In the course of conversation the other day discussion came round to whether individual dogs can or do tell different breeds apart, and react positively to some and negatively to others. Sides were taken and things became heated, some saying they do so differentiate, and the other side maintaining it is all down to the owner’s perception of and reaction to different breeds and the dogs picking up on that.

I was in the “dogs do differentiate“ group, based on some of the dogs I’ve owned over various decades (not concurrently, so not learning from each other). One disliked corgis of either sex, and male but not female poodles; one loved Dobermanns; one (beaten up by a lurcher while a pup) was always fearful of dogs of the tucked-up sight-hound shape; one strongly disliked golden retrievers and border collies.

My number of dogs and range of breeds is pretty limited, so I’d be interested to know the experience of others with a much wider range and number.

Mine definitely do, they recognise a sighthound in the distance and will stand waiting to speak to them whereas they actively ignore/avoid anything else. 'Normal' dogs play very differently from sighthounds and they don't really like most of them, they find them intimidating, but love to meet new sighthound friends for zoomies I'm not sure they can differentiate breeds, they're just as happy to meet a new whippet friend as they are another silken.

Interestingly they can definitely tell the difference even between non sighthounds that look quite racy, so a young, skinny looking vizsla might look like a sighthound to us, but not to them.

Daughters Rott certainly did, also found other Rotts she met were more pleased to meet her than they were with other breeds.
Now have 4th GSD and not seen own breed recognition with any of them.   1 did actively dislike small terriers as one scared him when he was about 11/12 weeks old - at so called 'puppy playgroup' - I didn't know any better then as he was 1st dog about 35 yrs ago and 'instructor' said let him sort it out by himself.

Scenthounds automatically form packs and sub packs. Our Beagle meets consist of random numbers of Beagles, plus the occasional Beagle cross - usually somewhere around 30ish at each meet. The hounds are not formally introduced, but gallop on to the field as they arrive, and mysteriously arrange themselves into sub-groups which seem to be based on energy levels. The hooligans gallop around and around together, but the quieter Beagles will either snuffle around in the bushes, or pair off for a leisurely senior citizen-like stroll around the boundaries.
You might recall that Beagles hold the world record for the largest number of single breed dogs being walked together - 1029 was the accepted figure. Although you can come across some reactive Beagles, this was a happy event without skirmishes, and the hounds mixed well together, both on-lead and loose in the two allocated play areas.
Though not the same herd mind intensity, my Cavaliers were always delighted to meet another CKCS, and certainly knew their own breed.

My Boxers were brought up from pups with my friend's GSDs and always recognised other GSDs with wagging bottoms

Well fwiw, my Whippet, who from age 9 weeks when she came to us, has always lived with a Basset, clearly thinks she's one too.  She doesn't react at all to other Whippets, but if she sees a Basset, she does.  Now we don't have a Basset   it's rather sad when, seeing one, she reacts.

Another reason I believe they do distinguish is her extreme reaction to Border Collies and likewise with my Basset gang who didn't like Black Labs.

PS  Has the Active Topics area ever been so small as it is atm?

Sp it's not just me mambas. Thought my phone was playing up

Back to the topic , is it true that greyhounds tend to prefer their own breed and you jhave to work hard to get them to accept others ?
Possibbly nature as they spend a long time with just other greys if racers

I don't think my Boxers liked other Boxers as much as my Beardies liked other Beardies

People who think that breed recognition doesn't exist are also the 'it's all how you raise them crowd'.

Different breeds have unique characteristics that affect 's body language (or at least how that is perceived) and play styles, I. E tail set, ear set, rottie rumble, Dalmatian smile.

Then there's the role of imprinting and early socialisation. They were born and raised in a litter where all individuals would have shared those breed characteristics

Mine defiantly recognises other schnauzers even though hes white and never met another white he recognises the other colours, he also likes poodles. He doesnt like black labs after a few have come up friendly then snapped, same with my previous schnauzer he would deliberately avoid black labs when off lead. He is also very wary of border collies.

Both of my Westies don't like Pugs, think it might be to do with the breathing sounds, but that's just a guess.

Agree, my Cavaliers ignore most other dogs but will go to say hello to other Cavaliers :-) My reactive American cocker gets on with most Cavaliers too, though he objects to most other dogs coming too near him.

I’m of the view that a) they recognise their own breed instantly and b) they remember incidents with other breeds, positive and negative. My elderly girl has never liked Yorkies since one savaged her belly when she was eighteen months old (good job he had no teeth otherwise serious damage would have been done) and has avoided them ever since. My boy is of the view that if it’s not a golden retriever, preferably one of his family then he’s not interested and would sooner have nothing to do with other dogs. The other two girls are happy to meet and greet but are very good at reading other dogs body language and they don’t go near if it’s wrong.

I think so yes.

My girl was caught in the face by a weim as a puppy, it knocked a puppy tooth out. Later when she was an a bit older we came across another on a walk. Thought nothing of it untill my girl saw it and started freaking out trying to get away from it. There was no cue from me for her to pick up on, I don't hold anything against the breed and this dog was a smaller friendly female. I actually wanted my girl to meet it. She's met 2 since and both times tried to get away from them.

My girl also HATES German shepherds with a passion.

I do think River remembers his experiences with different breeds, especially puppy experiences. He had a French bulldog puppy friend at ringcraft who he loved to play with, and he gets visibly excited if he sees a Frenchie even now.

