Ol’ Shep

 Australian Shepherd, Collie, English Shepherd, Russian Mennonites, Sotch Collie  1 Response »
Sep 302011
 

Part of the reason why it is so intringing to read up on the history of the Russian Mennonites is because they were largely agricultural and the Anabaptist influences can be found almost everywhere in Canada. To the East, the Swiss-German settled down, which we now know them as Amish, Old Order, Old German. On the Prairies, the Mennonites of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union immigrated alongside the Hutterites; and to the West, the Dutch of the lowlands took up residence in the valleys. Most of them took up Canadian citizenship during the land rush from mid- to late-1800s.

On the Prairies, there is a joke going around about how everyone has a Russian grandmother due to the widely-accepted practice of pairing pierogi [trans. "dumplings"] and kelbassa [trans. "sausages"] for dinner. However the jab is a bit of a misnomer as most of the settlement blocks are either Swedish, Norwegian, Ukrainian or Polish at the very base of their foundation. The Russian exodus didn’t come until after the Second World War; and the bulk of it stems from the fall of the Soviet Union. So, most people are of mixed ancestry of German, Polish, Ukrainian and several others.

When people move, they tend to bring their dogs with them. For this reason, it is not unusual to find Jindos in the classifieds with the onset of Koreans immigrating to Vancouver. Whether or not the imported dogs have any staying power remains to be seen.

One of such effect is the German Shepherd Dog. They are fairly popular among chicken farmers as yard-dogs. However it is not plausible the early immigrants brought the dogs with them since the German Shepherd is a recently contrived breed at the turn of the 20th century. It is more reasonable to assume the dogs were imported sometimes in the late ’20s, early ’30s; and later caught on among the German farmers simply out of ethnic pride.

On the other hand, if one goes through the archives at Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, they will see numerous photos of collie-types from the late 1800s and early 1900s predating the formalization of the Border Collies as a trial breed. What these photographs have to tell us have vast implications.

Click to view date and information attributed to the photographs.

If there were any dogs from central and eastern Europe, they were absorbed by collies and farm shepherds as those are the only ones left standing today. For practicality, we can refer to these dogs as American Collies or American Farm Shepherds as many strains were not recognized as individual breed until about the 1940s-1950s  and afterward. It is from this genetic admixture stewed since the 16th century onward with gradual infusion of dogs from all corners of the world, came fore the English Shepherd, the Scotch Collie, the McNab and the Australian Shepherds in the mid-20th century. Since it was not uncommon for dogs to free-roam and to be unfixed, we can then infer this admixture as a new landrace as the morphology and personality of the dog were maintained through selection by their owners.

In fact, if one talks to the elders, the collies were the mainstay for hunting cougars and bears in British Columbia in 19th and early 20th century. The farm dogs were also expected to retrieve ducks and grouses or run rabbits, as well as guard the homestead, hold the hog and herd livestock. They were the go-to dogs prior to the rise of materialist culture and strong sense of individualism. The Labrador Retrievers were newly imported at the turn of the century, and the Canadian kennels did not procure a litter until around 1930s-1940s. Similarly, Coonhounds weren’t imported into the western provinces until about 1920s. Since farm shepherds persist as gundogs into the 1950s, it is clear what is now popular in dog sports of this decade were once strains only the affluent kept and bred. The strong emphasis on the value of pedigree papers from both trial and show breeders threw these working dogs into obscurity; but the Farm Shepherds are all but extinct as an all-purpose dog as one can still find the occasional rare Treeing Shepherds in the Appalachias. So it is best to be wary of claims a particular breed is best for a particular function.

If there were any dogs kept by the immigrants to the New World, it would had been collie-like in appearance with the working quality of a shepherd. Likewise, if there were any brought along with them from the heartland of Prussian and Russian Empires, they were cannibalized. Resistance is futile.

This is where the journey ends. If one wishes to learn more about the farm shepherds of North America and their faucets, there is a resourceful blog maintained by Andy Ward at Old-Time Farm Shepherd weblog. There are also oodles of resources added by owners and associations with a focus on Australian and English Shepherds.

Mystery Mountain Spitz

 Himalayan Sheep Dog  2 Responses »
Jun 102011
 

Bucking the trend of posting herding dogs every Friday, Jess from Desert Wind Hounds forwarded these “spitzy-looking dogs” from Darjeeling District of India to me, more specifically Sikkim and in the between the Tanglu and Sandah peaks, smacked dabbed in-between the countries of Bhutan and Nepal.

Sidenote: Honestly, livestock guardian dogs are not my forté. There is very little interest in them in this household. Unfortunately, I know more about the British colonial history than I know about dogs. However I do have a sister who has a hard on for these type of dogs, so I will give it a shot.

