Rare Breeds of Dog Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beauceron

The Beauceron is a French herding dog. Originating in the central plains of France, they are also known as Berger de Beauce (sheepdog from Beauce) or Bas Rouge (red-stockings). The picture selected illustrates the characteristic red feet which lead to the latter name.

The Beauceron is believed to be one of the breeds used by Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann in the 1880s as he developed the dog named after him, called the Dobermann in most places, and the Doberman Pinscher in North America.

Answer: Karelian Bear Dog

The Finns are very proud of their big-game hunting Karjalankarhukoira. Their ability to hunt brown bears led to their name, but they also come in handy for those who are in search of moose and wild boars. The breed was developed in the middle of the 20th century as a dog that would distract the quarry by barking loudly - they usually work in a pack, rather than individually - so that the hunter can move in. Because they are naturally aggressive towards other animals, they require careful socialization if they are to be around other dogs.

The Karelian bear dog is used today in America for "training" wild bears to stay away from campgrounds and other places where they could be a menace, and where the rangers may eventually be forced to shoot or capture them.

Answer: Laekenois

All four dogs are the same except for their coats. The Groenendael has a long, straight, black coat. The Tervuren has a long, straight coat with a brownish color darkening to black at the tips. The Malinois has a short coat with a tan coloring with black tips, sometimes mistaken for a German shepherd. And the Laekenois is a fawn color, with a wiry coat that makes it look curly, as can be seen in the image.

While the AKC considers them to be four separate breeds, most Europeans consider them to be variations within the same breed. Like the German shepherd, with whom they share a common ancestry, they are not only used as herding dogs, but also for a range of purposes including guard dogs, guide dogs, police dogs, search and rescue dogs, and (last but not least) companion dogs.

Answer: Black Russian Terrier

Also known as the Chornyi terrier (using the Russian word for black to describe them), they were developed for military purposes. Despite their name, they are not actually terriers, and the head is definitely reminiscent of their schnauzer ancestors. They are solid animals, measuring around 30 inches to the withers (the ridge at the base of the neck which is the highest body point), and weighing around 110 pounds - slightly less for females, slightly more for males.

Answer: Xoloitzcuintli

The dog's name is pronounced Sho-lo-etz-queen-tlay - but most people just call it the Xolo or Mexican hairless. Actually, there is a coated variety, and often both types appear in the same litter. The original dog, as bred by the Aztecs, is thought to have been coated, with the hairless gene arising from a mutation that produced a dominant gene. Homozygous dominant genes are almost always fatal to the developing foetus, so the hairless dog is almost always heterozygous, carrying the recessive gene for a coat.

The puppies which get a recessive gene from each parent are born with coats.

Answer: Neapolitan Mastiff

The Neapolitan mastiff worked primarily as a farm dog. The breed was developed by selective breeding from traditional Italian guard dogs in the 1940s by Piero Scanziani, who drew up the first guidelines of how the breed should appear and behave. While they are usually black or grey, they can also be registered and shown in various shades of brown and grey; the coat can be brindled, and some small white markings on the feet and chest are acceptable.

Answer: Australian Kelpie

A true working dog, the kelpie is descended from the Scottish working collies, imported to Australia in the early 18th century, before the collie was recognized as a breed. They were selectively bred to produce a dog capable of independently working sheep, without direct supervision. They developed into sturdy dogs, known for their ability to run for hours. It is often stated that their breeding included dingoes (native Australian wild dogs), to account for their ear shape and the introduction of a range of red/brown colours into the breed, but genetic analysis has shown that this may not be the case.

The image shows a kelpie involved in one of their signature moves - running across the backs of the pack to reach the spot where the sheep need to be prodded into action.

Answer: Norwegian Lundehund

The lundehund is a small spitz-type of dog whose name means puffin dog in Norwegian. They are nimble climbers, which helped them in their original purpose of catching puffins (and their eggs) in inaccessible cliffside caves for hundreds of years. That extra toe came in useful. During the twentieth century, when new hunting techniques were developed, interest in the breed diminished, and by the 1960s they were nearly extinct.

Efforts to restore the population have included some breeding with other species to reduce the prevalence of several serious disorders caused by extensive inbreeding, including lundehund syndrome, in which the dog loses the ability to absorb nutrients from its food.

Answer: Irish Red and White Setter

The Irish setter is red, the English setter can be orange, blue or yellow with white, and the Gordon setter is black and tan. These hunting dogs are called setters because they were bred to locate game birds by detecting their scent, then honing in on the location.

When the quarry has been located, they "set" - freeze into position with their nose pointing to the bird's location, while the hunter moves close enough to shoot it.

Answer: Bluetick Coonhound

The bluetick was developed in the early 1900s. They get their name from the mixture of black ticking on a background of white hairs that creates an impression of a blue colour. This may cover most of the body, but black spots are also common, and the head and ears are predominantly black, with a blue blaze. They may also have some brown markings, as seen in the muzzle and eyes of the dog in the photo.

The second part of the breed's name is descriptive of its purpose - they were bred to hunt raccoons, and will chase any other small animals they encounter up the nearest tree.

