The Cirneco dell’Etna plural Cirnechi ) is a small breed of dog originally from Sicily. This hound was historically used to hunt rabbits and can work for hours without food or water. The breed also has a keen sense of smell and is primarily built for endurance over harsh terrain such as that of Mount Etna. It is the smallest of the Mediterranean island hunting hounds, the others being the Pharaoh Hounds and Ibizan Hounds. Today they are increasingly kept for conformation showing and as pets, due to their low coat maintenance and friendly nature, although as active hounds they do need regular exercise. A Cirneco should measure from 43-51 cm (17-20in) and weigh between 10–12 kg (22-26lb). As with other breeds, those from hunting stock can lie outside these ranges.

The Clumber Spaniel is a breed of dog of the spaniel type, developed in the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the spaniels, and comes in predominantly one colour. The name of the breed is taken from Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. It is a gundog that specialises in hunting in heavy cover. They are gentle and loyal, and can act aloof with strangers. They have several habits which could be considered disadvantages, including a constant shedding of its coat, snoring and the production of excessive drool. The history of the breed is uncertain prior to the mid-19th century with two theories being prevalent. Clumber Spaniels have been kept and bred by various British Monarchs, including Prince Albert, King Edward VII and King George V. They were introduced into Canada in 1844, and in 1884 became one of the first ten breeds recognised by the American Kennel Club. The breed can suffer from a variety of breed-specific ailments varying in severity from temporary lameness due to bone growth whilst young to Hip dysplasia (canine) or spinal disc herniation.

The Combai is a bear hound found in the south of India.

History

The Combai is a very ancient breed of dog, used in hunting as early as the 9th century B.C., when the Maravar kings held sway over South India. The Combai was used for hunting boar, bison and deer. Once available in large numbers throughout Southern India, the Combai is now restricted to certain parts of Tamil Nadu and to some special kennels. The original old bloodline Combai has become even very rare. It is often mistaken as a combination of other breeds because of its gigantic appearance when compared with the combai which is available with the breeders.

The Cordoba Fighting Dog is an extinct breed of fighting dog. The Cordoba was a crossbreed of English Mastiff, Bull Terrier, English Bulldog, and Boxer. The breed had such strong aggression toward other dogs that the males and females would rather fight than mate. In addition, many members of this breed died in the dog fighting pits, contributing to the breed’s extinction. The Cordoba was capable of hunting in a small pack (canine) of a male and female; otherwise it was likely to turn on its pack-mates. The Dogo Argentino is directly derived from this breed. In the 1920s, breeders developed the Dogo by crossing the Cordoba Fighting Dog with other breeds such as the Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, English Bulldog, Bull Terrier and Dogue de Bordeaux.

The Coton de Tuléar is a breed of small dog named for the city of Tuléar in Madagascar and for its cotton-like coat.

History

The Coton de Tulear developed on the island of Madagascar and is still the island’s national dog. It is believed that the Tenerife dog was brought to Madagascar and mated with a dog of the island, creating an unexpected result. The Coton’s ancestors were possibly brought to Madagascar in the 16th and 17th centuries aboard pirate ships. Madagascar was a haven for pirates, and pirate graveyards can still be seen there. Pirates established a base on St. Mary’s Island, Madagascar and some of them took Malagasy wives. Whether the dogs were brought along to control rats on the ships, as companions for long voyages or were confiscated from other ships as booty, no one knows. Tulear is a port now also known as Toliara. The Coton is of the Bichon dog type, linked most closely to the Bichon Tenerife, and Tenerife Terrier. There have been many stories circulating about the history of the Coton in recent years; most of them are untrue. The Coton de Tulear was never feral on Madagascar. It did not hunt wild boar or alligators, as its size, strength, and demeanor can disprove easily. It was a companion dog of the Merina (the ruling tribe) in Madagascar. It has very little prey drive, and is not a hunting dog.The cottony coat may be the result of a single gene mutation. This small, friendly dog caught the fancy of the Malagasy royalty and they were the only people allowed to keep Cotons. When Dr. Robert Jay Russell discovered the breed in Madagascar in 1973 and brought the first ones to America, he coined the phrase the Royal Dog of Madagascar and the name stuck. They were also imported occasionally into France by returning French colonists but were not officially imported to Europe until the 1970s.The Coton de Tulear was first formally recognised as a breed by the Societe Centrale Canine (the French national kennel club) in 1970, and was accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, which published the breed standard in 1972. The Coton de Tuléar is recognised internationally through the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, and is also recognised by major kennel clubs; The Kennel Club (UK) in the Toy Group, and the United Kennel Club (US) in the Companion Group, using standards based on the Fédération Cynologique Internationale standard. It is not recognised by the American Kennel Club, the New Zealand Kennel Club or the Australian Kennel Union. It also may be recognised in the English-speaking world by any of the very large number of minor registries, clubs, and internet-based dog registry businesses.In the United States, another standard for the Coton de Tulear was developed based on the breed in Madagascar in 1974 by a biologist, Dr. Robert Jay Russell, and the Coton de Tulear Club of America http://www.cotonclub.com was formed in 1976 by Russell. The American Kennel Club has offered Foundation Stock Service (their first step in breed recognition) to the Coton de Tulear since 1996, but the Coton de Tulear Club of America is opposed to American Kennel Club recognition for its breed. As a result, many other Coton de Tulear breed clubs have been formed, accepting one or both of the standards for the breed., which started in 2001.