It’s interesting because the Darjeeling used to be part of Kingdom of Sikkim and acted as a buffer-state between Nepal and Bhutan by the East India Company and the Qing Dynasty, then later between the British Raj and the Chinese Empire. Military history nerdiness asides, traditionally the Himalayas, the Tibetan and with Mongolian plateaus are associated mastiff-like dogs serving as livestock guardians or the cute companion dogs.

Except these dogs are not anything like the Tibetan Mastiff, the Bankhor or the Kyi Apso:


via gerty.ncl.ac.uk [Image: Gertrude Bell, Sikkim, 1903]

The above dogs remind me of the street dogs of  Kathmandu. In fact there are street dogs in Sikkim, which still resembles the dogs of early 1900s.


via gerty.ncl.ac.uk [Image: Gertrude Bell, Tanglu-Sandah range, 1903]

Ironically enough, despite their build, these dogs are related to the nomadic mastiff landrace. Initally, it was confusing to identify them, but when several sources mentioned Himalayan Sheepdogs have a build of a long-haired Labrador Retriever, this dog fits the description quite aptly.

Take this guy for example:


via dogspot.in [Image: Vishtaspa Irani]

Looks similar to the Nepalese dog of 1903, no? Oh, the tail? Actually, Himalayan Sheep Dogs are quite variable in themselves. Some resembles lanky border collies and others resemble a Newfoundland. Feel use to use the Google for more examples, but take all of this with a grain of salt. Mystery solved, or as MythBusters put it: “plausible.”

Cardi’s Breed Type

 Cardigan Corgi, Pembroke Corgi  No Responses »
Jun 032011
 

Bob Llwyd was stuff of legends, not really; however he is a significant figure in the history of the Cardigan Corgis. Like Topsy the Vallhund, he was the dog in which the Caridigan Club based their breed standards upon. Why is it so important to know about Bob Llwyd? He was indirectly involved in the breed split of 1934 when the final draft was drawn.


via jones-rees.co.uk [Image: Unknown, circa 1920s]

Published standards below:



via cwrtyci-cardigan-corgi.com

Matagi Dogs

 Akita Inu, Hokkaido Inu, Matagi Inu  No Responses »
May 182011
 

Often the dogs of the Matagi hunters were cited in the history of Akita and Hakkaido Inus, however very few photographs exist since photographs of early fight rings are more popular among breed historians. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note why certain strains went extinct.

So what are these dogs? Well, Matagi dogs from the Tohoku region of Japan were the forerunners of the modern Akita Inu breed. Before, these were medium-sized dogs kept by hunters tucked away in the mysterious mountains targeting rabbits, serows and bears. The dogs did not make good pets as they were often feral and left to fend for themselves in the woods until hunters called upon them. The Matagi culture believes leaving these dogs in quasi-feral state resulted in better hunting dogs.

via s165.photobucket.com

Unfortunately many of these dogs were already in decline prior to World War II as more and more Japanese left the countryside and as progressive technology introduced to the area reduced dependency on the dogs. It also did not help the Matagi Inus were used as coat linings and for consumption during the war to prevent famines. Only German Shepherds were permitted to be kept as they were highly regarded as the perfect military dog.

via s165.photobucket.com

It is interesting to note the reason for the divergence between the Matagi Inus and Akita Inus lied in the competitive nature between the people of the Akita Prefecture and Kōchi Prefecture within the fight rings. The Matagi dogs were crossed with Western dogs brought by Dutch and German merchants during the Edo and Meiji period to create larger and more powerful dogs. However the Akita eventually lost the title of the ultimate fighting dog to the Tosa.

via s165.photobucket.com

However it is said there are still hermits in the northeastern mountains keeping the dogs of the Matagi. Although I wonder how much of this was proliferated by rumour mills inspired by romantic stories of Morie Sawataishi and his Akitas. Nevertheless, people still do hunt bears with Akita and Ainu [Hokkaido] Inus.

Trio of Göteborg

 Swedish Vallhund  14 Responses »
May 132011
 

Lately, the Swedish Vallhunds have been neglected in favour of Cardigan Corgi history. However this is in part to trying to comprehend Google’s hackjob at translating Swedish and Finnish. Admittedly, the Swedish blogs are easier to read; however the Finnish websites provide better context, despite only one out every five or seven words actually makes sense. On the other hand, I did find this interesting photograph on an English-orientated website:

via oikkus.fi [Image: Unknown, 1943]

According to the owner of the website, the three dogs left to right are: Jessi, Tyra and Jerry. Tyra, in middle of the photograph, is one of the few founding mothers discovered by Carl Gustav Zettersten on one of his many cycling trips in the countryside.

