When is a dog not a dog?

Well a dog is not a dog when it is a specialised breed!

At the risk of upsetting all those involved in the Kennel Club, Crufts or pedigree breeders I have to say that sometimes the snobbery amongst different breeders is unbelievable.

To cut a long story short my daughter recently added a rather lovely dog to her family and among our messages and photos to one another on Facebook I added a link to a brilliant video on You Tube where it showed this type of canine doing what it is supposed to do and that is be a gun dog. I joked with my daughter about showing it to her new dog so he would know what to do.

I could not believe it when the “breeder” of this particular dog commented and told me that it was the wrong breed and that her breed was wire haired and not smooth coated!

Well pardon me but I do have eyes and I could see the difference but when it came down to it they were both of the same breed – just that one has smooth coat and the other wire haired and to be quite honest did it really matter!

I was joking with my daughter not asking to be corrected on the intricacies of dog breeding!

To me a dog is first canine, and then group (gun dog/hunting dog etc) then breed and lastly the difference between the breeds (short coated, wire haired etc).

I guess this type of person would have looked down her nose at my old dog who happened to be a Spaniel cross but he was the most loyal, well behaved and easy going dog I have ever met.

So spare me the pedigrees and their breeders, I will stick to good old common cross breeds and mongrels!