History of Guardian & Working Breeds

11/12/2025

The Dalmatian ~ Beloved “Fire House” dog.

One of the most enduring symbols of the fire service is the Dalmatian dog, particularly in England, Canada and the United States.

The Dalmatian is a very physical breed, with a strong, muscular body. They are fast enough to keep up with horses and able to run great distances without tiring.

Canine experts are unsure how old the breed is. Some reports date 600+ years. Their roots are often said to trace back to Dalmatia (a region of Croatia) where the first illustrations of the dog have been found.

The Dalmatian, because of its poor hunting abilities, was historically often relegated to the stable area of homes.

It was in these stables that the Dalmatian became acquainted and associated with horses.

The personality of a Dalmatian lends itself naturally to be a calming effect on horses. The Dalmatian as it were, became the horse’s pet.

The use of Dalmatians as carriage dogs was then easily transferred to horse-drawn fire engines.

It was during this era of horse drawn fire apparatus that the Dalmatian becomes forever tied to the Fire Service.

Dalmatians were adopted by the fire service in the days of the horse-drawn fire wagons because of their gifted agility and because they were unafraid of the horses.

The Dalmatian, with its superior physical capabilities would often run out in front of the horses and clear the streets for the approaching fire wagon.

Horses were eventually replaced by gasoline-driven fire engines, but the Dalmatians, by tradition, have stayed.

In some rare areas you can still see the Dalmatian in the fire station and even still standing proudly on top of the fire engine as it races to another emergency.

Dalmatians are still chosen by many firefighters as pets, in honor of their heroism in the past.

The Dalmatian is also a very loyal breed to its owners, and an admirable foe when challenged.

Overall, the Dalmatian is a loyal, brave and valiant dog.

Brotherhood of 🔥

09/12/2025

In 1927, a young man named Morris Frank read an article about dogs being trained as guides for blinded veterans of World War I. Frustrated by his own lack of mobility as a blind person, he was inspired to ask for help from the article’s author: Dorothy Harrison Eustis. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Dorothy was now living in Switzerland, where she bred and trained German shepherd dogs for use by the police and military. When she received Morris Frank’s letter, she agreed to help him. He promised he would return to the United States and spread the word about these wonderful dogs.
On June 11, 1928, having completed instruction in Switzerland, Morris arrived in New York City, proving the ability of his dog, Buddy, by navigating a dangerous street crossing before throngs of news reporters. His one-word telegram to Dorothy told the entire story: “Success.” The Seeing Eye was born with the dream of making the entire world accessible to people who are blind.
Morris Frank and Dorothy Harrison Eustis are the co-founders of The Seeing Eye. Dorothy served as the first president and Morris as the managing director.

