Are Dog Breed Names Capitalized?

One question I see fairly often in proofreader, court reporter, and writing-related Facebook groups is Are dog breeds capitalized?

The short answer is, “it depends.”

If you are writing for an audience of dog lovers — say, an article for a dog-related website, a sales letter targeting dog owners, or web copy for a breed association — yes, capitalize each word in all breeds. Their dogs are important, and capital letters connote importance. A primary goal, obviously, is to win over the reader.

When it comes to capitalizing breed names for an audience of dog lovers, a great resource is the American Kennel Club (AKC) breed list. The AKC even capitalizes the word “dog”! A German shepherd dog, according to the AKC, is a German Shepherd Dog.

The current trend in English is toward a more sparing use of capitalization. So if your audience is not primarily dog lovers, capitalize only the elements in the dog breed names that are derived from proper nouns. These generally will be a specific geographic region (Anatolian shepherd) , a people group (Samoyed), or the name of a person involved with the dog breed’s development (Gordon setter).

Foreign words in dog breed names that do not translate to proper nouns in English do not warrant capitalization. Take the vizsla. It sounds foreign and fancy — like it should be capitalized — but it simply means beagle in Hungarian.

In most cases, Merriam-Webster is the best resource for which portion of a dog breed name is capitalized, but even they waffle on some dog breeds. The entry for shih tzu, for example, notes it is often spelled with a capital S and T.

Exceptions to the Dog Breed Capitalization “Rule.”

A Great Dane, breaks this dog breed capitalization rule for the sake of clarity. Following the rule, if one were to write of “the adventures of a great Dane,” it’s unclear whether these are the adventures of a dog or of an important person from Denmark.

There are several native Japanese dog breeds that are capitalized, including the portion of the name that simply means “dog” in Japanese. This is because Japan has officially declared the breeds as National Natural Monuments. And Presa Canario is capitalized by Spanish royal decree.

Since the question Are dog breeds capitalized? appears to be a common one, I’ve created a list of about 350 dog breeds with this capitalization rule applied.

Note: Remember that the fundamental goal of writing is to communicate, so readability trumps all rules. If not capping a portion of the name challenges readability, cap it. Also, there are one or two breed names that I would capitalize because I believe the M-W editors got it wrong. In those cases, it is noted in the comments column. However you choose to capitalize (or not capitalize) dog breeds, remain consistent within the document.

How I Determined Which Dog Breeds Got Capitalized in the List

I began at the dog breed list on the AKC website. Non-AKC breed names and also-called names were added as I came across them, including some that are crossbreeds.

I looked up the dog breed name at M-W online. M-W includes a large number of breeds. In some cases, that was as far as I needed to go, because the listing gave enough information about the name origin.

For dog breeds that were not listed in M-W, I went to Wikipedia next to see what background information had been contributed about the breed. I looked for clues about where the breed originated or what language the name came from.

From there, it was on to Google to get more information about whatever (questionably reliable) info I found at Wikipedia.

For foreign words in breed names, I used Google Translate once I had an idea of what language was used. And in some cases, I went a step further by looking into a word’s origin at the Online Etymology Dictionary.

For nearly 350 breeds, the process went pretty smoothly. The few hiccups included a breed called the Alaskan klee kai. I looked and looked and could not find a translation for it. Rumor has it that it is from an Inuit language and means “small dog.” Also the Hungarian mudi/pui/pumi remain a mystery.

So, without further ado, here is the list of dog breed capitalizations I arrived at.

Note: Both this post and the list were almost entirely tapped out on my phone’s keyboard, so the likelihood of typos is exceptionally high. If you find one, please send me an anonymous note using the “Found a Typo?” box.

If you know of breeds that I have missed or if you’re a native speaker and notice that Google Translate gave me a bogus or “not quite right” translation, please let me know in the comments.

How Are Dog Breed Names Capitalized?

