Years of Dog Breeding Has Transformed Man's Best Friend

Years of Dog Breeding Has Transformed Man's Best Friend

With gene-editing technology CRISPR on the rise, it’s only a matter of time before scientists begin breeding humans. So what would a world of test-tube babies actually look like?

Consider man’s best friend.

We’ve domesticated dogs since the Paleolithic era. But years of selective breeding has turned purebred pups into mutt mixtures, as evidenced by the book Dogs of All Nations, published in 1915 by W. E. Mason.

“The world-wide and constantly increasing interest in dogs prompts the author to present in concise form, and at a price within reach of all, a description and illustration of every variety now known to be breeding true to type,” the preface explained.

“The author’s object will have been attained if the subject, in the form presented, is found acceptable to dog lovers who have not the leisure to study the more exhaustive works on dogs,” it continued.

Skimming the PDF pages of Mason’s book feels like a spot-the-difference puzzle: Frankly, an English Bulldog of yore looks like a modern King of Terriers; an old-timey Dachshund greatly resembles a contemporary weiner dog; and the primitive Airedale Terrier almost mimics its fluffy present-day clan.

That’s because it’s all in the description.

According to Mason, the OG Bulldog is “low-set, heavy-boned, [and] smooth-coated,” with “broad and powerful lines.” And while its iconically saggy jowls and stocky stance remain, breeders have refined the heavyset hound to have more pronounced wrinkles and an even thicker body.

Though not considered a portly animal, the German Shepherd has also put on weight over the last 100 years.

Dogs of All Nations characterizes the watchdog as a “medium-sized dog, rather long in the body but well built,” its head “lean,” its skull “broad,” and the body “rather narrow.” That’s news to me: I’ve always considered the barrel-chested pooch large and somewhat bulging.

Perhaps the most obvious change, though, comes in the form of the Bull Terrier, which appeared in Mason’s book as a handsome, clean-cut hound, with a statuesque head and legs for days.

“This is a symmetrically built dog and the embodiment of agility, grace, elegance, and determinations,” the textbook boasted. “He is styled by some as the Gladiator of the canine race.”

That’s a far cry from flattened-football-shaped head and squat body of the 21st-century companion.

There are currently 332 official breeds (and 11 provisional breeds) recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (World Canine Organization); the American Kennel Club counts only 202.

Dogs of All Nations distinguished a total 187.

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Published at Mon, 30 Apr 2018 19:41:15 +0000