From a dog bred to run on a hamster wheel in the kitchen to a vegetarian dog given to Hawaiian children at birth, many intriguing breeds have gone extinct.
It happens for all kinds of reasons: when the labor of a working dog is no longer necessary, or when a “designer dog” goes out of fashion.
Below are some of the strangest and most unique dog breeds lost to history.
The hamster wheel dog
Turnspit dogs were bred to run in a hamster wheel-like device
Turnspit dogs were bred to run in a hamster wheel-like device that turned a roasting spit, helping to cook the meat evenly.
Also known as ‘Dizzy Dogs’, ‘Underdogs’, ‘Kitchen Dogs’ or ‘Cooking Dogs’, they were classified as a breed by dog expert Johannes Caius in the 16th century.
Turnspit dogs were widely used in British inns and eateries, and were subsequently deployed in the US
Turnspit dogs were eventually replaced by ‘roasting jacks’, powered by steam and clockwork, and the breed became extinct.
They were thought to be related to Corgis or terriers.
The vegetarian companion dog
A sketch of a Hawaiian Poi dog (Wikimedia Commons)
The vegetarian Poi dogs were introduced between 300 and 800 AD. brought to Hawaii with Polynesian settlers – and were used as companions for young children.
In native Hawaiian tribes, each child was given a Poi puppy at birth – and if the child died young, the dog was buried with them.
The fat dogs were also used as a food source.
The dogs actually ate a vegetarian diet (because meat was too expensive) and were fed taro roots, which made them slightly overweight.
Jack Thorp, director of the Honolulu Zoo, described the dog as a “quiet, lazy, stupid animal, somewhat like a pig,” during a short-lived attempt in the 20th century to revive the breed.
The dog with wool like a sheep
The Salish wool dog had wool like a sheep
Coastal Salish people of the Pacific Northwest coast bred dogs with fur so thick that it could be spun into yarn and blankets.
Captain George Vancouver wrote in 1792: ‘They were all sheared as close to the skin as sheep in England; and their coats were so compact that large parts could be lifted up at one corner without causing any separation.’
The dogs were fed fish and sheared by Coast Salish women using clam knives.
The Salish woolly dog was driven to extinction within decades of settlers’ arrival, thanks to colonial government policies that focused on local culture, including woolly dogs.
All that remained of the breed were a few blankets and a coat in a museum – although some locals believe that dogs in the region today may still be Salish woolly dogs.
The rescue dog was not
The Moscow Water Dog was a working dog bred for water rescue – with one fatal drawback.
Mocow Water Dog (Wikimedia Commons)
The dog was derived from other breeds, including the Newfoundland, the Caucasian Shepherd Dog, and the Eastern European Shepherd, and was produced by the Red Star Kennels of the Soviet Union under the command of Colonel G. P. Medvedev.
Bred to be large and strong, with a fluffy double coat ideal for water rescues, the dogs’ temperament became an issue.
Rather than saving drowning victims, the dogs were more likely to attack them, making them of little use as a rescue animal.
As a result, the breeding program was halted and the dog became extinct in the 1980s.
Alexander the Great’s war dog
A statue of a Molossian dog
The poet Oppian describes the ancient Greek Molossian dog as “tempestuous and steadfast, attacking even bearded bulls and rushing upon and destroying monstrous boars.”
“They are not swift, but they have an abundant spirit and real strength, an unspeakable and fearless courage.”
The enormous Molossian dogs were mentioned by writers such as Aristotle, and some claim that today’s European mastiff breeds are descended from the enormous Greek dogs (although many experts disagree).
Some have suggested that Alexander the Great’s dog Peritas – after whom he named a city – may have been a Molossian dog.
The dog that was forbidden
Argentine Arctic Dogs were bred to thrive in Antarctica
Argentine Arctic Dogs were bred to thrive in Antarctica and were developed by the Argentine military in the 1950s for the purpose of exploring the continent.
The dogs (bred from Siberian Husky and Manchurian Spitz dogs) are built to be able to pull heavy weights and travel long distances.
But the breed became extinct after dogs were banned in Antarctica.
Annex II to the Environmental Protocol (Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora) required all non-native dog species to be removed from the continent by 1994, amid fears that dogs could transmit diseases such as distemper to seals, or attack wildlife.
The hunting dog that attacked bulls and bears
Alaunt Gentils were fearless attack dogs that took on bulls and bears
In the Middle Ages, hunting was the favorite pastime of the noble classes, and the dog of choice was the ‘alaunt gentils’, bred for hunting.
Alaunts were large dogs, built like a heavier greyhound, with coarse heads and short muzzles (they are often depicted muzzled when not hunting).
Alaunts were able to take down bears and were used for bull baiting.
In Edward Duke of York’s 15th century book ‘Master of Game’, Alaunts were described as ‘better formed and stronger to do mischief than any other beast’;