When venturing out on a raw January morning, the importance of warm headgear cannot be over emphasized. No need not to b...
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“Dale,” Canada’s First Police Dog
Canada was late to the party, so to speak. It wasn’t until the mid 1930s that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ad...
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The Flat-Coated Retriever’s Head
The Flat-Coated Retriever isn’t regarded as a “head breed,” per se, but it does has a “one piece...
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The “$10,000 Hunting Dog”
Upon his death, the New York Times ran an obitiuary in which he was called the “$10,000 hunting dog,” the Ma...
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The Shiba’s Name: Brushwood, Size or Color?
NPDD veterans know from previous posts that “Inu” is the Japanese word for dog; less clear is the origin of ...
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How a Breed Club Helped Put “Seaman” Back
If you drive west on 8th Street for 2.5 miles to Fort Mandan Road, then south for 0.4 miles on Fort Mandan Road in Wash...
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The FOXI3 Gene
It seems counterintuitive, but the gene that causes hairlessness in the Chinese Crested is dominant to the gene of the c...
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Oregon’s State Dog?
Two resolutions in the Oregon State Legislature are proposing two different candidates to be Oregon’s state dog. Â...
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Pied and Irish Pied
Coming from a breed in which only solid colors are acceptable, we’ll defer to experts on this: “Pied”...
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Papillon Feet
The next time you see a Papillon in a show coat, check out their feet. Â Groomers leave a tuft of hair over the foot whi...
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The Tomten’s Helper
We think we’d all like one of these, someone to help around the house who doesn’t expect to be paid (or fed)...
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Meet a B.P.S.
Favorite hunting grounds have sometimes lead to the creation of some terrific breeds, if unwittingly. In the 19th and e...
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Herding Fish & Snagging Balls
Herding fish seems as farfetched as herding cats, but we know of two dog breeds that did just that. The Fuegian Dog of ...
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Saving Breeds
Think “designer breeds” are something new? In one country, dog fighting had become very popular, so much so ...
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Japan’s Oldest Breed: Maybe Not What You Think
A dog you won’t often see (if at all outside of Japan) is the Ainu, thought to be Japan’s oldest dog breed (...
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New Guinness Records (and an old one that stands)
And now for something completely different: Everyone loves Guinness World Records, though we cringe when the record is f...
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Saluki Races
When the need for hunting dogs diminished in the United Arab Emirates, proud Saluki owners created an annual dog race t...
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The Japanese Akita and the American Akita
In your “travels” as a student of dogs, you may encounter references to the “American Akita” and...
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The Oldest Single Breed Specialty Club
The oldest single breed specialty club is England’s The Bulldog Club which was formed in 1878. Members met regularly a...
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Betty Boop: What Breed Was She?
Betty Boop, a character created by the Fleischer Brothers in 1930, became a cultural icon in the 1930s. She was a nostal...
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