One fly turtle

Source. I hadn’t heard of the Fly River turtle until today. I first thought it was a small sea turtle. Well, it’s not. It’s a river turtle, and one that is highly evolved for the life aquatic. They are native to Fly River in Papua New Guinea, but it also found in the Northern Territory [...]

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Mother cat raises unusual kittens

Yes, those are baby Virginia opossums.This time of year, it is not unusual to see a mother opossum trotting along the side of the road with her joeys hanging all over her back. They are truly a bizarre species. They are the only marsupial found north of the Rio Grande, and their range continues to [...]

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A stylish young retriever

From LindsayandLumi The dog’s name is “Laddie,” and to be honest with you, if I had the time to really give a true working strain retriever the life it deserves, I would be looking for one very similar to him. He’s lightly built and lightly feathered, and he’s biddable and full of drive. He’s got [...]

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The oldest modern breed standard

The oldest modern breed standard that I can find is the 1879 Dachshund standard. Most breed standards are limit the “correct” conformation for their respective dog breeds. However, if you look at the Dachshund standard (FCI), you’ll notice that there are three coat types and three sizes ( The “rabbit” and miniature sizes are combined [...]

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A coup at the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition

We’ve had a coup at this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog Competition. This is the first year in a very long time that the winning dog was not a Chinese crested or a Chinese crested cross. This year’s winner was a boxer cross named Pabst. Pabst has a distinctly undershot bite, which I’m sure got him [...]

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Golden retrievers are dogs, not bears

I have never understood certain fads in purebred dogs, especially in dogs with which I have a great deal of familiarity. I’ve never understood why breeders think it’s cool to breed retrievers that don’t retrieve. I also never understood why you would have a breed called a golden retriever and then do everything in your [...]

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Why would you buy this?

What the hell! In case you didn’t know, you can get one for free. However, if you’re training a working retriever, I don’t recommend using sticks. Sticks are hard for a dog to grip properly, so many dogs grip the sticks rather hard. That’s a very good way to get the habit of hard mouth [...]

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Can we still have brachycephalic dog breeds?

The answer is yes. After all, most dogs are brachycephalic when compared to the wolf and other wild dogs. Short muzzles are a diagnostic of a domestic dog. However, when we breed for healthy conformation, brachycephalic dog breeds are going to have to have some muzzle– enough for the all the teeth, tongue, and soft [...]

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Identifying the "deer"

I believe I can identify the mystery “deer” that was mentioned on the Fortean Zoology blog. It’s not a deer at all.  Instead, I think it is the creature featured below. Source. I think it’s a female steenbok. (Compare with this close-up. And this one.) Steenbok are a common game species that are often taken [...]

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The Black and Tan Foxhound

As a boy, I often heard stories about a black and tan foxhound that belonged to my grandfather. My grandfather said there was an actual strain of foxhound that was black and tan. It was distinct from the Walker and Trigg strains of American foxhound, and it was not the same thing as the black [...]

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