What Are Dog Types

After humans domesticated the first dogs we found them very useful in performing various tasks and thus, over the years they began, to be categorized in dog types. Unlike the breed a dog belongs to, based on biological characteristics, the type it belongs to refers to what function the dog fulfills. This has nothing to do with linage or appearance, dogs from different breeds can come under one type. A specific example would be the police dog. Anything from German Shepherds, Pit bulls or Boxers to the Belgian Malinois can be a police dog.

With the advent of agriculture around 12 thousand years ago, the role played by dogs also changed and it had an even more profound impact on the gap between dogs and wolves, and between different dogs. This is the first time when dog types came into view. This is when the first lap dogs appeared. Until then, there had been only hunting dogs and working dogs. This discovery is backed up by recent genetic analysis, and these types of dogs have the least divergence from the ancestral wolf. This just goes to show how closely linked human history is with the evolution of dogs.

But as time went by and we learned how to bend nature to our needs so did the roles dogs played in our society changed - and not necessarily for the better. There is evidence that suggests dogs took part in our wars against each other and in other places on the planet they used to be bred as food - in some places they unfortunately still are. This is just horrifying!

Many dog types are mostly extinct today. But that does not mean that such classification has disappeared. As mentioned above, some still use dogs in performing different tasks, most of them with no harm or minimal to them, such as sled dogs (the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute or Canadian Eskimo Dog), hunting dogs (Coonhound, English Cocker Spaniel or Terriers) or even therapy dogs ( Golden Retrieves, Terriers). Even today, dogs that aren’t adopted exclusively to become a pet, a member of one's family, perform a “job” of some sort.

But the second word in "dog types", can have other meanings as well. For example, in biology a type establishes a name for a taxon – a group of slightly different organisms that form one unit. Those who love dogs use the expression "breed type" referring to the characteristics that are specific to a certain breed, separating it from any other breed. It is also used to refer to dogs from a specific line, as in a type of dog within the major breed type.

This method of categorizing dogs based on their function can have its uses when wanting a dog. This way you know what breed to get if you want your dog to perform a specific activity, so be sure to read up on all dog types and breeds.

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