Dog breeding

Dog breeding began in England in the early 1800s and was a product of the profit society that arose at the time. People simply had more free time, time separate from having to work for a living. A number of new dog breeds were created at the time, and the phenomenon quickly spread to other countries. The new breeds that emerged were being bred for recreation and for their own pleasure.

Before 1800, dogs were generally regarded as livestock, even though it dates back to ancient Egypt to find examples of the dogs who were also social companions.  Many believe the father to the authorities is Ibizan. Exceptions were the NOK, for example, among the noble and the wealthy, who could take the advice of keeping dogs for pleasure.
It was also among the noble and the rich that the first breed clubs emerged, and particularly within the circles that hunted for sport’s sake. One can well argue that it was the hunting dog community that provided food to the formation of national and modern dog husbandry as we know it today. The phenomenon grew really fast in the mid 1800s, when there arose a number of new dog breeds in Europe.  England was in some ways a pioneer for the rest of the world, but the trend quickly spread to other countries.

Breed Standards and kennel clubs

The explosion of new races throughout the 1800’s led to the formation of a number of race clubs, and also eventually to the nationals, towards the end of the century. The Kennel Club was in some ways the world’s first stambokregister, when it was formed in Britain in 1873. Finland and Sweden established their kennel clubs in 1889, and Denmark and Norway followed suit in 1897 and 1898 respectively.  The purpose of the breed clubs and the national kennel clubs was to secure the many breed standards that emerged in the wake of the new breeds that arose.
In the 1920s there re-emerged Cynologique Federation Internationale (FCI), after a break during World War I, and eventually Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden became members of this organization.  In time, these four Nordic countries formed the Nordic Kennel Union (Nku). When Iceland formed their national kennel club in 1969, it was natural that they sought membership in both the Nku and FCI.

Now breed standards were something new in itself.  Greek history does not know of more than 2000 years old breed standards, which carefully describes the properties of the ancient Hellenes.  The knowledge of breeding has been handed down from father to son. Hellenes and the Tuareg were not concerned with the exterior aspects, but concentrated to a greater extent on the practical genetic properties.