The Cockapoo is a Cocker Spaniel and Poodle cross with no ancient pedigree and no kennel club standard. Here is what its history does and doesn’t tell us, and what that means for living with one.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a breed with a job that was never hunting or herding: it was company. Here is how court portraits, a Duke’s red and white dogs, and an American’s prize at Crufts brought it back from the brink.

The Cairn Terrier was made by a job: chasing quarry out of the stone heaps of the Scottish Highlands and Skye. Here is where the breed came from, how it got its name, and what that past means in your home today.

The Bull Terrier’s egg-shaped head and clownish nerve were built in Victorian Birmingham, on top of an older and rougher working past. Here is where the breed came from, who shaped it, and what that means if you share a home with one.

The Boxer began as a German hunting dog built to grip large, dangerous game. We trace its road from the Bullenbeisser to Munich, two world wars and the modern show ring, and what that past means in a UK or US home.

Where the Border Terrier came from, the work that shaped its body and its character, and what that history means for living with one today. Written as the archive, with the shaky parts of the story marked as shaky.

The Border Collie was shaped by hill farms, sheepdog trials and a stubborn preference for ability over looks. Here is what the record supports, what it does not, and what it means for life with one today.

From Mediterranean sailors and royal courts to French street corners and a near-loss after the First World War, here is how the Bichon Frise came to be the dog we know. We have also put down what that past means for living with one today.

The Beagle was made for one job: following a hare for hours at a pace a person could keep up with. Here is how that work shaped the dog, and what it means for living with one now.

Despite the name, the Australian Shepherd was shaped on the ranches of the American West. We trace how a working stockdog became a rodeo star, a registered breed and a family dog on both sides of the Atlantic.