These extinct dog breeds will fascinate you!
So, here’s the thing, folks: Even though the exact number of dog breeds worldwide is unknown, the World Canine Organization put together a registry of all internationally accepted dog breeds.
To this date, that list contains 339 different breeds of my favorite house pet. That’s incredible, right? But the reality is that that list doesn’t include the dozens of extinct dog breeds.
Either through breeding these dogs into an entirely new species altogether or through a lack of interest in preserving them, here are 8 canines that no longer grace us with their presence!
Extinct dog breed: English Terrier
The Terrier breed has been around Great Britain since the 18th century and has experienced many changes. In the early 1980s, the English White Terrier was born out of the need of some breeders to create a new species from the version of small white working terriers with pricked ears.
Other breeds that stemmed from this prick-eared pooch include the Jack Russell Terrier, Fox Terrier, and Sealyham Terrier – all in The United Kingdom and later, in the US, the Boston Terrier and the Rat Terrier are the predominant breeds.
Unfortunately, the English White Terrier couldn’t sustain the public’s interest for long and was ultimately obliterated. The UK Kennel Club abandoned the breed, categorizing it as a failed project. About thirty years after its creation, the dog breed became extinct, but not before it was crossbred with the Old English Bulldog to produce the Bull Terrier and Boston Terrier.
The English Terrier also goes by Old English Terrier, White English Terrier, and British White Terrier.
Extinct dog breed: Molossus Dog
Ancient Greece was the home of these once ferocious and large hounds, also known as molossers or Molossian hounds. They were so popular that an embodiment of it was used on the silver coins issued as the emblem of the Molossians.
Ancient literature also confirmed the popularity of the Molossus Dog, often being mentioned in the writings of Plautus, Aristotle, Virgil, Lucretius, Statius, Aristophanes, Horace, Lucan, Martial, Nemesianus, Oppian of Apamea, Seneca, and Grattius, among other important scholars.
Extinct dog breed: Hare Indian Dog
This species was bred in northern Canada by the Hare Indians, who used them for coursing. The Hare Indian Dog had a remarkable resemblance to the coyote in terms of speed and a few other features.
But, the domesticated temperament and other characteristics set it aside as a domestic pup. Like the extinct dog breed that outlasted its bearing worldwide, the Hare Indian Dog became valueless once the aboriginal hunting methods became obsolete.
Interbreeding with other canines further pushed the dog’s identity into oblivion in the 19th century. There have been other dog breeds that have frequently been linked to the Hare Indian dog in recent times.
This breed had a small body frame with a little head and pointed ears. It also had a bushy and thick tail and a base color of white with brown shades or grayish-black patches.
Extinct dog breed: Tweed Water Spaniel
The Tweed Water Spaniel is another extinct dog breed that many never even knew existed. Its roots can be traced to England, where the breed became extinct as far back as the 19th century. They were known to be mostly brown with athletic dispositions.
They occupied the area around Berwick-upon-Tweed, close to the River Tweed and the Scottish Borders, and as the name implies, they’re a type of water dog. Due to its reservations in terms of territory, this species wasn’t well known outside the local landscape, where it came into existence through the crossbreeding of the St. John’s water dog and other local water dogs.
Although the Tweed Water Spaniel isn’t around anymore, it contributed to creating the modern-day Curly Coated Retriever and Golden Retriever dog species we all know and love.
Extinct dog breed: Blue Paul Terrier
Also known as the Blue Poll, Scottish Bull Terrier, and Blue Poll Bulldog, this species supposedly derived from Scotland, although this fact is often debated. There are multiple claims to the breed’s heritage, but it seems to have been a descendant of a terrier and bulldog through crossbreeding that might have included other similar canines.
The breed relished popularity in Scotland during the mid-19th century. Still, like most that came before and after, the popularity began to fizzle out by the beginning of the 20th century, leading to extinction.
The Blue Paul Terrier was characterized by its big head and weight of around 45 lb, a weight that completed its estimated height of between 14 and 20 in. The color varied between brindle, dark blue, and red.
Extinct dog breed: Tahltan Bear Dog
No, the Tahltan Bear Dogs weren’t named this way because they looked like bears. This extinct dog breed got its name from its ability to hunt bears by their owners, who were largely Tahltan individuals. So many factors make the extinction of this breed of canine an unfortunate fact.
Their skills varied, ranging from their foxy appearance to their agility among other things. Many distinct features distinguish the Tahltan Bear Dog. While they were mostly known and esteemed for their unusually bushy and short tail, which they carried upright, their color varied from blue and black to dark brown.
Besides this, the domesticated carnivorous mammals sometimes had white patches on their tails and paws but mostly on their chest. In some areas, known as Chien d’ours de Tahltan, they were rather small compared to other species. They roughly stood about 12 to 17 inches at the shoulders and weighed anywhere from 14 to 20 pounds.
Extinct dog breed: Kuri Dog
The Polynesians familiarized this breed with New Zealand, where it’s recognized as the country of origin. The name Kuri came from the Maori tribe when their ancestors brought the dog species along with them while migrating from East Polynesia during the 13th century.
The Kuri dog is one of the oldest canine breeds to have walked the earth, leaving many tales behind. The Maori tradition thought that the brother-in-law of the demigod Maui (yes, from Moana) was transformed into the first dog. The Kuri Dog howled instead of barking and was bushy-tailed, with short legs, and varied in colors ranging from yellowish-brown to white, black, or spotted.
Oddly, the Maori ate it as meat. When the European settlers began to enter New Zealand, the Kuri Dog became extinct around the 1860s, mainly because it couldn’t survive interbreeding with European pups in the area.
Extinct dog breed: Turnspit Dog
The Turnspit were so domesticated that they used to help chefs and in the kitchen, a talent that earned them the name Kitchen Dog or Cooking Dog, among many other nicknames. Its roots have been traced back to the UK, where the short-legged dog with a lengthy body frame was bred to turn meat on a turnspit wheel by running on it.
The purpose here was to get the meat to cook evenly by continually turning it on the fire, and due to the brutal nature of the duty of the Turnspit Dog in the kitchen, many of them were used to working in more than one shift.
The Turnspit became extinct because it was perceived as a common and lowly dog, and of course, modern technology has come up with better ways to evenly cook meat.
Did you know about all these extinct dog breeds? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you liked this article, check out: 6 Problematic Dog Breeds You Should Stay Away From, According to Vets
