Discover the Origin of 7 Dog Breed Names

Even if you do not have a very extensive knowledge of dog breeds, you certainly know some of them, right? There are Jack Russel, Dalmatian, Cocker Spaniel, Beagle, Lhasa Apso ... But, and all these names, have you ever wondered about their origin? Well Ethan Trex from the portal Mental_Floss was to find out, and we here at Mega Curious have gathered seven varieties for you to check. Look:

1 - Dalmatian

White spotted dogs are an unmistakable breed, but not everyone knows that the Dalmatians "lend" their name to a region called Dalmatia, whose territory mainly corresponds to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Ethan, there are historical records and paintings - the oldest dating from the 14th century - from various parts of Europe depicting these dogs. However, as Dalmatians have been used as sentinels in Dalmatia since the 18th century (at least), the animals were eventually associated with the region and known under the name we all know.

2 - Lhasa Apso

Originally, the Lhasa Apso was designed to house Tibetan palaces and monasteries, and although it was not a large dog, it was quite “communicative” in sounding the alarm about intruders.

"Lhasa" was borrowed from the name of the capital of Tibet, and "Apso" means "bearded". Thus, literally, the breed's denomination can be translated as hairy dog ​​from Tibet - or something.

3 - Jack Russell Terrier

Do you think the name of the breed above looks incredibly similar to that of a person? For, according to Ethan, someone named Jack Russell really existed! Jack was an Englishman who was born in Dartmouth in the year 1795, and loved to hunt. For one day he came across a dog named Trump - who belonged to a milkman and seemed to be the perfect dog to hunt foxes.

Jack managed to convince the man to sell Trump, and began to cross the dog until he got a variety that had enough energy to chase foxes all day long and wasn't afraid to go after the animals in their burrows. Incidentally, the "Jack Russell Terrier" is not the only breed named after the Englishman. There is also another variety called "Parson Russell Terrier" that differs from the previous one by having longer paws.

4 - Poodle

Although Poodles today are associated with the image of “madam's dogs, ” they were originally developed to accompany German hunters and throw themselves in the water to fetch the slaughtered animals. These dogs were known as pudelhund - or water dogs, where the word pudeln means splashing water in low German. And, according to Ethan, the breed's name eventually evolved into Poodle thanks to the English.

5 - Weimaraner

According to Ethan, the Weimaraners - the beautiful gray-haired dogs like the one you just saw above - are believed to have arisen in Germany in the 19th century, after the Grand Duke of Weimar decided to cross a few dog breeds. hunting.

Weimar would have selected animals from brave, quick, well-developed, intelligent muzzles - and the breed created by the Grand Duke soon became popular among the nobles of the region, who used dogs to hunt birds.

6 - Cocker Spaniel

There are records that the Spaniels have been around since the 14th century, and they, as well as other races on our list, were also developed to accompany hunters. Much appreciated by the English, these dogs were especially talented when it came to finding guinea fowls or woodcocks, and it was because of this ability that they began to be called cockers.

7 - Beagle

According to Ethan, no one knows for sure what the name of the Beagle is. However, he said, those who know the breed well probably agree with one of the most popular theories about how the denomination came about.

Apparently, the name of the breed has existed since the 16th century, when the French word becguele (used to denote noisy people) began to be used to describe dogs - due to the noise they made with their howling during hunting.

* Posted on 7/21/2015