Regency Era Animals: Man’s Best Friend
The Use of Dogs During Regency Era England
After my search for different dog breeds that were present during Regency England, I thought it would be best to continue with a brief post about what dogs were used during this period.
If one were to write a screenplay, a novel, or even Jane Austen Fan Fiction, it is not enough to just know what breeds of dogs one would see during the Regency Era, but to apply that type of dog to the proper use. It would be silly to read that a Pug was used for hunting game animals. With that, it would lose the credibility of the writer.
Below is a list of what dogs were used for during this period.
Hunting and Sport
There are three typical types of dogs used for hunting. There are sighthounds, scent hounds, and gundogs.
Sighthounds use their sight and speed to find, chase, catch, and kill game such as hares, foxes, and deer. Breeds that are a reference to this are Greyhounds and Scottish Deerhounds.
Scent hounds use their scent ability to track prey. The breeds commonly used are bloodhounds and beagles.
Gundogs were used to find game and then retrieve game after the hunter shot and killed the prey. Spaniels, Pointers, and Setters were the popular choice for gundogs.
Carting and Draft
These dogs were larger and were able to wear harnesses to attach to carts to transport goods such as merchandise and materials.
A popular breed used for this type of work is Newfoundland Dogs.
Carriage or Coach Dogs
These dogs were used to travel alongside carriages to protect the traveler from thieves.
You would see Dalmatians and Danish Dogs for this type of work.
Farm
Dogs used on farms were typically used to manage other animals, mostly livestock. The most noted were Shepherd Dogs and Cur Dogs
Shepherd Dogs would fetch and drive flocks of sheep or herds of cattle. These dogs were the Bearded collie and other landraces with heavier coats on necks and haunches.
While Cur Dogs were used by drovers to drive cattle for long distances. These dogs often derive from Shepherd Dogs but are taller and bolder.
Last of the farm dogs were the terriers, popularly used for hunting and killing vermin on farms, houses, and ships.
Dog Fighting and Bear Baiting
Terriers and bulldogs were the common breeds used for this. Its popularity started to decline during the Regency Era. These dogs were used for town and city entertainment and gambling by fighting each other or attacking a large predator animal. Typically the predator animal, bear or bull was chained up.
Guard and Protection
Guard and Protection dogs were used to protect the owner or property from robbers and thieves.
Mastiffs and Danish Dogs were the top choice for this line of work.
Pets, Lapdogs, and Royalty
A lot of these kinds of dogs were small compact dogs for companionship and other spaniels, hounds, and terriers used for leisure sports such as hunting. Mostly found for the wealthy, Pomeranians, Pugs, Greyhounds, and small Spaniels were popular among them.
See Also:
