About antique prints of Dogs

Antique prints of dogs make fine gifts – in fact nothing pleases a dog-owner more than an antique print of their particular breed of dog.

Sadly there aren’t many prints showing mongrels and mutts, but antique prints can be found showing spaniels, mastiffs, setters, bloodhounds, beagles, hounds and other hunting dog.

The more I see of men, the better I like dogs.

Attrib to Mme. Roland 1754-93

The domestic dog (Cannis lupus familiaris) is a subspecies of the gray wolf. Domestication of the dog occured about 15,000 years ago. Wolves, and their dog descendants, would have derived significant benefits from living near humans. Dogs would have benefitted from the human ability to make a fire, to hunt and to receive scraps of food. The chances of survival for early human groups would have improved with the domestication of dogs.

The dog is man’s best friend. Not only is the dog a loyal companion, but is also bred for specific purposes. Working dogs are bred for herding sheep, for pulling sleds, for guarding, for hunting, for helping their human owner in other activities, beside being the ideal pet. Many artists painted dogs. Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873) was an English painter well known for his paintings of animals, and dogs in particular.
Hugh Dalziel (Corsicon) wrote “British Dogs; their varieties, history, characteristics, breeding, management and exhibition.” with Portraits of the Dogs of the Day. Some of the illustrations of the prints are above.