according to Parker the dog closest to the wolves, among the 400 or more breeds acknowledged.
Parker, H. G., Dreger, D. L., Rimbault, M., Davis, B. W., Mullen, A. B., Carpintero-Ramirez, G., & Ostrander, E. A. (2017) Genomic Analyses Reveal the Influence of Geographic Origin, Migration, and Hybridization on Modern Dog Breed Development. Cell Reports 19(4):697–708, 25 April 2017. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.03.079.
A great question, Tom, and good information. We’ll do some digging and see if we can’t find out more….