Name	Comment
affenpinscher
Afghan hound
Airedale terrier
Akita Inu / Akita	City and port on the Sea of Japan in northern Honshu, Japan. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
Alsatian / Alsatian shepherd	From the Germany-France border area of Alsace-Lorraine. Another name for the German shepherd dog.
Alaskan klee kai	The name “klee kai” supposedly comes from an Inuit term meaning “small dog," but I have not been able to verify that.
Alaskan Malamute / Malemute	After the Mahlemut people
American cocker spaniel	Spaniel dogs startle woodcock & snipe in woods and marshes
American English coonhound
American Eskimo dog
American foxhound
American hairless terrier
American leopard hound, American leopard cur
American water spaniel
American pit bull terrier
American Staffordshire terrier
Anatolian shepherd / Anatolian	Anatolia is the historical name for the western part of Asia Minor
Appenzeller Sennenhund	Appenzeller refers to the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland, and Sennen refers to people called Senn, herders in the Swiss Alps.
Australian cattle dog	Also called a blue heeler or Queensland heeler
Australian kelpie	After a mythological, siren-like water spirit of Celtic folklore
Australian shepherd
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog	Own breed with bobbed tail, not simply an Australian cattle dog with a docked tail. Not in MW, but breeder sites and breed organizations do not hyphenate "stumpy tail."
Australian terrier
Azawakh	West African region called the Azawagh Valley
barbet	French word barbe means 'beard'.
basenji	Lingala (language of the Congo) phrase mbwá na basɛ́nzi which means "villager dogs."
basset fauve de Bretagne	From French. bassett = low, fauve = tawny/tan. Bretagne = Brittany, a region in northwest France
bassett hound	Basset means “low” in French
Bavarian mountain scent hound
beagle
bearded collie
Beauceron	Beauce, a region in northern France
Bedlington terrier
Belgian Laekenois	Royal Castle of Laeken
Belgian Malinois	Malines, the French name for the breed's Flemish city of origin, Mechelen.
Belgian sheepdog
Belgian Tervuren	Village of Tervuren
Bergamasco sheepdog/shepherd	Italian Alps near Bergamo
berger Picard	Picardy, historical territory/region in northern France. Old French bergier = shepherd
Bernese mountain dog
bichon frisé	French bichon à poil frisé = curly lap dog
Biewer terrier	After Gertrud Biewer
black and tan coonhound
black mouth cur
black Russian terrier
bloodhound
blue heeler
bluetick hound/coonhound
boerboel	From boer, the Afrikaans/Dutch word for "farmer" and boel, an old Dutch/Afrikaans slang word for dog.
Bolognese	Bologna, Italy
border collie
border terrier
borzoi	Russian for "fast"
Boston terrier
Bourdeaux mastiff	Bourdeaux = French port city
Bourdeaux dog	Bourdeaux = French port city
bouvier des Flandres	Flanders, Belgium. Bouvier = "cow herder"
boxer
Boykin spaniel	After Lemuel Whitaker Boykin
Brittany bassett	Brittany, a region in northwest France
Brittany spaniel	Brittany, a region in northwest France
bracco Italiano	Italian bracco = hound
braque du Bourbonnais	French braque refers to a gun dog/pointer. Bourbonnais = French province
braque Francais Pyrenean	French braque refers to a gun dog/pointer. Pyrenees mountain range.
briard
Brittany
Broholmer	Named after Sehested of Broholm, a game-keeper who lived in the 18th century
Brussels griffon	Griffon is French for griffin. (Yeah, I dunno why, either, but it's not a proper noun.) Nothing to do with capitalization, but the Brussels griffon was the model used to create the Ewok characters in Return of the Jedi
bull terrier
bulldog
bullmastiff
cairn terrier
Canaan dog
Canadian Eskimo dog
cane corso	Italian cane (dog) and corso from the Latin cohors meaning "protector"
Cardigan Welsh corgi	Cardigan is from Ceredigion, a county in Wales. Welsh cor gi means "dwarf dog."
Carolina dog
