How long has your small breed been around?

[Gempress]

My mom has a maltese. And...wow. I could not believe how ancient this breed is. From what I read online, they estimate it originated around 6,000 B.C. The first images of it were found on Greek vases dating from approximately 500 B.C. So, just going by the vases alone, that's at least......2,500 years old? Holy cow!

[showpug]

Pugs are believed to be one of the most ancient breeds on earth dating back to 400 B.C.! They originated in China and eventually became popular many years later in England and parts of Europe.

They were mainly bred and kept as pets and considered good luck charms for the royals and would accompany them on their thrones (sp). It was not unusual for the pugs to actually be garded by soldiers.

Pugs were and still are a true companion breed.

[Doberluv]

Chihuahua history:

http://www.vipchihuahua.com/history.htm

[biggrins]

My guys have been around for a very long time too!

"The Italian Greyhound is a very old Greyhound. Interestingly, a dog similar to the Italian Greyhound of today was found in a 6000 year old Egyptian tomb. Like the Greyhound, this breed was brought to Europe by the Phoenicians. The breed was later developed by the Romans. As evidence, a small Greyhound was found in an ancient lava flow in Pompeii. During the sixteenth century, this delicate dog became popular with European nobility, and is portrayed in many paintings of that time. The breed was favored by Catherine the Great of Russia, James I of England, Anne of Denmark and Queen Victoria, among others. Frederick the Great of Prussia liked his little Italian Greyhound so much, he even took one to war with him. When his Italian Greyhound died, he buried him with his own hands on the grounds of his Sands Souci Palace. In 1991, Frederick's family granted his dying wishes and transferred his remains to Sans Souci, and placed them beside his little Italian Greyhound. A nineteenth century African chieftain was so taken with these graceful dogs that he offered 200 cattle in exchange for a single specimen. The Italian Greyhound is an excellent companion dog."

[Sapphire-Light]

Also the pekineses over 2000 years

Hehehe! they are somewhat like long haired pugs.





I love how the fantasy history of the creation of the breed is

We all have read interesting histories of our beloved Pekingese, most of them dating back to the old legend of the lion that fell in love with a marmoset. In order for him to be wedded to his lady-love, the lion begged the patron saint of the animals, named Ah Chu, to reduce him to the size of a pigmy, but to let him retain his great lion heart and character. From the offspring of this union descended the dogs of Fu Lin, or the Lion Dog of China.

Sadly in my country pekingeses are the breed thathave suffered more mixing.

People think if a dog is furry and small is a pekingese 99.9% of them dosen't even look a bit like a purebred pekingese.

[LhasaLover]

I've read that the dogs brought from Tibet were the Lhasa Apsos, which were then mixed with a Chinese dog to create the Shih Tzu.

They just did a great documentary on PBS on the origins of dogs, based on current DNA studies. Very cool show.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dog/

They also identified what they consider to be the 14 ancient breeds "that controversial genetic studies show are the most ancient-and the best living representatives of the ancestors to all living dogs".

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dog/map.html

In the 2nd part of the show they were talking about the physical changes in the breeds over the years and they showed the English Bulldog as a prime example of that - it looks nothing like it used to in the 1800s.

[noludoru]

Originally Posted by Doberluv

Chihuahua history:

http://www.vipchihuahua.com/history.htm

Puppymill!

Cool facts about your breeds, guys.

I think the idea behind small breeds being newer is that people often think large dogs were around longer b/c of their size in relation to wolves, and the smaller dogs took hundreds of years to breed down to smaller sizes.

[Cassiepeia]

Puppymill!

Geez, it is too!! I never even noticed that when I clicked on the link first time.

Cass.

[Sapphire-Light]

Originally Posted by LhasaLover

I've read that the dogs brought from Tibet were the Lhasa Apsos, which were then mixed with a Chinese dog to create the Shih Tzu.

They just did a great documentary on PBS on the origins of dogs, based on current DNA studies. Very cool show.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dog/

They also identified what they consider to be the 14 ancient breeds "that controversial genetic studies show are the most ancient-and the best living representatives of the ancestors to all living dogs".

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/dog/map.html

In the 2nd part of the show they were talking about the physical changes in the breeds over the years and they showed the English Bulldog as a prime example of that - it looks nothing like it used to in the 1800s.

That's interesting, but the akita photo there is NOT the original ancient breed, is the american akita, a breed that exist afther the second world war, when they where many akita mixes whit GSD and mastiff and the american soldiers came whit those dogs not knowing they wheren't pure breed.

a more detailed info here http://www.tamarlane.com/dillema.htm

I know many people here alredy knew this, but just to point the mistake on the pbs site.