As of this writing, the AKC recognizes 202 breeds, but the original class was made up of nine breeds which, as dog geeks know, were the Pointer, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, English Setter, Gordon Setter, Irish Setter, Clumber Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel, and the Sussex Spaniel – all recognized in 1878.  As an aside, their names were (in order of breed appearance): Ace of Spades, Sunday, Adonis,  Bank, Admiral, Bustler, Capt, Bob, and Jack (also known as Toby).

Lest you get too proud of yourself if you identified all nine breeds, do you know which breed was the tenth to be accepted?

Trick question.

The tenth breed to have been accepted was actually a group of fifteen breeds that all had to wait seven years after the original nine before getting AKC recognized. They were the Basset Hound, Beagle, Bloodhound, Bull Terrier,  Collie, Dachshund, Fox Terrier, Greyhound, Harrier,  Irish Terrier, Mastiff, Pug, Saint Bernard,  Scottish Terrier and the Yorkshire Terrier. With fifteen breeds, this Class of 1885 was the largest number of breeds in AKC history to have been recognized all in the same year.  

The Class of 1886 was also a grouping of breeds. They were the Bedlington Terrier, Bulldog,  Dandie Dinmont Terrier, English Toy Spaniel, Foxhound (American),  Italian Greyhound, Manchester Terrier (Toy),  Newfoundland,  and the Scottish Deerhound.

The same can be said for 1888 when the Airedale Terrier, Dalmatian, Japanese Chin, Maltese, Old English Sheepdog, Pomeranian, Welsh Terrier and the Whippet were welcomed into the AKC family.

The first year that only one breed was accepted by the AKC was in 1891 when the Borzoi was a class of one. Two years later in 1893, the Boston Terrier became the second breed to be by itself when full acceptance came.

Think you know which breeds were recognized by the AKC before others? Test yourself here.

Image from the AKC quiz