Catahoula leopard dog/cur	Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
Caucasian shepherd dog
cavalier King Charles spaniel
Central Asian shepherd dog
Cesky terrier	Český is Czech for "Czech"
Chesapeake Bay retriever
Chihuahua
Chinese crested
Chinese shar-pei	Probably from the romanized Catonese sā pèih, which translates to "sand skin" and refers to the texture of its short, rough coat.
chinook
chiweenie
chornyi terrier	aka black Russian terrier. Russian chornyi = black
chow chow	MW lists with lowercase Cs but notes that both Cs are often uppercase. On a different note, they're from northern China where their Chinese name means "puffy lion dog"
cirneco dell'Etna	Mt. Etna
Clumber spaniel	Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire, England
cockapoo
cocker spaniel	Spaniel dogs startle woodcock & snipe in woods and marshes
collie
coton de Tulear	Named for the city of Tuléar in Madagascar. Coton is French for cotton
Croatian sheepdog
curly-coated retriever
Czechoslovakian vlcak / Czechoslovakian wolfdog	Vlčák is Czech for Alsatian (German shepherd) which refers to Alsace, a region in northeastern France.
dachshund	Dachs is German for badger, generically used to describe burrowing weasels, and a term used for hunting dogs with short legs meant to hunt them.
Dalmatian	Dalmatia, region in southern Croatia
Dandie Dinmont terrier	After Dandie Dinmont, a character owning six such dogs in the novel Guy Mannering by Sir Walter Scott
Danish-Swedish farmdog
Deutsche dogge	a/k/a Great Dane
Deutscher wachtelhund	Deutscher = German, wachtelhund = quail dog
Doberman pinscher	German dog breeder Friedrich Ludwig Dobermann
Dogo Argentino	Argentinian. Dogo is Spanish for Molosser, which comes from Molossia, a region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. "Dogo [anything]" is not in MW. It is capped here only because it is capped by Oxford Dictionaries.
Dogo Brasileiro	Brazil. Dogo is Spanish for Molosser, which comes from Molossia, a region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. "Dogo [anything]" is not in MW. It is capped here only because it is capped by Oxford Dictionaries.
Dogo Canario	Canary Islands. Dogo is Spanish for Molosser, which comes from Molossia, a region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. "Dogo [anything]" is not in MW. It is capped here only because it is capped by Oxford Dictionaries.
dogue de Bordeaux	dogue = mastiff, Bourdeaux = French port city
Drent / Drenthe	Drentsche patrijshond
Drentsche patrijshond	From the Dutch province of Drenthe. Patrijshond = partidge dog
drever	Name was chosen through a contest in 1947 after the Swedish word drev for a type of hunting where the game is driven toward the hunter.
Dutch partridge dog	Drentsche patrijshond
Dutch sheepdog	Not a Dutch shepherd, rather a Schapendoes
Dutch shepherd
English bulldog
English cocker spaniel	Spaniel dogs startle woodcock & snipe in woods and marshes
English foxhound
English mastiff
English setter
English springer spaniel	"Springer" comes from the hunting role, where the dog would flush (spring) birds into the air. Spaniel dogs startle woodcock & snipe in woods and marshes.
English toy spaniel
Entlebucher mountain dog	Entlebuch is a region in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland
Entlebucher Sennenhund	Entlebuch is a region in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. Sennen refers to people called Senn, herders in the Swiss Alps.
Estrela mountain dog	Estrela Mountains of Portugal
Eurasian dog
Eurasier
field spaniel
Finnish hound
Finnish Lapphund	Named for Lapland, a region of northern Europe north of the Arctic Circle. Trivia: used to herd reindeer.
Finnish spitz
flat-coated retriever
French bulldog
French mastiff
French spaniel
Frisian water dog
German boarhound	19th-century name for the Great Dane
German longhaired pointer
German mastiff	a/k/a Great Dane
German pinscher
