Ancestors of the border collie include ancient Roman herding dogs and Viking spitzes, whose genetics were combined to create what the American Kennel Club describes as the "world's greatest herder.
For more than six millennia, the Norwegian elkhound has prowled around Europe, acting as a guard dog, herding livestock, and, once upon a time, helping their Viking masters trail giant elk on the hunt.
In Lapland, a region north of the Arctic Circle, a nomadic people called the Sami have spent the past several centuries migrating around with their herds of reindeer.
More than 2,000 years ago in the southern provinces of China, the Chinese shar-pei began its history as an all-purpose peasant's dog. Beginning in 1949 during the country's Communist regime, the dogs were all but made extinct by a government that frowned on pet ownership.
First bred for hunting hare sometime in the 13th century, harriers perform their work best in packs. Slightly larger than their beagle cousin, the dogs first made their appearance in America in the Colonial era.
The history of the shaggy-coated bearded collie is somewhat contested, but the most-agreed-upon theory is that it descended from dogs native to Eastern Europe sometime in the 1500s. The breed is fiercely independent.
It is thought that chow chows are among the world's oldest breeds, with evidence of their existence predating 206 B.C. Beloved in China, these dogs with their lionesque mane are also some of the cleanest canines, easy to house train and bearing minimal dog odor.
The Entlebucher mountain dog is the smallest of the Alpine mountain breeds developed by Swiss cattlemen in the valleys of the Entlebuch river. Quick, agile, and muscular, these dogs make wonderful companions for children.
Named for the Aztec god Xolotl 3,000 years ago, the hairless Xoloitzcuintli were considered sacred by their Aztec owners and were often buried alongside them in order to act as guides into the next world.