Biology:Rare dog breed

A rare dog breed is any breed of dog that is small in number and is used to refer to both old established breeds such as the Stabyhoun and Glen of Imaal Terrier or newer creations. Since dogs have greater genetic variability than other domesticated animals, the number of possible breeds is vast, with new crosses constantly occurring, from these, both selected and random crosses may come new breeds should offspring reliably breed true to type. New breeds from the wild such as the Carolina Dog are quite rare, compared to attempts at breed creation from man as found in the American Hairless Terrier, which sought to exploit a mutation.

Establishment of breeds

Modern dog breeds have documented descent from known foundation stockand new breeds are often derived from older, established modern breeds. New documentation of a long established dog type, sometimes with a variation on an older name, also creates a new modern breed. The newly documented breed is then referred to as a rare breed as long as the number of dogs of the breed remain small.

Recognition of rare breeds

Breeds go through a recognition process by breed clubs, kennel clubs and other agencies, so that dogs can be guaranteed through written documentation to be a member of a specific breed. For example, the Canadian department of agriculture, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, has strict requirements for the registering of new breeds, which are referred to as "emerging breeds". In the past, this process was limited to each country's national governing body for dog breeds (two in the case of the United States) and gaining recognition for a new breed was a closely checked, long process. With the advent of the internet, a vast number of minor registries have proliferated, allowing clubs, breeders, and internet entrepreneurs to create their own registries for their own purposes. As a result, the number of dogs being marketed as, or referred to as registered members of, a rare breed has increased.

See also

• Dog breeds
• Dog types
• Landrace
• Donggyeongi
• Rare breed (agriculture), for livestock breeds

Notes

note 1. ^{^} See the Biewer Terrier for an example of a new modern rare breed derived from an established modern breed; in this case, the Yorkshire Terrier.

note 2. ^{^} Many landrace dogs (also called ancient-breeds), adapted to a particular environment and developed not through modern breeding techniques, but in isolation over time, are being documented, registered and marketed as modern purebred breeds. Although such landraces may not be rare in their home environment, they are considered rare when brought to other parts of the world for pets or (rarely) to do the work for which they originally developed. An example is the Kuchi dog, a livestock guardian dog type which originated with the nomadic Kuchi people of Central Asia and is now marketed in Europe and the United States as several differently-named purebred rare breeds.

External links

• RareBreed Network, list of some breeds considered rare
• Rare Dog Breeds USA - Information about Rare Breed Registrations and Pedigrees in the USA