German shepherd / German shepherd dog
German shorthaired pointer
German spaniel
German spitz
Gordon setter	name of the person who created the breed
German wirehaired pointer
giant schnauzer	Schnauzer, literally "growler," from schnauzen, "to snarl, growl,"
Glen of Imaal terrier	Glen of Imaal in the western Wicklow Mountains in Ireland
goldador
golden retriever
Gordon setter	After Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon in Scotland
grand basset griffon Vendéen	Vendée region of France. Griffon is French for griffin. (Yeah, I dunno why, either, but it's not a proper noun.)
Great Dane	An exception because the word "Great" is capitalized. My guess is that this is to distinguish the dog breed from an accomplished person from Denmark.
great Pyrenees
greater Swiss mountain dog
Greenland dog
greyhound
Hamiltonstovare / Hamiltonstövare	After the founder of the Swedish Kennel Club, Count Adolf Hamilton
Hanoverian [hound, scenthound]	Hanover, Germany
Hannover'scher	Hanover, Germany
harrier	A harrier is a rabbit hunter
Havanese	After Havana, Cuba
Hokkaido / Hokkaido Inu	Hokkaido is an island & prefecture in Japan. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
hovawart	Name from Middle High German hova = yard + wart = watchman
Hungarian sheepdog
Hungarian Kuvasz or kuvasz	MW shows "Kuvasz" capped, but adds "or kuvasz." Kuvasz is Hungarian, from Turkish kavas = armed constable, guard, doorkeeper
Hungarian mudi	The Hungarian breeder who named the breed never explained the name's origin. I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
Hungarian puli	I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
Hungarian pumi	I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
Ibizan hound	Ibiza, Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain
Icelandic sheepdog
Irish red and white setter
Irish setter
Irish terrier
Irish water spaniel
Irish wolfhound
Italian greyhound
Italian hound
Jack Russell terrier	Named after the Reverend John "Jack" Russell
jagdterrier / Deutscher jagdterrier / German jagdterrier	German for "hunting terrier"
Japanese chin	Chin is Japanese for we/our used by royalty (these were royal pets) or can mean rare, curious, or strange.
Japanese mastiff	a/k/a Tosa Inu
Japanese spaniel
Japanese spitz
Japanese terrier
Jindo / Korean Jindo	Jindo Island in South Korea
Kai Ken	After Kai Province in Japan. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
Kangal shepherd dog	a/k/a Anatolian shepherd. Central Anatolian town of Kangal in Turkey
Karelian bear dog	Karelia is an autonomous republic of northwestern Russia bordering on Finland
Karafuto / Karafuto ken	After an island north of Hokkaido, Japan
Keeshond	After Cornelis "Kees" de Gijselaar, a Dutch politician and patriot. His dog became known as Keeshond (Kees' dog). Plural of Keeshond is Keeshonden.
kelpie	After a mythological, siren-like water spirit of Celtic folklore
Kerry blue terrier
Kishu / Kishu Inu / Kishu Ken	After the Kishu region in Japan. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
kooikerhondje	Old Dutch for "small cager dog"
Komondor	From Koman-dor, meaning "Cuman dog." MW has it uncapped, despite the proper noun Cuman, which was a nomadic people group. I'd cap it.
kromfohrlander / kromfohrländer	The breed founder named the breed for the local landscape krom fohr ("crooked furrow"), which she thought was a catchy name
kromi	kromfohrlander
Kuvasz	MW shows "Kuvasz" capped, but adds "or kuvasz." Kuvasz is Hungarian, from Turkish kavas = armed constable, guard, doorkeeper
labradoodle	While named in part from a component breed, the Labrador retriever, I don't see that being the same as the name deriving from Labrador.
Labrador retriever
lagotto Romagnolo	The name means "lake dog from Romagna," originating from the Italian word lago, meaning lake.
laika	Russian generic for a type of hunting dog of Northern Russia and Russian Siberia
Lapponian herder
