Double- or Split-Nosed Dog Breeds
1-4 Pachon Navarro, sometimes called the Old Spanish Pointer, is a Spanish hunting dog. While it shares many of the features common to most Continental breeds, there are some significant differences. The most obvious, of course, is the nose. All dogs have a slight crease between their nostrils but it is usually no more than a very shallow line. But many Pachones have nostrils that are clearly divided by a much deeper furrow making it look similar to the business end of a side-by-side shotgun. Anatomically, it is actually a cleavage in the structure of the nose itself. In most breeds, this cleft is considered a serious or disqualifying fault, but the Pachon Navarro standard allows for it. Not all Pachones have a double nose. Nor do all breeders select for it. Pachon breeders understand that by using double-nosed dogs in their lines, they run the risk of producing pups with completely cleft palates. Up to 10% of pups are either stillborn or are put down immediately after birth since the cleft is so profound that the they are incapable of breathing or nursing properly. But most Pachones have a moderate cleft and are fine. The most common coat type in the breed is a short, smooth coat similar to that of other short-haired Continental breeds. A longhaired coat similar in length and texture to that of some of the Brittany is also accepted. A wide variety of colors are allowed. The most common combinations are white and orange, white and brown, white and black and white and liver (a darker shade of brown) with or without patches or ticking. There are also self-colored (monochrome) and tri-color coats. The Pachon Navarro is a fascinating breed of gundog. It is the closest thing we have to a direct link back to the ancestral dogs that were first developed on either side of the Pyrenees Mountains. Studying it allows us to better understand what the pointing dogs of the 14th century must have been like.
5-6 Double-nosed Andean Tiger Hounds are a rare breed is thought to be descended from a breed with double noses that’s known in Spain as Pachon Navarro, which were hunting dogs at the time of the Conquistadors. The legendary explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett came back with in 1913 of seeing such strange double nosed dogs in the Amazon jungle. Nobody believed him, they laughed him out of court. Recent sightings received wide press coverage in 2006 and 2007. It is possible that designating the Double-nosed Andean Tiger Hound as a "breed" is premature. They may just be genetic anomalies within the general strain of Andean Tiger Hounds. No kennel club recognizes the Double-nosed Andean Tiger Hound, nor Andean Tiger Hounds in general, as a specific breed. "Tiger" in their name is a reference to the jaguar, not to tigers.
7-10 The Catalburun is one of the rarest breeds of dog in the world, virtually unknown outside of its native Turkey. This breed’s defining characteristic is its highly unusual “split nose”; a feature which is assumed to be the result of chronic inbreeding coupled with a preference by hunters for dogs with double-noses. The exact history of the breed is not known, but it has been suggested that they descended from a European pointer-hound mix, which was then introduced to the country by Turkish nobility. Its body is solidly built and muscular, with a wide chest and broad head. Its legs, though short, are surprisingly powerful, and it reaches an average height of about 20 at the shoulder. Although this breed is neither standardized nor recognized, as a whole they are fairly uniform in type. Their coat is smooth, flat and short, and is most commonly white with patches of tan, brown, black or wheaten red. Their noses also show some variation in color, ranging from black or brown to pink. All, however, have the split double-nose, which is separated down the center by a thin band of skin and fur.
