How to Identify Dog Breeds

It's helpful to be able to identify dog breeds when you're choosing a dog from a shelter and want to know something about its background. While some types of dogs are easy to recognize, some resemble other breeds. The best way to learn about different breeds is to read about them. By familiarizing yourself first with sizes and general features, then moving on to other specifics, you'll learn to recognize subtle differences between breeds.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog encyclopedias, books on different breeds
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Instructions

  1. Ways to Identify Dog Breeds

    • 1

      Look at the size. The tiniest dogs fit into the toy category. These include the Chihuahua, English toy spaniel, Maltese, Papillon, Pekingese, miniature Pinscher, Pomeranian, toy poodle, pug, and Silky and Yorkshire terriers among others. The spaniel resembles its larger relatives while the Silky terrier is named for its hair. The pug and Pekingese both have shortened snouts, but the pug has shorter hair.

    • 2

      Look for standards typical of certain breeds. Study dog photos in books on dog breeds and in encyclopedias. Spaniels are recognizable by their large soulful eyes, shorter snouts and long wavy ears and coats. Cocker spaniels are usually blonde or black while the larger springer spaniel is white with brown patches. Setters look similar but are larger and more slender. They have long silky fur with long, narrow noses.

    • 3

      Watch for breeds you've seen in movies or on TV. Nearly everyone knows "101 Dalmatians," the collie Lassie with her beautiful, long orange and white coat, and the St. Bernard Beethoven with his big furry brown and white build, heavy jowls and affectionate disposition. The scruffy terrier Benji is a mixed breed. Balto and the team from "Snow Dogs" are huskies, their fur white with black or gray, and one or both eyes usually blue. Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" featured the Old English sheepdog, his eyes barely visible through his long hair. You might remember the golden retrievers in "Air Bud" and TV's handsome German shepherd Rin Tin Tin.

    • 4

      The dogs we think of as guard dogs typically have a sterner look. You can tell the Doberman Pinscher by its pointed ears, tall thin build, and black and reddish coat. Rottweilers are more heavy-set and are always black and brown like the dog in the "Good Dog, Carl" books. Pit bulls are recognizable by their heavy jaws, square face and thick build.

    • 5

      Look for specific characteristics in the easy-to-recognize hound group. Bloodhounds are famous for their droopy eyes, wrinkled faces and long ears, while beagles are known for their small stature and tri-color coats of white, black and reddish-brown. Basset hounds have the beagle coloring but are long, low, heavier dogs.

    • 6

      Read books for information about specific jobs some dogs perform. Black-and-white border collies are generally pictured herding sheep. With their sleek build, greyhounds make the ideal racing dog. Italian greyhounds and whippets are smaller versions. Australian shepherds, another working dog, can be identified by the mottled multi-coloring of their coats in red merle, blue merle or gray streaked with white and charcoal.

    • 7

      Consider the physical build of a dog. Terriers tend to be scruffy, with short wiry fur and ears that stand up or tip at the ends. Often short and sometimes stocky, terriers are known for the delight they take in digging. Scotties are black with perky ears, while West Highland terriers or Westies are their white counterparts.