Are there any breeders who are trying to create new modern breeds for modern living? Or is there no benefit over using a prexisting breed?
Police dogs for example. Currently GSD and Malinois are being used, which were originally breed to herd sheep. Would there be any benefit in trying to create a “police dog”? Too much work? Or will normal selection eventually create a breed line that starts to diverge from German Shepherds?
Funny you should mention it as I happen to have a dog much like what you are talking about.
A woman by the name of Tina Barber felt that German Shepherd Dogs (GSD) were being overbred into something they were not meant to be. The GSD was getting smaller, more elongated, genetic problems such as hip dysplasia were getting more pronounced, temprament was getting poor, etc… This was partly to breed what people felt were better “show” dogs and also in large part due to unscrupulous breeders (puppy mills).
So Ms. Barber set about getting the GSD back to what she felt it was meant to be and she eventually came up with the Shiloh Shepherd. I think (but am not sure) that the Shiloh has recently gained AKC recognition as a distinct breed but I am not 100% sure on that. As a breed they are relatively new. Ms. Barber started to try for the breed 35 years ago but IIRC she only got to her final results in the late 80’s or early 90’s.
Follow the link below for more info.
Whack-a-Mole: Interesting link. They look a lot like the European blood lines of GSD that Schutzhund enthusiasts pay through the nose to get.
Let me clarify my question. Granted in the modern world, we dont NEED a new breed. Not in the way an ancient shepherd needed a breed that could help herd sheep and chase off predators. But is there any situation where we would need a new breed?
To use another example. Therapy dogs and guide dogs for the blind seem to be predominantly yellow labs. Would there be any point in creating a breed suited to helping blind people, or are yellow labs good enough?
At times it seems the only people who are trying to create new breeds are dog fighters
Not for people with dog hair allergies! The “doodle” dogs aren’t breeds yet, but with the following they’ve attracted I’m sure a number of people (hopefully scrupulous people!) are hoping to make the hypo-allergenic qualities of a good doodle cross “stick”. You can’t breed a guide dog, no more than two nuclear physicists can have a child that innately “knows” nuclear physics. It’s all about whether a dog is responsive to training and eager to learn, and that’s seems to be a legitimate breed aspect of labs, goldens, and shepherds…
My wife and I own a couple of American Hairless Terriers (AHT). They were bred from Rat Terriers starting about 30 years ago.
The first AHT was a pup in a litter that lost all her hair at about 1-2 months of age. She later bred, and some of her children were similarly hairless. She was later bred with a couple of her sons (ewww!), and had litters that were mostly hairless pups.
Later, similar breeding brought about new AHT lines. There are still very few AHTs (1000 - 2000), but there’s enough of them for breeding outside of 1st-2nd cousins. (Our dogs aren’t related going back at least 4 generations, but my male (Brynner) has a great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather that was the same dog.)
NOOOOOOO!!!
So you mean no one is working on breeding nanny dogs or kidherds. Dogs that are toddler focused, will follow a toddler around and herd it away from dangerous things, bark if it thinks an adult should be called, good temperment and tolerates rough kid handling and occasional tugs.
There was a group in the UK that was mixing the Labrador and the Chihuahua ( the mind boggles, I know.) for use as a hearing companion for the elderly. Small, minimal hair, sweet lab temperment. It is a good idea in theory.
It was called: the Labrahuahua. that still cracks me up.
The chihuahua breeders poo pooed the entire thing because of many reasons but mainly the huge possiblities of the chihuahua bitch dying before giving birth because of an enormous fetus. she asploded.
So, yes, there are dog breeds being mixed around and whatnot, but it takes years for a new breed to be established.
Seems to me that dog already exists in a German Shepherd. Other breeds (such as labs for example) are excellent family dogs but GSDs seem to have an innate herding instinct that serves them well around children and keeping them out of trouble.
I know my dog (not strictly a GSD but effectively one) herds and she has never been taught how to do it (I saw her herd my cat on two separate occasions when the cat got outside and I just stood there watching in amazement as the dog did it all on her own).
Someone told me a story once of leaving their GSD and their 4-year old in their fenced back yard while they stepped inside to get a glass of water. They heard a scream come from the child and ran out to see what was happening. The child had unlatched the gate (till then they didn’t think the child could do that) and had tried to leave the yard. Their dog had nipped the child in the seat of his pants and was hanging on. The child was screaming and beating on the dog furious that he had been foiled. The dog was completely unperturbed.
Anecdotal I know but certainly the “guard the flock” instinct exists in many breeds and channeling that into a “nanny” dog shouldn’t be too hard. The point of all of this is I doubt you need to design a new breed to do that but nothing stopping anyone if they think a better dog can be had for that.