…perhaps a dog you once knew or are familiar with from a TV show or a movie. You might not know the breed name, but you identify it nonetheless. By some other name.
Not in Kansas Anymore, ____
Take the case of Lollipop, a Cairn terrier. I had the pleasure of making Lollipop’s acquaintance on my morning walks when I went to my mom’s house last month.
The first morning I met Lollipop, she and her mom, Martha Ann, were coming towards me on the path. Lollipop stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me, hunkered down, and was clearly “laying in wait” for me.
I laughed as I drew closer and said, “You know a dog person when you see one, don’t you, you cutie patootie.”
With a happily wagging tail she lunged at me and demanded to be petted. I, of course, obliged.
“What a cute dog she is. What breed is she?” I asked.
“A Cairn terrier.”
“I’ve never heard of that one before.”
“Maybe you don’t know the name, but you’ve seen her breed in some big movies.”
“Oh? Like what?”
“You know the dog in the Wizard of Oz?”
“OH! She’s a Toto!”
(It hadn’t dawned on me right away. I knew she looked familiar for some reason, but it wasn’t until I got that prompt that the light went on.)
No, Not Lassie. He’s Mackie!
Growing up people used to do this wherever I went with Mackie.
“Ooh! What a pretty Lassie dog.”
It used to sort of irk me back then. But guess what I do now?
If I see a dog that looks like a dog I know, be it personally or from a movie, that’s how I’ll identify it. Just like I did with Lollipop.
Name That Breed
For instance, when Murph and I see beagles at the park (which we almost always do), I say something like, “Hey look. Here come Lady and Beau dogs.” (Lady and Beau are two of Murph’s neighborhood dog friends who happen to be beagles.) Maybe others might call them “Uno dogs.”
Back when Fraiser wasn’t just reruns, every Jack Russell was an “Eddie dog.”
Every cocker spaniel I see is a “Budly dog.” And Old English Sheepdogs are always “shaggy dogs.” (Or “Shaggy D.A. dogs.”) Some Great Danes get the distinction of “Scoobies.”
I have no idea what type of breed a Benji dog is (maybe Australian silky terrier?) but I’d know a Benji if I saw one. Same with a Rin Tin Tin type.
I always joke my friends that for a dog lover I’m bad with knowing breeds, and I am.
Or am I?
Question to Readers
What kind of breeds do you know by other names?
Related Articles
Four-Legged “Fraiser” Star Dies