Health

The Coton is in general a healthy breed. However, there are still some health issues as there are in all breeds. The most serious of them are heart problems, liver shunts, back (disc) problems or eye problems. Luckily, these are still relatively uncommon in the breed. Like all purebreds, the Coton must be bred true to type to retain its unique characteristics. This will require stringent line and occasional inbreeding. All dog breeds are inbred; otherwise, they would never breed true to type. The small gene pool of this breed is owing to its near extinction. Of course, just like with other purebred dog breeds, this inbreeding can lead to increased incidence of disease. The smaller the gene pool, the more likely a breed is to have genetic abnormalities.The Coton de Tulear has few health issues compared to many other breeds due to being rather generic in type. It is a fairly rare breed and is just now being accepted and recognized by the AKC as of 2012. The fact that this is a breed being revived from extinction means the Coton de Tulear is rather expensive to purchase and prices may reach $1,800.00-$3,500 per dog. The average life span of a Coton de Tulear is 14 to 19 years.

The Kritikos Lagonikos (Cretan Hound) (Greek:Kρητικός Λαγωνικός) is a hunting dog breed from the island of Crete, in Greece. It is considered to be one of the oldest hunting breeds in Europe, with a history that goes back to 4,000 years ago. This is a multi-talented dog that comes directly from Crete. It has excellent scent, speed, agility, durability, that make it an exceptional hare hunter. Cretan Hounds also have guarding instincts as well as pastoral instincts.

History

A primitive hunting breed, its existence on the Greek island of Crete is documented in writing and artifacts for at least 3500 years. It was extensively cultivated and used by the Minoan civilization which, at its peak, dominated over most part of the Aegean, the Cyclades islands and eastern Peloponesus. A tracking and coursing hound, it was always used in chasing and catching hare and wild rabbits on the harsh terrains of its native island. The classic authors praised the Cretan hounds (Kressai Kynes) as the best hare-hunters known to man and in ancient times they were exported to the Greek colonies and other countries in Europe, reaching as far as Spain and the British islands, to mix and improve the local hounds. The dogs have many such peculiar traits and they are evidently a truly ancient species, probably the oldest dog breed in Europe. It is possible that their ancestors came from Africa but they were subsequently adapted to this unique habitat of Crete, an island remote enough to host other unique species of animals also, such as a unique sub-species of wild goat, lynx and others. Isolated there for millennia, these dogs were formed by function to perform a particular and challenging task and they remained pure and unchanged to this day. Due to a long history of struggle against outside enemies, the Cretan people are a freedom-loving race, proud, independent, somewhat suspicious and even stubborn. They do not like to give their dogs to outsiders and even to this day the best specimens are kept hidden from the public eye. Breeding practices are ruthless and the limited means of the past taught the locals to neuter all but the best males and destroy the dogs that were lacking in the hunt. This resulted in a particularly strong and healthy breed, but also one very small in numbers. For years they were kept secret and even now they rarely leave Crete, apart from on the rare occasions they take part in International dog shows held in Athens, where visitors have the opportunity to meet a true living legend.

The Croatian Sheepdog is a dog breed from Croatia.

History

According to written documents, the appearance of this breed has not changed greatly from the 14th century to the present day. Probably because it possesses an excellent hereditary instinct for working sheep and cattle, selection on the basis of usability was being carried out spontaneously, which has resulted also in the balance of its look.The earliest written document about Croatian Sheepdogs, named “Canis pastoralis croaticus”, found in the archives of the diocese of Đakovo by the “father of the breed” – veterinarian Prof Dr Stjepan Romić – is from 1374. In this document, Petar, Bishop of ?akovo, says “the dog is about 18 inches high, with medium long black curly coat, the hair on the head is short, ears are pricked or semi-pricked and it is very good for keeping flocks of all farm animals.”
He also mentions that the Croats brought the dog with them while migrating from their original native land to Croatia in the 7th century. Romi? also found in archive of Đakovo’s diocese important information from Years 1719, 1737, 1742 and 1752.
In all of these documents the description of the Croatian Sheepdog matches entirely its appearance today and in all of them the dog is named Canis pastoralis croaticus or Croatian Sheepdog.
A systematic selection breeding program was started by the same Prof Romic in 1935 with dogs in the territory of Đakovo. After 34 years of work, breed was finally recognized by FCI in 1969.

The Cumberland sheepdog is an extinct dog breed related to the Border Collie and other old working collie types. It is claimed to be one of the ancestors of the Australian Shepherd and in the early part of the 20th Century some Cumberland sheepdogs were being referred to as border collies and may have been absorbed into the latter breed.

The Curly Coated Retriever (often referred to as a Curly) is a breed of dog originally bred in England for upland bird and waterfowl hunting. It is the tallest of the retrievers and is easily distinguishable by the mass of tight curls covering its body. Curly Coated and Wavy Coated (now known as the Flat-Coated Retriever) were the first two recognised retriever breeds, established as early as 1860.

Health

Life expectancy

Average life expectancy is 9–14 years, although there are instances of Curlies living to 15 to 17 years of age.

Known medical issues

• Hip dysplasia (canine)
• Eye problems such as cataracts, Corneal dystrophies in dogs, distichiasis, entropion, ectropion or retinal dysplasia
• Cardiac problems
• Epilepsy in animals
• Bloat
• Glycogen storage disease (GSD)
• Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC)
• Cancer

The Cursinu, is a breed of dog originating from Corsica. It has existed on the island since the 16th century, but went into decline during the late 20th century; however it was saved and became recognized by the Société Centrale Canine. Used for a variety of working purposes, it has no specific health issues.

History

Cursinus have been known on Corsica since the 16th century. Until the 1950s, the breed was used as a versatile hunting and farming dog on the island. During the second half of the 20th century the breed suffered due to competition from continental breeds. In 1989 the L’association de Sauvegarde du Chien Corse was set up to safeguard the breed. It can require further training than some other breeds, but can become a pleasant companion to its owner.

Health

There are no breed specific health issues.