Similarly he had a Lagotto friend but he can’t distinguish different woolly dogs very well and basically thinks every doodle is the same breed as the Lagotto.

Some breeds he’s cautious about but is willing to be proved wrong, like GSDs.

Interestingly he was attacked by a JRT cross which resulted in puncture wounds to a foreleg and a larger wound in his armpit but he’d never held it against other small terriers.

He definitely recognises and respond well to other papillons, but I’m convinced a small part of that is because I recognise and respond well to them!

Gosh yes. They recognise their own breed and my dogs who live with other breeds get extra excited when they see a breed they know. Mine ALL hate Beagles, every single one, because of a dog in the area and a bad incident years ago -it has been passed down through generations, every new pup is effectively taught that this is a breed to dislike. Thank goodness Hounds are seldon shown on Pastoral day!

Mine like most dogs, but in the past especially liked Dobermans. As we regularly socialised with the breed.

They certainly know their own breed, but that makes sense with 'imprinting'.

Puppies fostered on a bitch of a contrasti g breed will often pick up their behaviour tendencies and recognise themselves as that breed.

It would be interesting to understand how they recognise different breeds and distinguish one from the other.

River can’t tell a Lagotto from a medium sized doodle, but he doesn’t respond the same to a Spanish Water Dog.

Papillons have a drop eared version called the phalène, and he quite rightly doesn’t differentiate at all between the two types. So he doesn’t recognise his own kind by the ears, or at least not solely by the ears. Floppy ears and a curly coat might fool him with doodles, but clearly SWDs have something different that means he knows they aren’t Lagottos despite looking quite similar.

I’m wondering if they pick up on what is birdwatchers call “jizz” when referring to birds. It’s now it moves, how it carries itself, the sort of general impression you get of it that you can’t quite put your finger on, but once you learn it it becomes easy to tell one small brown bird from another small brown bird. A papillon moves and sounds and holds itself very differently to a French bulldog. But a phalène will have the same “jizz” as a papillon, even though the head seems very different without the erect ears.

I’m very much in the yes they can recognise their own breed, but also I think certain other breeds for one reason or another. My first GR was walked regularly with a friend who had two springers. We moved when she was 5 and she had got to an age where she pretty much ignored other dogs to a large extent, except for springers. She would immediately perk up and go and introduce herself.
My previous GR was very anti social with other dogs apart from other GR’s and at a push, yellow labs. The GR I have now really perks up when she’s sees another one, her head and tail goes up and she prances forward ready for a play, she’s 9 now but still up for a good old rush round with another golden. It’s totally different when she’s sees any other dog, interested but reserved.

Heck yes, they can distinguish.  My guys react very negatively to yellow labradors above all other breeds, long before any others, because yellow labs have made up about 95% of the breeds that have run at them.  They remember.

It's a resounding yes they can here too.
They definitely do respond differently to other dogs even with their own breed sometimes.
Funny thing mine were a docked breed and yes they were docked but if some of them saw a undocked version they seemed confused until they got close and personal.

Thank you so much to everyone who has commented! It’s very interesting to read your experiences over a wide range of breeds.

I’m a bit flummoxed as to how to acknowledge all the responses without making the thread twice the length; however, I’ve upvoted everyone, which seems the least I can do. (Does upvoting do any good? In this case it stands in for “Thank you!”)

My dog who disliked golden retrievers and border collies responded that way to adults only, GRs or BCs he met while they were puppies he was fine with, as though age outweighed breed. If a puppy then “introduced” him to an adult of the same household, he would begin to accept that adult, but not others. He was still friendly with the puppy when it had become an adult. He also carried his dislike of golden retrievers to breeds which he thought might be “GRs in disguise”, so yellow Labradors, cream-coloured long-haired GSDs, and even Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers were all on his “devil dogs” list.

That’s a very interesting observation about pack behaviour among scenthounds. How they sort themselves into like-minded groups is fascinating. The Beagle meets sound very interesting, and the 1029 Beagle walk must have been fantastic to see and be part of.

When I had my Mini Schnauzers, I am sure they recognised others of the same breed. All dogs have their "likes", one of my current black crossbreeds loves mainly white dogs like Jack Russells, Beagles, Pointers and an oversized Pom.

She hates Springers which are mainly white with black or brown patches though!

Thanks you to everyone for your very interesting observations, I’ve greatly enjoyed reading them, and learning more about the complex beings who share our lives with us.

I’m sorry I haven’t been back for a while, I got COVID just after my last post, and am just resurfacing.

Covid ;( please u are resurfacing ok .  hope u can totally shake it off and it doesn't linger

Covid ;( please u are resurfacing ok .  hope u can totally shake it off and it doesn't linger

I my guys are now starting to get over the shock of new family member.
We've had what the hell is that
Can I flatten it with my foot
Stay away from me
Can I nibble those pointy things
They also seem to think she's the same size as them which she isn't as someone's foot is practically as big as her head.
Fun times ahead.

Thank you for your kind wishes. I lasted this long without succumbing, this could have been worse, just a continuous headache, sore throat and dreadful dragging tiredness. I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t smell his raw green tripe breakfast, even when I put my nose right over the bowl
I’m sure having to care for my boy has helped, since I have to get up and dressed everyday to walk him, and generally care for him.

Omg if you can't smell tripe you really do have a problem!!!

Welcome to my life!  Most of the time it isn't helpful but if there's tripe around, it's a blessing