Watching Animal Planet just now, the narrator mentioned that there are thirteen native American breeds of dog. The only ones I could come up with are the Boston Terrier, Labrador, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Saffordshire Terrier, Alaskan Malamute, Black and Tan Coonhound, and the Carolina Dog.
I don’t think breeds such as the Alaskan Husky, Treeing Walker Hound, Redbone Coonhound, Plott Hound, Chinook, or Alaskan Klee Kai would be on Animal Planet’s list, as they are not AKC recognized. Come to think of it, neither is the APBT.
The breeds I’ve listed above total thirteen, but I don’t know if Animal Planet only considers a breed “legitimate” if it’s recognized by the AKC or UKC. Are there other native American breeds I’ve neglected to list? Also, my knowledge of larger, more functional breeds is far superior to my knowledge of small, fluffy, lap-warming ankle biters, so there are likely some toy breeds I wouldn’t have thought of.
Anyone have extensive trivial knowledge of the history of dog breeds who can ease my mind on this? Otherwise, it’s going to bother me all day, heh.
Peace,
~mixie
I seem to recall from broadcasts of the Westminster Kennel Club show that the 4 US-created breeds recognized by the AKC are: Boston Terrier, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, American Wolfhound, and American Water Spaniel.
Catahoula Leopard Dog are from the states are they not?
And from Canada the Tahltan Bear Dog (which may or may not be extinct), the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Newfs, and Canadian Eskimo dogs.
Probably. That was off the top of my head. I know Newfies are a Canadian native breed. I’ve never heard of the American Wolfhound… peruses akc.org I don’t think there is a breed with that name.
There’s the Irish Wolfhound, and the Russian Wolfhound (Borzoi), but that’s all I can find.
The American Bulldog standard indicates that the breed originated in the south eastern U.S. They’re also not AKC registered, but are ARBA (American Rare Breed Association) registered.
Okay, so thanks to ElvisL1ves I’ve got the chessie and American Water Spaniel. I also remembered the American Eskimo, and the Australian Shepherd, which–strangely enough–originated in California.
So, for AKC recognized breeds, we have:
Boston Terrier
American Saffordshire Terrier
Alaskan Malamute
Black and Tan Coonhound
American Eskimo
Australian Shepherd
American Water Spaniel
Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Non AKC but otherwise recognized (UKC or ARBA) breeds:
Carolina Dog.
American Pit Bull Terrier
Catahoula Leopard Dog
American Bulldog
Alaskan Husky
Treeing Walker Hound
Redbone Coonhound
Plott Hound
Chinook
Alaskan Klee Kai
There are also a bunch of semi-legit breeds like the Olde English Bulldog and such which are really just either recreations or breeds-in-progress.
Any others?
Nope, they’re not. They look very similar, but–along with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier–are usually grouped under the catch-all term “pitbull (pit bull, Pit Bull, pittbull, etc)” by the general public and breed specific legislation-ists.
[broad generalizations]
The APBT is taller and leaner and is most specifically bred (for those who do so) for dog fighting and thus has an undeniable prey/fight drive and propensity for dog-aggression, typically adores people, makes a great pet, and is generally greatly maligned. The AmStaff is shorter, broader in the head and body, very heavy set, tends to be a little more suspicious of strangers (in my experience) than the APBT which is pretty much worthless as a protection or guard dog, as they love people. The AmStaff doesn’t have nearly as high a prey-drive as the APBT and thus is not used as much by skeezy dog-fighting types (although there are still “game bred” lines, they’re pretty rare). I don’t have much experience with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier as they’re not terribly common here, but from what I’ve heard, they have a much lower prey/fight drive than either the APBT or the AmStaff and thus are rarely, if ever, used for dog fighting anymore. Basically, the StaffBull is mostly a goofy, good natured, laid back pet.
[/broad generalizations]
They did originally come from the same stock, but have been bred/recognized for divergent purposes for quite a long time. Thus, you end up with two very similar looking dogs who have completely different drives and personalities–kind of like the field golden retriever vs bench golden retreiver, which are still recognized by the akc and registered as the same breed, but would VERY rarely, if ever, be bred together as they serve two extremely different purposes. There are show golden breeders who recognize and attempt to breed for working qualities, but for the most part, if you’re looking for a good duck hunting dog you’d never buy one from an AKC show breeder.
The APBT “registery” (if they’re talking about the American Dog Breeder’s Association–which I had never even heard of until I got interested in the APBT) is pretty much a joke for strict standards. I’ve heard of dogs that have NO APBT blood at ALL being registered as APBTs with them.
For that matter, the APBT is basically an English breed, transplanted and popularized in the USA. From what I’ve learned, their bad reputation is what prompted the AKC to invent the American Staffordshire Terrier label for the popular breed of fighting dog. These days, ASTs are bred for AKC standards, while APBTs are more variable.
Staffordshire Bull Terriers, well, I just don’t know.
The **American Eskimo ** dog is really a German dog. It was once the White Spitz. When WW I was happening, there was a wave of anti-German anger in the US. Many families with German names changed them, and the White Spitz became the American Eskimo.
Some people consider the American Akita to be a separate breed from Japanese Akita. If so, that makes the American Akita a native American breed. The do look quite different, even though Akitas have only been bred in the US for 65 years. (Incidentally, the first one was brought to the US by Helen Keller.)