Popularity of Dog Breeds in the United States (1880's-1920's) - A Macroscopic Viewpoint

(The popular Collie, representative for Uneeda Biscuits, circa 1910)

Dog fanciers of the fashionable, original American dog shows in the 1880's demonstrated that there were specific dog breed favorites among the "nouveau" on the American kennel club scene.  This era was part of the "Gilded Age" which was a term applied to the industrialization, wealth and power of east coast Americana.  

Companion dogs such as various types of toy dogs were extremely popular with Americans.  Perhaps the Collie was and remained the most popular American herding or working dog breed of the era between the 1880's and 1930's and was often found on average American farms and ranches.  Basically, my brain's first memories
as a 3 year old child were recorded as:  "me a 3 year old child playing with a Collie (Rough Coat) named Laddie in Detroit, Michigan, i. e.,  Laddie inadvertently knocked me into a rose bush in the backyard".  I did not get too scratched-up from the rose bush thorns and I made sure that no one reprimanded Laddie for knocking me over.  My own life as a dog person began with those initial amusing memories of playing with Laddie. 

The sporting or hunting dog breeds, selectively, became another popular group of dogs.  The popularity of sporting dogs in the 1880's coincided with the appearance of upland game bird hunting as an outdoor sport. 

To digress, during this time management of the American wilderness by the Federal government and the need for conservation of the undeveloped wilderness areas began to filter into the American public consciousness.  Yellowstone Park became the first National Park that was established in the 1880's as a consequence of this cognitive awakening.  By 1900 the populations of many species of  mammals which are indigenous to the United States, including birds, had been decimated.  Hunters who lived-off-the-land found that game species on which they subsisted had become increasingly scarce due to the increasing population of Americans moving into rural areas, precipitous decreases in wilderness/habitat areas, and hunting-in-excess by everyone within the hunting community.  There was a strange man-made dichotomy between the bounty system of paying for the killing of important first order predator mammals, such as big cats and wolves, and the implementation of Federal and State conservation laws for birds and fish.  Both bird hunting for sport and sport fishing had also become social hobbies for many types of Americans.  The devastation of the some bird species with extravagant plumage was also related to production and sales of items which utilized bird feathers (e.g., hats, dresses, etc.).   Theodore Roosevelt, an avid hunter, was instrumental in working toward a ban on the bird feather market which ultimately resulted in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

In 1918 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act became a Federal statute between the United States and Canada. This statute regulated the numbers of migratory bird species that could hunted or killed within the United States and Canada. The dichotomy is highlighted when one considers the large bounties that continued to be paid to exterminate mountain lions, bobcats, lynx, wolves, and coyotes during these same timeframes (1800's-1900's). My perspective is that the development of recreational sports of bird hunting and fishing dictated to the Federal and State fish and game management polices through the 1930's. An important aspect of this dichotomy was the establishment of commercial wild bird farms and freshwater fish hatcheries in the United States dating to the 1880's and 1890's.

The magazine Forest and Stream was founded in 1873 and covered all aspects of outdoor recreation including bird hunting (see the note about Charles Hallock, the founder of Forest and Stream).  In every issue there were articles about pointers and setters and hunting dog training.  The excerpt about Hallock is from a book entitled:  Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age.  Scrolling through the contents of an online issue of Forest and Stream Magazine from 1917,  the influential scope of sport hunting and fishing in the United States by the early 1900's is revealed.

Thus, sporting dogs were and still are some of the first important members of the American Kennel Club:  For dog show fans (including me) Sensation, the great Pointer and symbol of the Westminister Kennel Club in New York City, always will be the most famous American sporting dog celebrity.