Dog breeds in the eighteen century as described in French naturalistic literature
by Hélène Nunes * et C. Degueurce **
*Docteur vétérinaire
** Professeur, Musée Fragonard, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Adel. cdegueurce@vet-alfort.fr
The French naturalistic literature of the 18th century was particularly involved in describing the domestic animals. The authors studied all the relevant books available in the Alfort National Veterinary School lbrary to describe 22 dog breeds. Three groups were defined: sheep/guard dogs, hunting dogs and pet dogs. History, morphology and uses of each breed were specified.These dog breeds were considered to be morphological types; descriptions were scanty and standards had not been established. Nevertheless dog importance in the 18th century society was already indisputable.