Answer: Plott Hound

The breed founder, who brought the dogs from Germany, was Johannes Plott. The breed has been in the family for generations. In 1989 they were designated the official State Dog of North Carolina. Plott hounds are one of the few breeds whose coat is required to be brindle, meaning that it has streaks or stripes of a one colour and an overlying layer of another colour.

Answer: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

The name says it all: this dog was developed in the early 1800s in the Nova Scotian municipality of Little River Harbour, so they were originally called the Little River duck dog. Tolling is the action of playing around to attract the quarry so that it comes closer (within gunshot range) to investigate; ducks are a typical quarry, and of course the dog's double coat makes it easier to brave the icy waters and retrieve the birds that have been shot. Tollers, as they are called, usually have a reddish-brown coat, possible with white markings, and a head that resembles that of a fox.

Answer: Leonberger

The town name was Leonberg, Germany. The mayor's claim, while widely known as the origin of the breed, is not widely accepted; there had been lots of similar dogs in the region for over 300 years. But he named the breed and gave them away to all sorts of royalty and nobles, so got credit entrenched.

Essig's Leonbergers had flowing white coats along with their characteristic manes. Following World War II, there were only a handful of survivors from this line (pulling ammunition carts around was not good for their health), and it was restored with some crossbreeding from several of the breeds that were originally used by Essig, especially Newfoundlands. The modern Leonberger owes its usual coat colour (ranging from sandy through to red-brown, often with black around the head) to this new breeding phase.

Answer: Sloughi

This North African breed is also called the Berber greyhound - it looks like a greyhound, and was bred by the Berbers in a region that includes the modern countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. Sloughi is thought to be a Berber pronunciation of the Arabic word Saluki, which is a similar breed with which the sloughi is thought to have a common ancestry. As well as being used for hunting, they are excellent guard dogs, as they are very territorial.

Answer: New Guinea Singing Dog

At one time the New Guinea singing dog was considered to be a domestic dog that had gone wild. However, genetic analysis has led to a revisal of that opinion, and they are considered to be a primitive dog, developing in isolation from other canines. Its taxonomy has been highly debated. At one time it was proposed that it should be classified as a separate species (Canis hallstromi); there has also been a suggestion that it and the dingo should be classed as a separate species from other dogs, as Canis lupus dingo instead of Canis lupus familiaris. They are found in the highlands of New Guinea, both in the wild and living within human settlements.

While they are called "barkless" dogs, this does not mean they are silent. Their vocalisation is a sort of yodeling sound, with a sharp change of pitch, that typically lasts for 3-5 seconds. The image for this question shows one in full song.

Answer: Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog

This breed actually has a variety of names, such as the Catahoula hog dog. Most of its names are some mix of the words Louisiana, Catahoula, leopard and hog. It was bred in the Louisiana parish of Catahoula during the 18th century. It has been suggested that French settlers brought Beauceron dogs with them, and cross bred them with local wolfdogs that were adept at hunting in the swamps. They were initially used for hunting, especially feral pigs, but they also have a strong herding instinct. The leopard reference in their name is because they often have a mixture of dark coloured areas and areas where the merle gene produces a lighter colour. However, while merle coats are the most common, brindle and solid colours (usually with some white markings) are also seen.

In 1979 it was adopted as the state dog of Louisiana.

Answer: Dogue de Bordeaux

You may have recognised the image as resembling Beasley the Dog, who performed as Hooch in the movie "Turner and Hooch". The breed has been identified with the French region of Bordeaux since at least the 14th century. They are a powerful, stocky dog, with their large head a key feature - they have the largest head for their size of any recognized breed of dog.

The largest circumference on the head is supposed to be equal to the dog's height!

Answer: Bolognese

The bichon type (fluffy toy dogs, like the one in the picture) is thought to be descended from the barbet, a larger French water dog. Bichon is possibly a contraction of barbichon, meaning little barbet. They have been popular lap dogs since at least the 11th century.

Although originating in France, they spread throughout the royal courts of Europe. The Bolognese were developed in the Italian city of Bologna, and can be seen in a number of Italian paintings, being held by their aristocratic owners.

Answer: Pumi

The pumi in the image is black, and apparently a winner in its show, but the coat is more commonly grey, with white and fawn also accepted. They have a curly double coat, which needs regular grooming to prevent matting. While they were known to develop during the 18th century, it was not until the 20th century that the puli, pumi and mudi (another Hungarian herding breed) were decreed to be separate breeds, not just regional variants of the one breed.

While the pumi originated as a sheep dog, and still serves that function, their intelligence and quickness mean they are also popular for obedience and agility competitions, as well as dog dancing.

Answer: Rat Terrier

This is a mixed bag of a dog! They were initially bred to catch vermin, so they are slight and quick. There has been a lot of outcrossing (breeding with other types of dog) over the years, which has helped them avoid developing health problems that often occur in purebred lines.

It also means that it is very similar to other breeds of a similar background, and sometimes a line is allocated a new name. Hence the Teddy Roosevelt terrier is classified by the National Rat Terrier Association as a rat terrier type B.

The dogs that were bred from the hairless individual that appeared in 1972 are now considered rat terriers by some, and as a separate breed called the American hairless terrier by others.