Are any breeds still working breeds?

[SisMorphine]

Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldogs come to mind.

They are a relatively new breed, but the original intention was to breed a dog to protect the family and the livestock. The TRUE ABBBs still have this drive (Athena is crazy AND smart . . . all working dog over here). Unfortunately another group of people is breeding ABBBs illegally (ie: not able to be registered with ARF) and these dogs look more like an English Bulldog and are more along the lines of lazy couch potatoes.

My Athena was from the lines of anything but lazy. Her daddy is an amazing example of a true working dog, and as she grows she proves to be much like him. This is the type of dog I'm looking for, the one who wants to work and naturally knows what to do.


As far as Greyhounds go, I think that most NGA Greyhounds (ie: racing Greys) are as close to their original counterparts as Malamutes are to theirs. They are driven by instinct, which is a beautiful thing. I hate seeing Greys who have been bred purely to be AKC registered. They can't keep up with an NGA Greyhound and look . . . weird.

I prefer my Greyhounds to be NGA and my Alapahas to be ARF. I like my dogs to know what "work" means.

 

[SisMorphine]

Oh and I wanted to add:

I think that the breeds out there that do not have the ability to compete in conformation (especially AKC) are the ones who are bred to work. For them form follows function, not the other way around. That is why you can have a variety of looks within a working breed (NGA Greyhounds can have drastically different heads and rib cage types, Alapahas can have different muzzle lengths and different tail sets, the sizes can vary a lot also) because they don't really care what they look like as long as they're healthy enough to do the job they were bred to do.

 

[wolfsoul]

I think that the breeds out there that do not have the ability to compete in conformation (especially AKC) are the ones who are bred to work.

That's actually an exception to the rule -- in most cases you'll find that the breeds out there that do not have the ability to compete in conformation were actually bred as "pets." If every dog unable to do conformation came from a working breeder, we'd have a heck of alot more dogs in shelters -- most people can not put up with the temperament of a working dog.

Some dogs bred solely for work can compete in conformation (like many of the working counterparts of my breed can) just as some dogs bred solely for conformation can work.

RD, that is very interesting. Especially about the cross producing mediocre show/working dogs. Definatly makes sense but I guess it can go all ways -- good show AND working dog, good show dog but not working dog, good working but not show, etc.
I find the best combinations are out of really cookie-cutter types. If you breed a line that has produced a very cookie-cutter look for many generations (so much so that you can tell where the dog comes from just by looking at it) to a working line that produces very similar working characteristics time and time again, you should be able to hope for the looks from the one side and the working temperament from the other. If you breed a show dog out of several outcrosses to a working dog out of several outcrosses, the results are already so unpredictable you are screwed from the get-go. I am doing a linebreeding in a couple of years and I believe I will do a working outcross with that pup -- so I'll be breeding one linebreeding (that produces cookie-cutter looks) to another linebreeding (that produces coockie-cutter temperaments), and though it doesn't always work out as planned, I know I have a better chance of getting what I'm looking for.

 

[lilprairiemutt]

Every Great Pyrenees that I have come into contact with has been a working dog as were the parents of the dog. Of course Great Pyrs are generally not happy without a job and are not well suited to urban or suburban areas. They do much better when they have a herd of goats or sheep to be with and acres of land to guard them on.