“Comrade to the Vikings, guardian of lonely farms and saeters, herder of flocks and defender from wolves and bear, a hunter always and roamer with hardy men, the Norwegian Elkhound comes down to us through more than six millennia with all his Nordic taits untainted, a fearless dog and friendly, devoted to the man and the chase. We read of him in sagas, we find his remains gy the side of his Viking master along with the Viking’s weapons – sure proof of the esteem in which he was held….”
People don’t write like that much anymore, and as it turns out, neither does the AKC which was responsible for this paragraph that appeared in the 20th edition of the Complete Dog Book published in 2007. At the time, The Complete Dog Book featured all 153 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. Ten years later, the updated book features 201 breeds, and something had to go if one was to publish a book that didn’t necessitate a dolly to carry it around. Smaller print and more succinct content was the answer.
The description of the Norwegian Elkhound in that 2007 version of the book went on for another page and a half, nearly ten paragraphs in all before one got to the breed standard. The current book offers three paragraphs in smaller print about the breed description, and both editions are important because neither repeats the information found in the other.
And people wonder why dog people collect so many books.
There is no mention of the Elkhound, “Gamle Bamse Gram,” the Viste Cave at Jaeren, or Herr Aarflot in the 2017 edition as there was in the 2007 edition. But the current version touches upon the breed’s correct name in Norway (Norsk Elghund Gra), its accurate translation (moose dog), or that the breed contributes substantially to the economy of its native country, none of which is mentioned in the book ten years prior.
Both books do an admirable job, and with over two million copies sold, The New Complete Dog Book (2017) is the most successful dog book ever published. As amateur researchers, we value and rely upon both books (and others) to “flesh out” the measure of a breed. Given the differences that ten years made in this book, however, and we’re tempted to collect the other editions “just to see.”
As an aside, the original publication was in 1928/1929 and was then named Pure-Bred Dogs. Nine years later, the book was renamed The Complete Dog Book (to be renamed the NEW Complete Dog Book in 2017).
Image: Photo of “Biz” by Sue Miller-Erickson with consent