#breed standards

[zestycanines]

sucks that the thing I'm super knowledgeable and passionate about is also something that so engrained in daily society that people have a lot of strong wrong information

[millenniallust4death]

Are there any sources online that are decent for researching about dog breeds and their differences or are they all a crapshoot?

I'm only into one breed so I'm not a good person to ask this question to. But I'd start with the breed standards written by your country's kennel organization. I'm in Canada so my kennel organization is the Canadian Kennel Club. As an example, the German Shepherd Dog is found in Group 7: Herding Dogs, scroll down until you see German Shepherd Dog, and then open the PDF. I really like the CKC's temperament descriptions. But the FCI breed descriptions may contain good diagrams and may be available in languages other than English. Here's a link to the GSD entry to see an example.

I'll also mention that @molosseraptor, a professional dog trainer, offers a really cool breed matching service. You can message her for more details.

Dog/Breed Selection! Need help determining if a certain dog or breed fits your lifestyle? Want a dog but have no idea where to start? You found your breed but don’t know how to locate a responsible breeder or rescue/don’t think they’ll give you the time of day? I can help with all of those things and more. Pricing depends on level of involvement and how much personalized help you’re looking for. For the full package offering from my stupidly long breed selection questionnaire to helping you find your breeder, I’m bringing the cost down to $150 USD. 

Perhaps my mutuals have additional resources to suggest.

[darkwood-sleddog]

Fifteen minute phone conversations with a researcher all because I mentioned my dogs briefly and they are DOG PEOPLE not as in “awww I love dogs” but in the “let me discuss the verbiage of gay tails with this clerk for a quarter of an hour even though the malamute breed standard has stated a tail plumed over the back since the first breed standard in the ‘30s” but whatever.

[blueboyluca]

I was looking through my family’s big, fat, 900+ page dog book when I came across the schipperke. I was reading about it and in the section about their coat it read that it is most often black. I found the cool because Luca is a brownish yellow color meaning that his coat color is uncommon.

Schipperkes come in a host of colours, but in the US and Europe the breed standard is only black. Most commonly schipperkes come in black and yellow, sometimes brown – basically the same as labs. But they can also be dilute, black and tan, etc. The UK and Australian breed standards allow for any solid colour. I did a post about it here.

I follow a lot of cream coloured schipperkes on Instagram and through schipperke Facebook groups. My favourite is @casperthewonderschip on Instagram, he looks and acts so much like Luca, but he is much cuddlier (I am jealous!).

[pasture-raised]

What the F is an Araucana

Via Wikipedia...

“There are both full-sized and bantam Araucanas.[18] They may be either normally tailed or rumpless. The Araucana has a pea comb and lays approximately 250 blue or green eggs per year.[12]

In Australia, only the tailed Araucana is recognised in the Australian Poultry Standards;[19] both tailed and rumpless may be exhibited.[11]

The British standard accepts both tailed and rumpless;[18] they may be treated as separate breeds.[20][21] The British type of Araucana has a beard and muffs which conceal the earlobes.

In North America, Araucanas have long ear-tufts and are rumpless. As both ear-tufts and rumplessness are caused by autosomal dominant lethal alleles, not all of the birds can display these traits.[22]

A total of twenty plumage varieties are listed for the Araucana by the Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture.[23] Of these, five are recognised by the American Poultry Association for large fowl: black, black breasted red, silver duckwing, golden duckwing, and white; for bantams, buff is added to these.[3] The Australian Poultry Standard recognises black, cuckoo, lavender, splash, white and any colour which is standard in Old English Game.[19] The Poultry Club of Great Britain recognises twelve colours: black, black-red, blue, blue-red, crele, cuckoo, golden duckwing, lavender, pile, silver duckwing, spangled, and white.[2]:43–44″

TLDR; Let’s take a wide variety of chickens and call them all the same thing.

[blueboyluca]

I bought both these books yesterday. The top one is from the 60s, the bottom one is from the 70s. Happy to photograph any breeds requested from either.

[irreverent-dobermans]

Presenting Without Commentary

[redheddebeauty]

Did breed standards change or something, because I’ve been looking at getting a Chihuahua or a Pomeranian (probs a Chihuahua) because I’m lonely & my Pomchi, who was mostly Chihuahua, from childhood passed away this past summer, and everyone advertising Chihuahuas is like, oh, they’ll be between 10-15 lbs full grown. Like no, Chihuahuas are supposed to be under 6lbs to fit breed standards, or at least that’s what it was in 2008 when I was obsessed with them & my parents got our Pomchi (who was around 5 lbs as a full grown adult, maybe a little under). Like if I get a Chihuahua again it’s because I want a mini dog. They’re cute & good dogs if they’re not mistreated.

Tl;dr

Did Chihuahua breed standards change in the past 15 years? The last time I got a Chihuahua breed standard was that they were under 6lbs, now all the ads for Chihuahuas I see say 10-15 lbs full grown, which is double what I’m used to.