The types of dogs that are available today are indicators of just how closely our lives are connected to the cultivation of domesticated animals and their ability to adapt our needs, world and culture, through selective breeding migration and simple population development. The term dog types actually refers to all o f the broad categories of canines organized by their function as domesticated animals, in terms of work and companionship in conjunction with the animal forms which the modern dog breed originated from. For breeding purposes dogs are broken down into their ancestral type and a subtype from the specific breed which they have descended, branching further dog breed groups that kennel clubs utilize to arrange breeds of dogs which are based on types like terrier and hound. There are two main subgroups that are important to breeders namely working dogs, such as sheep dogs and herding dogs that perform certain activities and then there are companion dogs typically pets like chihuahs and the toy poodle.
However, when it comes to types of dogs there are some inconsistencies in the way that dogs are classified especially when it come to the work group and the utility group which are not mutually exclusive by any stretch of the imagination and often play an ambiguous role in the lives of owners. Of course due to the fact that people are so connected to their dogs the relationships can be very ambiguous and in some cases a herding dog can be a proper house dog, but more often than not it is the utility dog who plays a mixed role such as the companion seeing eye dog. However, due to some forms of very selective breeding there are some breeds that have really one simple purpose such as the toy group which has been bread for their compact size and their desire to be near people, however in some cases these smaller breeds have been known to be put to use at removing vermin. However, there is an argument that any dog that can be listed as a working dog type permanently a working dog type, while other people say that a dog is only a working type if that dog has actively worked for some time. These people also believe that the dog needs to be put through water trials for retrievers and for the herding breeds, herding trials. This also works breeds like Seeing Eye dogs and other assistance dogs that have a specific purpose, who these people believe must actively work doing that specific purpose and these are also considered to be working breeds.
Recognizing that there are types of dogs that have very few utilities outside of being means that some breeds are inherently relegated to the immovable position of a set breed type making them unable to be useful in other ways in the human world. Most notable of these are the smaller breeds which are the Pekingese which were bred for Chinese nobility because of their resemblance to a lions and certain statues and their diminutive size which makes them easy to handle for the high society folks of China.
