The 'Dog Fancy' and Fancy Dogs: Pedigree, Breeding and Britishness, 1859-1914.

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Dog breeds have a long history, created over thousands of years to aid in work (setters and terriers) and leisure (Bull Dogs), or for ornament (e.g. King Charles Spaniels). However, in the mid-nineteenth century the nature and meaning of breeds changed with the development of pedigree dogs, with specific standards and certified lineages in published pedigrees. These 'new' dogs were displayed and judged at shows, traded in emerging markets, and became associated with social groups and identities. Pedigree breeds were created by the 'dog fancy', a new social formation of breeders, aficionados and owners that was initially unique to Britain, but which was then emulated around the world. The world's first modern dog shows were in Newcastle and Birmingham in 1859 and the London Kennel Club's Stud Books, first published in 1874, became international reference documents.The nature and meaning of dog breeds changed in four linked ways. First, breeds came to be defined by form rather than function, with standards regulated and certiificated by the Kennel Club. Indeed, the question of the welfare of pedigree breeds, which has recently been the subject of intense public scrutiny and debate, dates from the very first shows and concerns about judging only for conformation. Secondly, the number of breeds increased as novel forms were created by selective breeding, or imported from across the world. Thirdly, specific breeds were produced by, and became associated with, particular social groups, for example, 'ladies' and Yorkshire terriers, and the minor gentry and Basset Hounds. Fourthly, societies and service industries were created to support pedigree dogs, their owners and the dog fancy, which changed the nature and meaning of pet owning across the country.This project will begin by investigating the social locations and forms of the 'dog fancy', to determine how its institutions operated across class, gender, region and age, and map the forms of expertise, formal and informal, that developed amongst breeders, owners, entrepreneurs and veterinarians. We will then explore changing definitions of pedigree, and how meanings of 'lineage', 'blood' and 'type' developed and were used by the 'dog fancy'. We will do this for 'pedigree' in general, and for particular breeds. There are numerous sources in the archives of the Kennel Club, in records of dog shows and breed club records, and in the large newspaper, periodical and book literature that was produced, much of it richly illustrated. It is suggestive that the first dog shows were in the same year as the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species; we will deepen our ongoing research into how dog breeding interacted ideas of evolution and heredity. It is well known that 'artificial selection' was critical to the development of the theory of natural selection, but we will go on from this to look at dog breeding's role in changing ideas of heredity, especially eugenics. Victorians and Edwardians were concerned about the impact of inbreeding on the health of individual dogs and the degeneration of breeds. As well as exploring these concerns within the 'dog fancy', we ask how qualified veterinarians and lay 'dog doctors' understood, advised upon, and managed the health and welfare of pedigree dogs.In final part of our work, we will ask how dog breeding and pedigree breeds reflected and shaped notions of Britishness, along with regional, class and gender identities, particularly in relation to biological conceptions of blood, ancestry and character. We will look at the emergence of the idea of Britain as a 'nation of dog lovers' and the extent to which this reshaped meanings of Britishness, from the eighteenth-century creation of John Bull and his bulldog to the ageing Queen Victoria surrounded by collies and other homely breeds.