Designer dogs: What is a breed anyway?

There's designer clothes, but they have nothing on designer dogs!

They come in a huge range of shapes and colours and sizes, from the tiny Chihuahua to the Great Dane.

In the animal world this much variation usually means different species, but not for dogs — so where did they all come from?

And what role did Victorian-era rats play in the development of 'breed standards'?

Featuring:

• Joyce Sullivan, papillon breeder
• Wayne Douglas OAM, Afghan Hound breeder
• Esther Joseph, all breeds judge
• Michael Worboys emeritus professor the University of Manchester
• Professor Greger Larson, evolutionary genomics at the University of Oxford
• Dr Angela Perri, zooarchaeologist, Chronicle Heritage
• Dr. Elaine Ostrander, geneticist at National Institutes of Health (US)
• Dr Heidi Parker, geneticist at National Institutes of Health (US)

Further reading:

• Canine Genomics and Genetics: Running with the Pack
• The invention of the basset hound: breed, blood and the late Victorian dog fancy

Production:

• Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
• Nat Tencic, Producer
• Rebecca McLaren, Producer
• Petria Ladgrove, Executive Producer

This episode of What the Duck?! was originally broadcast in May and was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Taungurung people.

Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.