When people are involved with dogs, it's quite common for them to have their favorites. It's also extremely common for people to utterly hate other breeds. This could be for multiple reasons, be it a bad experience, just not liking the look of the breed(s), not liking the size, thinking that some breeds have been ruined, not liking certain aspects of a breed, or any other number of reasons.
To be perfectly honest, I used to be like that. Though the breeds I hated were few, and my reasons varied.
I recall a time in which, even though I was in love with molossiods, I hated Neapolitan Mastiffs. Why? Because every picture I had seen in ads or some books made me think that they were nothing but a mess of wrinkles who couldn't move. I did a complete turn around watching The World Dog when it was being held in Milan, Italy in 2000. I believe it was Ch. Urania Del Castellaccio who made it to the BIS ring. I had never thought that I would see a Neapolitan who would take my breath away, but watching the tv, she did. Power and movement, with size and flews, not overly done like some of the Neos I had seen before which made me wonder if they were melting. She was amazing. It was a complete turn around for me, I knew there were great Neapolitans out there now, and I never looked back.
I grew up in South Florida, so I had more than enough run ins with small dogs, especially Chihuahuas, to make me want to dismiss them and their 'small dog syndrome'. I generally loved dogs, but small dogs just had iffy temperaments from my experience. Nothing ever happened that was too bad besides a bite from a Rat Terrier and a Boston who tried to go for my Ibizan's throat. However, my mother had been a groomer, had plenty of bad experiences herself with the small dogs, so that didn't help with hearing her stories.
I always knew it wasn't so much breed that made a poor temperament and bad behavior, but could easily be bad genetics, poor or no training/socialization, bad experiences, abuse, or what have you. I knew it and I have always been against breed-specific legislation because of it. However it doesn't make dealing with small dogs that are allowed to misbehave and run loose around the neighborhood any more easier to deal with, and those dogs can make one a bit frustrated at the very least.
Becoming a dog nerd at age 13 and getting around shows, I saw some pretty awesome little dogs that were at their best, both mentally and physically. And you know what? I loved it, I love seeing what these little awesome dogs could be. (Pekes can still make me giggle, the tough little rug-tanks that they are-and I do say that in fondness.) I also got to know some little dogs who were just pretty darn cool regardless of whatever background, and even if their conformation wasn't sound. Some which captured my heart at the dog daycare I worked at. A French Bulldog that wasn't a dog's dog and would test new people (this little Frenchie had some serious muscle to him, and boy, could he jump). An undersized Shih-Tzu who was all about play. A beautiful and enchanting Papillon that gave me my first real one-on-one experience with the breed and made me fall in love with the breed. Another Frenchie whose barking sounded like rapid sneezing, and he could run with the big dogs. Just a few really great little dogs.
Between shows and experiences, both on tv and off, my views and how I saw different breeds changed. And while there are some breeds closer to my heart than others, and some breeds I wouldn't ever own and am generally 'meh' about...and I'll confess, there's one I feel particularly bad about due to conformation and high rate of HD....I tend to have a vast love for the variety. Over 500 breeds, possibly over 800, and it seems we're finding 'lost' breeds and land race types as we go. It makes my head swim, it fills me with this absurd giddiness because there's almost certainly a breed for everyone who actually wants to include a dog in their life.
I'd like to think that because of that change, I have learned a lot more than I would have otherwise. That I did open myself up that much more to the dog world. It's been an interesting journey so far.
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