08/12/2025

3 hours to post one breed. Fell asleep around 5 times. Messed it up and started again, everytime. The show must go on! No more work 😴😴😴😴😴🐕🐕🐕🐕
Australians owe a great debt to all the persons involved in the development of the Australian Cattle Dog, for without it the beef industry of Australia would undoubtedly have had great difficulty in developing into the important industry that it has become.
In the year 1840, George Elliott, in Queensland, was experimenting with Dingo-blue merle Collie crosses. Elliott’s dogs produced some excellent workers. Cattle men were impressed with the working ability of these dogs, and purchased pups from them as they became available. Two brothers, Jack and Harry Bagust, of Canterbury in Sydney, purchased some of these dogs and set about improving on them. Their first step was to cross a bitch with a fine imported Dalmatian dog. This cross changed the merle to red or blue speckle. The Bagusts’ purpose in this cross was to instill the love of horses and faithfulness to master into their dogs. These characteristics were obtained and made these Bagust dogs useful for minding the drover’s horse and gear, but some of the working ability was lost. Admiring the working ability of the Black and Tan Kelpie, which is a sheepdog, the Bagusts experimented in crossing them with their speckle dogs. The result was a compact active dog, identical in type and build to the Dingo, only thicker set and with peculiar markings found on no other dog in the world. The blue dogs had black patches around the eyes, with black ears and brown eyes, with a small white patch in the middle of the forehead. The body was dark blue, evenly speckled with a lighter blue, having the same tan markings on legs, chest, and head as the Black and Tan Kelpie. The red dogs had dark red markings instead of black, with an all-over even red speckle.
Only the pups closest to the ideal were kept, and these became the forebears of the present-day Australian Cattle Dog. The working ability of the Bagusts’ dogs was outstanding, retaining the quiet heeling ability and stamina of the Dingo with the faithful protectiveness of the Dalmatian. As the word spread of the ability of these dogs to work cattle, they became keenly sought after by property owners and drovers. The blue-colored dogs proved to be more popular, and became known as Blue Heelers. These cattle dogs became indispensable to the owners of the huge cattle runs in Queensland, where they were given the name tag of Queensland Heelers or Queensland Blue Heelers.
After the Black and Tan Kelpie cross, no other infusion of breeds was practiced with any success. The breeders of the day concentrated on breeding for working ability, type, and color. In 1893 Robert Kaleski took up breeding the Blue Heelers, and started showing them in 1897.
Mr. Kaleski drew up his standard for the Cattle Dog and also for the Kelpie and Barb in 1902. He based the Cattle Dog standard around the Dingo type, believing that this was the type naturally evolved to suit the conditions of this country. Even today the resemblance to the Dingo is evident, except for the color of the blues and the speckle in the reds. After much opposition from careless breeders, Kaleski finally had his standard endorsed by them and all the leading breeders of the time. He then submitted his standard to the Cattle and Sheep Dog Club of Australia, and the original Kennel Club of New South Wales for their approval. The standard was approved in 1903.
The breed became known as the Australian Heeler, then later the Australian Cattle Dog, which is now accepted throughout Australia as the official name for this breed. However, even today, some people can be heard calling them Blue Heelers or Queensland Heelers.
Australian Cattle Dog Club of America

08/12/2025

1891 - Original Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog from archives (Canberra National Library)

08/12/2025

08/12/2025

Original 1797 illustration of the Dingo, classified as "Canis Dingo Blumenb." by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach.

07/12/2025

Laika was the first animal to orbit the Earth and while her achievement might be extraordinary, her story was tragic. Soviets, preparing to launch Sputnik 2 knew very well that Laika's trip was going to be one-way. Despite many accepting her sacrifice for science as worthy, some had their reservations. In a book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine, Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote, "Laika was quiet and charming ... I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live." He took the dog home before the launch so she could play with his children. Also, one of the technicians who was preparing Laika's capsule for final liftoff stated that "after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight."

07/12/2025

Shelter Dogs Served As ‘Ball Boys’ At Brazil Tennis Open To Bring Awareness To Brazil's Street Animals And Promote Their Adoption

07/12/2025

The American Cocker Spaniel is a breed of sporting dog. A spaniel type dog that is closely related to the English Cocker Spaniel; the two breeds diverged during the 20th century due to differing breed standards in the US and the UK. In the United States, the breed is usually called a Cocker Spaniel, while elsewhere in the world, it is called an American Cocker Spaniel to distinguish it from its older English cousin. The word cocker is commonly held to stem from their use to hunt woodcock in England, while spaniel is thought to be derived from the breed's origins in Spain.
The first spaniel in America came across with the Mayflower in 1620, but it was not until 1878 that the first Cocker Spaniel was registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC).
A national breed club was set up three years later and the dog considered to be the father of the modern breed, Ch. Obo II, was born around this time. By the 1920s the English and American varieties of Cocker had become noticeably different and in 1946 the AKC recognized the English type as a separate breed. It was not until 1970 that The Kennel Club in the UK recognized the American Cocker Spaniel as being separate from the English type. The American Cocker was the most popular breed in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s and again during the 1980s, reigning for a total of 18 years. They have also won the best in show title at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on four occasions, the best in show title at Crufts in 2017, and have been linked to the President of the United States on several occasions, with owners including Richard Nixon and Harry S. Truman. In 2021, the cocker spaniel ranked 29th in registrations with the American Kennel Club.

07/12/2025

Dog called "Dino de Tasgard", a tipical Brazilian Dogge (Dogue Brasileiro), also known as Brazilian dogo, a dog breed from Brazil.
Português: Cão chamado "Dino de Tasgard", do canil Tasgard. Um típico Dogue brasileiro.
Date 25 June 2008
Thatonka

07/12/2025

1907

06/12/2025

Shepherd, Dog and Lambing Hut,