Capitalization of dog breeds

Thanks, Chas.
I am working on copy for a club that holds shows and competitions for the bulldog breed. I think I will use the "bulldog" version of the word. It seems awkward to have the word capitalized throughout the document.
Thanks again.

When using the name of a dog, i.e.; "My poodle, Alphonso..." is only the given name capitalized but not the breed ("poodle"). Please advise.

Thanks!

Sylacat ~ thank you for prompt response. Vonda

I'm writing a paper that mentions dog breeds and the bulldog bit was very helpful, but do I capitalize shar-pei?

Buford Joma,
I'm not sure who you would like to contact. I started this thread (capitalization of dog breeds) last year. There are many contributers. Cheers.

1) Writing is about communicating, not following rules. Like driving, on occasions one breaks one or more laws to avoid an accident.

2) It is interesting that Poodles are retrievers but not Retrievers.

Really interesting discussion. I've heard that all words should be capitalized but it makes more sense that only the proper name parts would be.

It seems odd to me that the AKC would drop the "English" part so they're referred to as just bulldogs. My dog's recent DNA test said she was part bulldog but now I'm left wondering - English or French? Or American (which people forget about)?

Too confusing sometimes, I think I'll stick with "mutt." No grammar worries there either :)

What about Great dane? Or Great Dane?

Commonly Used Animal-Related Words
The common names of animals are not capitalized unless they contain a proper noun. In this case
the proper noun is capitalized, along with any word preceding (but not following) it. For example,
German shepherd, Labrador retriever, English bulldog, Great Dane.

What about border collie? Or, perhaps, Border collie? Is Border a place or name or anything?

Hailey, "border" in border collie refers to the herding dog's origin, the border between Scotland and England. The border between two countries is not a proper noun, so should not be capitalized.

I had no idea. That's good to know, thank you.

Lots of people on here referring to proper nouns, Like German short-haired or English bulldog. Although these still need to be capitalised, due to the fact that they come from proper nouns, they are in fact being used as adjectives in this situation. German and English are proper nouns relating to the language. German or English used to describe a man or dog is actually an adjective. Cheers.

Phil97: I guess you could say they are "proper adjectives." ;) I'm still a bit confused, because I've always written "Beagle" using a capital B, but I suppose beagle isn't a proper noun, nor is it a geographic location.

Would "standard poodle" be capitalized?

How about yellow lab or a german shepard?

I too am writing an article containing dog breeds, and based on what I've gleaned from this discussion, especially Kim's contribution, it's Yellow Lab and German shepard, right?

On their website, the Kennel Club (the authority in Britain), capitalise everything - Golden Labrador, German Shepherd, Border Collie, Standard Poodle etc., as do Wikipedia, dogbreedinfo.com, dogtime.com and vetstreet.com.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/breedstandards

If you're just describing somebody's dog, lower case is probably better - "They've got a poodle", but if you're describing the breeds themselves, I imagine capitals are the way to do it. That's certainly what a little Googling would suggest.

Okay, so, in the article I'm about to send, would you agree that I should write that I've had the pleasure of knowing the following breeds:
Yellow Labrador Retrievers
Black Labrador Retrievers
Golden Retrievers

I don't claim to be any expert on dog breeds, but judging by what I've seen at the biggest dog-related websites,yes. Why not try a bit of Googling to check Here's the relevant page (on gundogs) at the Kennel Club. Click on a breed for more details.

http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/services/public/breed/Default.aspx?group=GDGS.

Warsaw Will, This is excellent! Thanks so much for both the URL and the very clear answer. Now I know: first letters will be written in caps when I refer to a specific breed. . (This was consistent with what I found when I checked other websites, specifically at www.guidedogs.com.).

I'm still looking for the proper method. Everyone states something different. English can be difficult sometimes.

Labrador would be capitalized in the term Labrador retriever. What if I use the abbreviation Lab? Would that be a capital L or not?