This isn't just a "show" thing. The Pumi’s coat serves a functional purpose!...
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“Black Cadillac”
Mind you, pairing two black Chihuahuas together for the sake of color is a really bad idea because responsible breeders ...
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When is a Beagle Not a Beagle?
We conclude with the nerdy admission that we find breed standards endlessly interesting, but some trivia won't save your...
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“Entertaining Ninjas”
Built in 1915, the zoo has mostly deer, monkeys, and waterfowl breeding centers, but of particular interest to us is zoo...
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Mini Winnie: Britain’s First Cloned Dog
There are more "famously owned" cloned dogs than we might guess, but we conclude with the question: Just because we can,...
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“I’m Excited, So Here’s My Butt”
We came across a breed forum in which a robust discussion was over dogs who endearingly moved their back ends like a hul...
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The New, Not Entirely English, Drover
If, on a dare, you ever call a phone number written on a bathroom stall following the words, "For a good time, call........
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Tuftastic!
We caution that a particular word found in the standard hints that grooming for this isn't a requirement, but a suggesti...
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“Pleading” the 5th
It's not a word we would associate with a working dog, and if ever there is a dog driven to work via scent or sight, it'...
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What Changes After 100 Years?
Reading breed standards written nearly 100 years apart is insightful because, in part, it reveals what is essential in a...
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The Staffie’s Genius Owner
There are a couple of reasons we write about once-famous people, and one of them is born of curiosity about what interes...
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The Penalty Box
Depending upon the breed's standard, the consequence of having a certain fault in a dog show conformation ring may resul...
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Never the Two Shall Meet
In parallel parking, the idea is to situate the car so that the long side of the parked car is lined up, or parallel, to...
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Don’t Do Dull
"Dullness" as used in this standard is particular interesting because "heaviness without dullness" might seem a contradi...
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“…To Unsnare Time’s Warp”
Honestly, the poem could describe most of our breeds, but the writer had a specific breed in mind, and as they say, "it ...
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Alphabet Lips
Nitpicky? Maybe, but if you were to switch "alphabet lips, you would lose breed type in a big way. These are the little,...
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By a Whisker!
In the dog fancy, which is to say the world of exhibiting and breeding dogs, there is less debate because many breed sta...
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The Man (and the Dog) Behind the Skull
As the lore goes, thirteen rock crystal skulls, said to possess mystical properties, were scattered across the globe, an...
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Skimming the Earth
As he tells the story, the Pyrenean Shepherd breed winner approached him for his individual examination, but first jum...
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The Affenpinscher “This Week”
Dachshunds, Basset Hounds, Bulldogs, and Weimaraners made appearances, and while those popular breeds probably didn't ne...
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