Capitalization of dog breeds
When referring to “French” and “English” bulldogs, the geographic part of the breed will always be capitalized. What are the rules about capitalizing the stand alone word “bulldog?”
From what I understand, AKC dropped the requirement to use “English” in front of the word “bulldog” (or so I’ve been told....) so I am left with the word “bulldog.”
Should I capitalize or not? I referred to the AKC site to see how they were handling the capitalization and they begin by capitalizing the word then use a non-capitalized version throughout their article.
Thoughts?
eastar2
February 6, 2013, 11:46am
How about yellow lab or a german shepard?
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audra
June 26, 2012, 2:45pm
Oh my gosh, I'm an English teacher - and reading this is giving me a headache.
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Grace
February 16, 2012, 7:13am
Would "standard poodle" be capitalized?
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Frankie (unregistered)
November 10, 2011, 6:00pm
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.
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Phil97
September 19, 2011, 5:44am
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.
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Hailey
July 20, 2011, 5:42pm
I had no idea. That's good to know, thank you.
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porsche
July 20, 2011, 1:33pm
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.
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Hailey
July 19, 2011, 12:44pm
What about border collie? Or, perhaps, Border collie? Is Border a place or name or anything?
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Kim
March 17, 2011, 2:51pm
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.
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redlight.silver
February 26, 2011, 4:02pm
What about Great dane? Or Great Dane?
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hankar
February 16, 2011, 2:25pm
The piece I am looking at reads "St. Bernard and Scotch shepherd." Anyone know why St. Bernard would be capitalized?
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sonia
February 2, 2011, 10:30pm
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 :)
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kathrynrobyn
January 24, 2011, 6:31am
Yes of course it is; however I was editing a book; and grammar rules as well as style guidance can help make writing better.That's my job, to make the writing not get in the way of the story.
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opticjohn
January 24, 2011, 1:51am
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.
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kathrynrobyn
September 21, 2010, 1:31am
I am also accustomed to using the "down style" and not capping dog breeds except when a proper noun is present (German short-haired pointer). But here's my problem: Rottweiler or rottweiler? Merriam-Webster shows it not capped, but then explains the dogs hail from a city in Germany: Rottweil. Okay, so we'd cap Bostonian, wouldn't we? Why not Rottweiler? That's gotten me to thinking about the issue of "speciesism." I know, I know. But why not just cap them all -- out of *respect* -- like we do countries, tribes, teams, gangs for pete's sake? The sentence I'm editing looks silly: Labs, goldens, Dalmatians, rottweilers. I'm going to have a hard time justifying this to the author, with good reason. Chicago's wrong here, I think. Can anyone make me feel better?
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jenn
May 2, 2010, 11:20pm
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.
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ebony_kiss_009
February 16, 2010, 10:53pm
I'm writing a paper that mentions dog breeds and the bulldog bit was very helpful, but do I capitalize shar-pei?
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vonlea
October 25, 2009, 12:33pm
Sylacat ~ thank you for prompt response. Vonda
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vonlea
October 25, 2009, 12:32pm
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!
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scyllacat
August 24, 2009, 3:56pm
#1 is right--except I'm not sure if I should capitalize ""French fries" now. Great.
Only capitalize the proper name words: "German," "Labrador," "English," "Newfoundland," and "Dalmatian." Dog breed ITSELF is not a proper name, so "bulldog" and "English bulldog," "poodle" and "French poodle." Okay?
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jenn
August 20, 2009, 11:00am
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.
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chas.clifton
August 20, 2009, 12:25am
When it comes to dog breeds, etc., I only capitalize the name when it functions as a name: Chesapeake Bay retriever, Labrador retriever, but not when the name has become a sort of generic descriptor: french fries.
So "English bulldog" but just "bulldog" when it is alone. I think that the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP style book both prefer the lowercase then.
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