However, unlike Mopsen, Tyra’s father, Nicke, was not recorded in the pedigrees of many Vallhunds; except in one database maintained in Australia. Her maternal ancestors? They are vague and were recorded as “Vivian II” and “Vivian III.”  Nevertheless, Tyra was one of the founders of Zettersen’s kennel, Borghällas.

Tyra was bred to Mopsen’s offspring, Jerry. It is not certain which Jerry was in the photograph above as many names were repeated during the early days. It is, however, safe to assume all three dogs in the above photograph are from the Borghällas kennel as even Jessi, daughter of Lessi and Mopsen, was used in the breed restoration.

What amazes me though is that the more I research the history of the Vallhunds, the less they seem to be inbred during the founding days. The whole myth of one sire and a handful of dams is proving to be less and less true with every search. And what is even more amusing, unlike the trend for breeding for shorter legs among dwarf dogs in the show rings, the trio were deemed to have the “right length of legs.” Maybe I am the only one that find the humour in these sort of things.

Tiny

 Cardigan Corgi, Pembroke Corgi  4 Responses »
May 062011
 

Another corgi, predating influential Geler Kennel, that’s more terrier-like than being big-boned dwarfs: Southmore Tiny, born 1923. From 1927 Crufts show catalogue:

via jones-rees.co.uk [Image: Unknown, circa 1920s]

The Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club is making a great effort to revive this almost extinct breed used on the mountains for bringing in the ponies. They are also delightful pets and full of intelligence and pluck. The above bitch is very typical of her breed and a rich black, tan and white with great turn of speed for her size.

Last of the Corgis

 Cardigan Corgi, Pembroke Corgi  8 Responses »
Apr 292011
 

Ever wonder why the Queen keeps dorgis: corgi-dachshund crosses? Well, if one looks at old photographs of the original Cardigan Corgis, they will find a few terrier-like specimens. Among these specimens was “Mon,” a dog rumoured to be the last of the original Corgi. Obviously, the old photographs inspired the Queen to recreate the type:

via www.cardicommentary.de[PDF] [Image: Unknown, circa 1920s]

Early historians, W. Lloyd Thomas and Clifford L.B. Hubbard, in the 1930s, theorized the corgis of yore derived from the ancient teckels. Here is where breeders of today mistakenly conclude Cardigan Corgis came from what we think of dachshunds. No, Hubbard and Thomas were describing a type, not a breed. Considering one can find short-legged dogs all over Europe being used either as terriers or turnspit dogs prior to the turn of the 20th century, it is not a far-fetched theory. Without any genetic evidence, the teckel or turnspit theories are equally valid as the idea of Vikings bringing small dogs to the British Isles.

However, accordingly to Thomas and Hubbard, the Welsh corgis were originally used as varmint dogs, for fox-hunting and for guarding the crofters’ small-holdings as well as their share of the Commons. Why did such puny little dogs need to guard a crofter’s property? Prior to 1875, most of the land was unfenced, and these tenant farmers needed a dog to drive the neighbours’ trespassing cattle off of their properties and off their claims to the grazing lands to ensure lush pastures. Obviously a dog of intelligence was required to sort out which are his owner’s cattle, and which are the neighbours’.

With the Crown Land broken up, fragments sold to the crofters then properties fenced, the corgis were crossed with other herding dogs, such as the popular dogs of the day, Scotch Collie, to create heelers. The farmers no longer needed dogs to drive trespassing cattle away, but rather to fetch them and bring the livestocks home. These pioneering collie-corgi crosses eventually became the modern type of Cardigan Corgi established by the Geler Kennel.

Unfortunately for Mon, the last recorded dog of his type, he was said to be struck by an automobile in 1929. Instead, his genes were immersed in the heeler-type we see today.

However, if we accept this version of history from the Cardigan folks, all of this possesses an issue: are Vallhunds and Corgis are even related? Sure, they might share the same alleles; but are they even first cousins, as asserted by Pembroke breeders? Considering the Corgis had such radical evolution in behaviour and appearance over the centuries, it begs the question: how did the Vallhunds turn from short-legged dogs of the Viking graves into the cattle dogs of today? Obviously, both the Corgi and Vallhund landraces came from turnspit-like terriers; however it is dubious they share the same historical evolutionary path to arrive at an uncanny convergent function.

Finnish Pomeranian

 Finnish Spitz, Karelo-Finnish Laika  2 Responses »
Apr 272011
 

via chestofbooks.com [Image: W. E. Mason's Dogs of All Nations, 1915]

Obviously this is not a Pomeranian, even though it’s referred to as such in the original text, but rather it’s a reddish hunting dog of the Karelia. Notice this particular dog doesn’t have stilts for legs and possesses a larger chest with more white than what is normally allowed nowadays. When I mentioned I prefer a dog more robust, this is it.

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