A casual question posted on our Facebook page resulted in an unexpected response from readers. We asked: Fanciers, is there a sentence or clause in your breed’s standard that is often misinterpreted or gotten wrong?
Nearly 200 replies came within a hours of posting the query! The question had been inspired by an article we read about common idioms that almost everyone gets wrong.
As we tend to look at most things through the lens of purebred dog ownership, we naturally wondered if the same mistake is made with breed standards. We quickly learned from readers that the answer is a resounding yes!
We are reevaluating how best to organize the robust reaction we got (an embarrassment of riches, as we see it), but we want to get the ball rolling and have to start somewhere. We’ve decided.
We could care less.
Don’t misunderstand. We do care. The expression, “I Could Care Less,” is what got this train of thought moving. It’s an interesting expression that users have been getting wrong for a long time. When a person says, “I could care less,” what they really mean is: “I couldn’t care less” which more accurately implies that they care the most minimal amount possible.
We promise to return to the topic of dogs shortly – and in this post, we’ll discuss the Black Russian Terrier, but we need to set the stage for how the aforementioned expression got so twisted.
The original phrase that showed up in a British publication, the Church Standard and Sunday Magazine, in 1901, gained traction during the 1940s, and was especially noted in 1945 with a BBC war correspondent, Stewart MacPherson. It spread to the United States by the 1950s, but the inverted form, “I could care less” first appeared in print in an Ann Landers advice column in the 60s, this according to some sources.
For a language purist, the grammatically incorrect phrase is akin to fingernails down a chalkboard, but there have been apologists defending its usage. Some linguists point out that language evolves, and “I could care less” is simply colloquial evolution. Others argue that the phrase is sarcasm not unlike the Yiddish expression, “I should be so lucky!” And finally, there is the point of view of linguist, John Lawler, who has suggested that the phrase lost the word “not” through “negation by association,” similar to how the French phrase, “je ne sais pas” evolved into “je sais pas” in colloquial usage.
Whatever. Despite the debate, “I could care less” is probably here to stay as it’s been so widely accepted in the American lexicon. We read, in fact, that “could care less” is now used about five times more frequently than “couldn’t care less” in American speech.
The dog fancy tends to be less forgiving about misinterpreting words, sentences, or clauses from a breed standard. While some words, it should be said, lend themselves to being open to interpretation (the word, ‘medium,’ for example, is ‘medium’ when compared to what?), other words and sentences are not, and this brings us to the Black Russian Terrier.
The AKC breed standard reads, “The Black Russian Terrier must have a stable and reliable temperament, possessing self-assurance and courage,” but for whatever reason, some people have had a tendency to misinterpret the sentence to mean ‘aggressive.’
Aggression is not an inherent trait of well-bred, properly socialized and trained Black Russian Terrier. This is a calm, confident, and self-possessed breed, and to get this wrong is a disservice to the breed and its conscientious breeders. So how did the misconception come about?
We have nothing more than theories, but here are a few:
The Black Russian is a large, powerful dog that is gorgeously impressive in appearance, but perhaps its muscular build and dense black coat is intimidating to some people. Perhaps because the “black Pearl” was originally bred for military and police work, those unfamiliar with the breed equate the breed’s “mission statement” with a pugnacious temperament, but they would do well to bear in mind that the fourth sentence of the breed standard reads, “The Black Russian Terrier must have a stable and reliable temperament.”
Might the word, “terrier” in the breed’s name make some assume that the Black Russian must be terrier-like and “terrier-spirited?” The BLR is a working dog, and the inclusion of the word, ‘terrier,’ in its name is a hat tip to the breeds used in its creation. It is no more a terrier than a Tibetan Terrier is, a breed that is in the AKC’s Non-Sporting group.
We conclude with an important section from the BRT’s standard having to do with temperament.
The character and temperament of the Black Russian Terrier is of utmost importance. The Black Russian Terrier is a calm, confident, courageous and self-assured dog. He is highly intelligent and adapts well to training. The Black Russian Terrier was initially bred to guard and protect. He is alert and responsive, instinctively protective, determined, fearless, deeply loyal to family, is aloof and therefore does not relish intrusion by strangers into his personal space. Shyness or excessive excitability is a serious fault.
Our thanks to Michele B.B.
Image of Black Russian Terrier by Iuliia/AdobeStock