# Dog Breeds - What they used to look like



## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

Intersting group of photos of many breeds

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v485/Pietoro/Dog%20Breed%20Historical%20Pictures/?start=all


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

Those are great, thanks for posting the link!


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## Ocean (May 3, 2004)

Great link, thanks! Most of the other breeds don't look like they've changed around as much as the GSD.


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## Toffifay (Feb 10, 2007)

Thanks for posting! It seems that the Bulldog has changed the most..some of the others like whippets and dalmations seem virtually unchanged. Very interesting!


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## rgrim84 (May 8, 2009)

Haha, the German Shepherd look clean and short-haired, just the way I like them. =)


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Look at the dogs that have changed the most (goldens, bulldogs, GSDs, beagles, etc)

Then look at their rankings here: Most Popular Dog Breeds 

There seems to be a correlation. Yes the show ring and how conformation is judged has some effect. But the more popular a breed, the more BYBs and puppy mills have an effect as well.


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

Chows have changed considerably. The photo shown on this website:










A more typical modern "show" chow:










The early chow had lighter bone, less coat, and was an active working dog. Show breeding has made them into heavy dogs with wrinkled faces who can sometimes barely make it around the ring without wheezing for air. I have a more "old style" chow and I love her athleticism. She's pointed in the conformation rings (both American and Canadian) but I won't pursue a championship. Meanwhile, she's got her first three rally titles, her companion dog obedience title, and passed the therapy dog testing with flying colors. She's been working as a Service Dog for nearly a year now.

I hate what show breeding has done to the breed. The BYB chows are usually the lighter style of chow, it's show breeders who have produced the heavy chow. Luckily not all show breeders do this and some of the lighter, athletic chows are coming back into "vogue".

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

The Doberman was a big change for me!


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

What I find interesting is that with breeds whose appearance has changed a lot you can find people now breeding dogs to recreate the way the breeds used to look, either by selective breeding or by creating a "new breed" such as with the Olde Bulldogge. It is also interesting that in breeds where there is a split between the show and working types, the working types often resemble the older historical version of the breed a lot more.

Personally I've found I usually prefer the way the breed used to look when they look different today. For example the Chinese Shar-Pei. I had a foster Pei who looked like what they call and "Old Style" Shar-Pei (the way they used to look) and the ones in conformation today have much larger heads and muzzles and a lot more wrinkles. I got a book from the 70s about the breed and the photos all looked like my foster dog.

Here is Harley:










I also recently did a paper and presentation for a bio class about canine skull morphology and the research papers I read had interesting information on the changes in skull shape in some breeds over time. A striking figure I found was this one showing Bull Terrier skull changes over time:









"Purebred bull terrier skulls from 1931 (Top), 1950 (Middle), and 1976 (Bottom). "
From "Molecular origins of rapid and continuous morphological evolution." by Fondon and Garner


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## Smith3 (May 12, 2008)

I skimmed over something the othere week that talked about the "rapid" changes that dogs have undergone in the last centry through breeding programs and how different they are today compared to 100 years ago.


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