Lakeland terrier
Lancashire heeler
Lapponian herder
Leonberger	The city of Leonberg, Germany
Lhasa apso	Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet, and apso is a word in the Tibetan language meaning "bearded"
Louisiana Catahoula leopard dog/cur	Catahoula Parish, Louisiana
lowchen	German for "little lion"
Malamute	After the Mahlemut people
Maltese
[standard, toy] Manchester terrier
mastiff	From the Latin mansuétus for "tame or mild,"
Mexican hairless dog
miniature American shepherd
miniature bull terrier
miniature pinscher
miniature schnauzer	Schnauzer, literally "growler," from schnauzen "to snarl, growl,"
mountain cur
mudi	The Hungarian breeder who named the breed never explained the name's origin. I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
Neapolitan mastiff	Neapolitan = of Naples
Nederlandse kooikerhondje	Nederlandse = Netherlands. Kooikerhondje is Old Dutch for "small cager dog"
Newfoundland
Nihon terrier	Nihon refers to Japan
Nordic spitz
Norfolk terrier
Norrbottenspets / Norrbottenspitz	Norrbotten, Sweden
Nowegian buhund	Norwegian bu = homestead, simple building, or mountain hut + hund = dog
Norwegian elkhound
Norwegian lundehund	Norwegian lunde = puffin + hund = dog
Norwegian sheepdog
Norwich terrier
Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever	As a direct adjective modifying retriever, "duck tolling" should probably be hyphenated, but I'm sure I've irritated people enough by not capping it.
Old English sheepdog	Another exception like Great Dane. Likely capitalized for clarity versus an English sheepdog that is old.
otterhound
papillon	From butterfly-like look of the long and fringed hair on the ears. Papillon = butterfly
Parson Russell terrier / Parson Jack Russell terrier	Named after the Reverend John "Jack" Russell
peekapoo
Pekingese	After Peking. Watch spelling -- our pronunciation tends to drop the "g"
Pembroke Welsh corgi	Pembrokeshire, Wales. Welsh cor gi means "dwarf dog."
perro de presa Canario	Spanish "prey dog" of the Canary Islands. Note: Only the Presa Canario name variant has the presa capitalized.
Presa Canario	This version capitalized by Spanish government royal decree
Peruvian hairless dog
Peruvian Inca orchid
petit basset griffon Vendéen	Vendée district of France
phalène	Papillon with dropped ears is called a phalène, French for moth.
pharaoh hound	I find no connection to any specific pharoah, just that the breed's legend is that it descends from ancient Egyptian dogs.
Picardy shepherd / Picardy sheepdog	Picardy, a historical territory/region in northern France.
pit bull
Plott / Plott hound Plott cur	American breeder Jonathan Plott
pocket beagle
pointer
Polish lowland sheepdog
Pomeranian	Pomerania region in Central Europe
pomski
[standard, miniature, toy, teacup] poodle
Portuguese shepherd
Portuguese water dog
pug
puggle
puli	I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
pumi	I cannot find any translation or proper noun that fits reasonably well, and it's not in MW. In the absence of a reason to cap it, I list it as uncapped.
Pyrenean shepherd
Queensland heeler
rafeiro do Alentejo	Area of origin, Alentejo, in south-central Portugal. Rafeiro = mongrel in Portuguese
rat terrier
redbone coonhound
Rhodesian ridgeback
Romanian mioritic shepherd dog	Romanian, mioară = young sheep.
Rottweiler	MW has it uncapped but notes "often capitalized." The name comes from Rottweil, a town in southwest Germany, so I'd cap it.
Russell terrier	Named after the Reverend John "Jack" Russell
Russian toy
Russian tsvetnaya bolonka / Russkaya tsvetnaya bolonka	Tsvetnaya bolonka means "colored lapdog."
Russian wolfhound
Saint Bernard / St. Bernard	Originally bred by the hospice/hostel of the Great St Bernard Pass on the Italian-Swiss border.
saluki	Name origin is unclear. MW shows as uncapped.
Samoyed	After the Samoyed people of far northern European Russia & Siberia
schapendoes	In Dutch, schapen = sheep.
