Breeds of Dogs

Breeds of Dogs

Introduction Did you ever notice how many different kinds of dogs there are? There are big dogs, small dogs, long dogs, short dogs, hairy dogs, and even hairless dogs. There are dogs with big ears, little ears, big noses, little noses, long legs, short legs, long tails, and no tails at all.

Why are there so many kinds of dogs? The reason is because there are lots of breeds of dogs. Breeds are kinds of dogs that are kept separate from other breeds during mating time. If each breed of dog only mates with its own kind, the puppies will be that same kind of dog, too. These dogs are purebred, which means that since their parents are the same, they will be the same, too. A male and female bulldog will have pups that are bulldogs. Other dogs are called mixed-breed dogs. They are a mix of two or more kinds of dogs. Mixed-breed dogs are sometimes called mutts.

How did different kinds of dogs come to exist? Long ago, there were no dogs- there were only wolves. When people first began living in villages, their garbage became a food source for wolves. Over time, some of the wolves eating human garbage became tamer. These wolves slowly changed to be better at living close to people and began to look and act more like modern dogs.

People saw that some of these early dogs were better at running. Other dogs were better at hunting, and others were better at digging. Some people wanted a dog who was even better at one of those tasks. So they started only letting good runners mate with good runners. And they only let good diggers mate with good diggers. Over many thousands of years, the dogs people kept as pets changed into the breeds of dogs we know today. Of course, the wild wolves stayed wild and are still wild today. There are seven groups of dogs, and each one has many breeds. Let's learn about these groups and some of their members.

Sporting Dogs Sporting dogs were bred to help hunters. Some sporting dogs help a hunter find the game--the animal that is being hunted. Other sporting dogs find game that has been shot and bring it back to the hunter. The pointer is a sporting dog that was bred to see and point at game. A pointer freezes in place with one front leg up and points with its nose.