To think ‘working breeds’ just aren’t..?

[TheDiddlyGang]

I’ve been reading the husky thread going and so much talk of them being ‘working dogs’ and needing sledding and other work.

But the vast majority of ‘working breeds’ now just aren’t are they?

Labradors and spaniels have a severe and obvious work/show split and it is starting in border collies too but setters now are almost exclusively show bred, as are beagles and basset hounds and huskies and malamutes.

If you look at the working sled dogs in cold countries they don’t look anything like the Huskies and Malamutes being bred here?
The difference in appearance is shocking, they don’t look at all similar..?

The only dogs that still seem to be largely bred for working and therefore genuine ‘working breeds’ seem to me to be border collies (though this is changing), greyhounds, lurchers, Patterdale terriers and some of the livestock guardians.

All the other breeds seem to have been contaminated by the Kennel Club, bred to a visual ‘standard’ and never worked a day in their lives.

So AIBU to say that actually, breeds like huskies, border collies, jack russells, German Shepherds, malamutes etc arent ‘working breeds’ at all anymore.
They are active, intelligent breeds but they aren’t ‘working breeds’?

@TheDiddlyGang

I didn’t mean to lump collies in there at the bottom as they are still largely bred to work.

I think a divide is opening up with Border Collies though. ISDS registered dogs are predominantly "worked", but KC registered are more about "looks" - definitely those bred for show are about looks. Mine have all been ISDS registered. In my opinion the worst thing that ever happened for the breed was to get KC recognised.

We have a bearded collie from working lines - his mum and dad were both sheepdogs at the farm we bought him from.
He's very lazy, currently asleep in his armchair after his lunch of sardines.

There's another beardie in our village, but that's KC Reg and gets entered for shows. Ours looks a scruff compared to that one 😂

The only time he shows his roots is when he tries to herd everyone together, which is very funny to watch.

I think the instinct is still there. I have three rescue dogs, one a French bulldog, and she has the highest prey drive I’ve ever seen in a dog, even more so than my little scruffy terrier. I believe originally they were kept to kill rats in urban environments.

I live in the US and we get a ton of hounds into rescue. People breed them for hunting in the South and simply turn them loose if they’re not up to the job. So, if you rescue a coonhound, treeing Walker, beagle etc. over here, it absolutely will be a working dog. Same goes for the huge amount of Great Pyrenees in rescue.

@Chiwi

Shepherd's and malinois are still used as working dogs for the police. They wouldn't use the crufts kind though, they're not fit for purpose.

Nothing that Crufts align with is fit for purpose

I’ve got a Bedlington, his parents were both show champions.
Originally they were used for ratting.
He is as daft as a brush but, if he has a squeaky toy or a sock, it’s shaken to within an inch of it’s life.
He did actually see a rat last week in London. Obviously 100s of years of breeding will out, he took off like a rocket after it and only stopped when the rat jumped into a canal.
He hates water

Our malamute was a working dog and we rescued him when the team no longer had a use for him when he became old and developed arthritis. He was part of a sled team. We also have a husky but she has always been a pet. She still has husky behavioral traits, however, and is an excellent guard dog.

My lab comes from working stock. Both her parents work as gun dogs. Irish field trial champions in her line. She’s quite small and agile compared to other labs. It depends on the line I think.

@LemonRoses Lovely dogs Setters. I have always had Gordons
and they are the loveliest natured dogs. None of them were working though I think they use them in Scotland. Very sad after the last one went, they are a vulnerable breed too, in fact I dont see many setters of any type around here.

@cupsofcoffee

YABU.

I have a beagle. He may be a pet, but that working instinct is strong as anything. Given the chance, he will disappear after his "quarry" and bay to me from the other side of the woods or field to summon me to him - just as he'd do in a hunting pack. I've never once trained him to do that.

I'm also a dog walker and walk all sorts of breeds - they all, without exception, will instinctually do what they were bred to do.

My beagle is the same. When we was smaller and we worked with a trainer, all her advice took his 'working' characteristics into account, despite the fact his current lifestyle is that of a pampered pooch with two human servants catering to his every whim .

Isn't it kind of the same as seeing a Land Rover Defender being used on the Fulham school run? Clearly it's not being driven across a grouse moor but it still, you know, could...

Fortunately we'll never know if our hound is still 'workable' as it's been (thankfully) illegal to hunt the prey she was bred to go after for years now. She can still detect a bag of crisps being opened through a closed door, though. I keep meaning to do some scent work with her but I fear she would just find a way to use it for her own ends.

My beagle is the same. When we was smaller and we worked with a trainer, all her advice took his 'working' characteristics into account, despite the fact his current lifestyle is that of a pampered pooch with two human servants catering to his every whim

Sounds familiar @DaphneBlake101 - though we have vaguely managed to teach him to fetch! I do have to bribe him with food in order to get him to drop the ball though

I've got a cavalier king Charles. Compared with the show version of his breed he has a fairly normal muzzle rather than a short one and is fairly big to the point people question if he is a mix. He is as far from a lap dog as you can imagine. A small but definite working dog. We do lots of scent games and he flushes birds from the hedgerows and loves swimming. When I planned to get him I'd been hoping for a small but real dog and I am pleased I got that. The KC version of a KCS is very different so I think there are very different breeding lines.

My JRT isn't a typical colour but when she gets sight or scent of anything remotely interesting to her she certainly acts like any working terrier might. I think in breeds like this it's still hardwired!

@LemonRoses.
I grew up with an English Setter, they are beautiful dogs.
I rarely see them and if I do, I have to make sure to walk over normally and speak to the owner, rather than rush over, squeal and stroke the dog to death

[quote IHaveBrilloHair]@LemonRoses.
I grew up with an English Setter, they are beautiful dogs.
I rarely see them and if I do, I have to make sure to walk over normally and speak to the owner, rather than rush over, squeal and stroke the dog to death [/quote]
She came to is late. Wish we’d discovered the breed earlier. Now we cannot imagine why anyone would choose another breed over a Setter.

We got ours as a puppy when I was 10.
He was just so lovely, though I did not appreciate his fur and slobber when I was on my way out as a teen!
He was soft as anything, but big, loved to sleep on my bed with me which was adorable but left me one inch of bed!