schipperke	Dutch, schipper = boatman. However, in some area of Belgium, schipper is the local word for shepherd, so schipperke = little shepherd or little boat dog. Either way, no cap.
schnauzer	Schnauzer, literally "growler," from schnauzen "to snarl, growl,"
schnoodle
Scottish deerhound
Scottish terrier / Scotch terrier / Scottie
Sealyham terrier	Sealyham House, Pembrokeshire, Wales
segugio Italiano	In Italian, segugio = hound
setter
shar-pei	Probably from the romanized Catonese sā pèih, which translates to "sand skin" and refers to the texture of its short, rough coat.
sheltie
Shetland sheepdog
Shiba Inu	Japanese shiba = brushwood + inu = dog. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
shih tzu	Uncapped in MW, but it notes the S & T are often capitalized. Shih tzu is the romanization of the Chinese characters meaning lion. And since this is a blog page, not a "real" reference site, I'll tell you something interesting: I once went to a zoo, but it had no animals there except for a single dog: It was really a ______________. Bu-dum Tisshhh!
Shikoku / Shikoku Ken	After Shikoku Island, Japan. Inu and ken both mean dog in Japanese. It capitalized because Japan has designated the breed as national natural monument.
Siberian husky
silken windhound
silky terrier
Skye terrier	Skye, Scotland
sloughi	Name origin is unclear. Related to saluki dog & the saluki name. No good translation found, nor any reason to capitalize it.
Slovakian wirehaired pointer
Slovensky cuvac	Closely related to the Hungarian kuvasz. Bosnian, čuvač = guard
Slovensky kopov	Kopov is Slovak for "pieces" (I have no idea, either.)
small Munsterlander pointer	Originating in the Münster region of Germany
smooth fox terrier
soft-coated wheaten terrier	MW has the hyphenated "soft-coated"; AKC has "soft coated," with no hyphen.
Spanish mastiff
Spanish water dog
spinone Italiano	Not in MW. Can find no reason to cap spinone. May have been named after an Italian thorn bush, the spino, which was a favorite hiding place for small game
stabij	A stabyhoun. Frisian stabij, meaning stability. Houn is Frisian for "dog."
stabyhoun / staby	Staby comes from the Frisian stabij, meaning stability. Houn is Frisian for "dog."
Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier
standard schnauzer	Schnauzer, literally "growler," from schnauzen "to snarl, growl,"
Sussex spaniel
Swedish Lapphund
Swedish vallhund
Taiwan dog
Teddy Roosevelt terrier
terrier	Terrier is derived from Old French chien terrier for "dog of the earth."
Tervueren	Village of Tervuren
Thai ridgeback
Tibetan mastiff
Tibetan spaniel
Tibetan terrier
tornjak	From Bosnian/Croatian tor which is an enclosed area sheep live in.
Tosa inu / Tosa ken	After inlet of the Pacific on the southern coast of Shikoku Island, Japan
toy fox terrier
Transylvanian hound
treeing Tennessee brindle
treeing Walker coonhound	After Kentucky breeder John W. Walker
vizsla	Hungarian for ”beagle”
Weimaraner	Weimar, Germany
Welsh corgi	Welsh cor gi means "dwarf dog."
Welsh springer spaniel
Welsh terrier
West Highland white terrier
Westphalian dachsbracke	Dachs is German for badger, generically used to describe burrowing weasels, and a term used for hunting dogs with short legs meant to hunt them. Bracke refers to scenthounds.
wetterhoun
whippet	Uncapped in MW. Cannot find any reason to cap. Probably from whip (v.) in the sense of "move quickly" + diminutive suffix -et.
wire fox terrier
wirehaired pointing griffon	Griffon is French for griffin. (Yeah, I dunno, either, but it's not a proper noun.)
wirehaired vizsla
working kelpie	After a mythological, siren-like water spirit of Celtic folklore
Xoloitzcuintli / Xolo	Pronounced "show-low-eats-QUEENT-lee" -- from the god Xolotl and the Nahuatl word itzcuīntli = dog
Yakutian laika	Laika is Russian for a type of hunting dog of Northern Russia and Russian Siberia
yorkipoo
Yorkshire terrier