Why Are You A Dog?-logo

Why Are You A Dog?

Comedy

Welcome to “Why Are You A Dog?” the show, where we talk about the history of dogs, things like their dog jobs, what they look like and what they’re sick of! Every week, Kyle sits down with Caitlyn to learn about a new dog in this educational, yet hilarious, podcast. Each episode will focus on a different dog breed, and will feature their history, dog jobs, and a famous member of the breed or two. When we say “dog jobs” what we mean is, the original intent of the breed. Like, “Why did someone make that dog?” We also try to answer questions like: why do poodles have funny hair cuts? Where pugs originated from and why? Why does a Shar Pei have so many wrinkles? What’s that one dog that looks like a bear? This podcasts dares to asks each breed, “Why are you a dog?”

Location:

United States

Description:

Welcome to “Why Are You A Dog?” the show, where we talk about the history of dogs, things like their dog jobs, what they look like and what they’re sick of! Every week, Kyle sits down with Caitlyn to learn about a new dog in this educational, yet hilarious, podcast. Each episode will focus on a different dog breed, and will feature their history, dog jobs, and a famous member of the breed or two. When we say “dog jobs” what we mean is, the original intent of the breed. Like, “Why did someone make that dog?” We also try to answer questions like: why do poodles have funny hair cuts? Where pugs originated from and why? Why does a Shar Pei have so many wrinkles? What’s that one dog that looks like a bear? This podcasts dares to asks each breed, “Why are you a dog?”

Language:

English


Episodes

75 – Why Are You an Australian Kelpie?

8/15/2019
The Australian Kelpie, also called “barbs” and “red clouds”, and not to be confused with the Scottish mythological creature, is a dog from. . . Australia. This time, actually from Australia, and not just named after it like that other Aussie dog. In all honesty, I believe it is only referred to as the “Australian” Kelpie just to stop the confusion with the dog and the Scottish Horse Ghost. The Kelpie (dog) is very well known for it’s ability to manage most livestock. This includes sheep,...

Duration:00:35:20

74 - Why Are You a Shetland Sheepdog?

5/16/2019
The Sheltie, short for Shetland Sheep Dog, is a small style herding dog. They are also one of the smartest dog, excelling at just about any task. Well, any task you might give a dog for the most part. According to Stanley Coren, they are able to learn just about any task very quickly with little errors. This however should be taken with a grain of salt, as they are still dogs, and lack thumbs and the ability to speak. The most unique thing about the Sheltie is that they have several...

Duration:00:47:11

73 – Why Are You an Irish Wolfhound?

4/18/2019
The Irish Wolfhound, or wardogs, or just Wolfhound, is a dog that has no wolf in it. Yep, it’s one of those classic “oh it hunts that thing, so let’s just call it that” names. Now that the SEO tracking section is taken care of, Wow. Okay sorry about that little hiatus. We did sort of hint at it, but didn’t intend it to be so long. We’ve just been pretty busy with our day jobs recently, especially Kyle traveling all over the country. These dogs are pretty ancient as far dogs can go. They’ve...

Duration:00:39:21

72 – Why Are You a Bloodhound?

3/14/2019
Wow, we’re on a record pace for dropping episodes! Sorry about that folks, but here is the long awaited episode on the Bloodhound! These dogs are THE dog when it comes to dogs and their noses. It can track a human over a long distance, and after a large of amount of time passing. The reasoning for this, when the bloodhound was being created, they put all the stats into smelling. The bloodhound has a bit of an unknown true origin as they have been mentioned for nearly a thousand years. Those...

Duration:00:51:20

71 – Why Are You A Pumi?

2/14/2019
The Pumi, not to be confused with the Puli, is another dog from Hungary. To take it back to that last sentence there, apparently these dogs used to be nearly synonymous with the Puli. If you’re having trouble remembering which dog that is, it’s the chorded one we did at the beginning of February. Yeah, so much so that they used to be interchangeably referred to with both names. How this could even be possible, I don’t know. To actually talk about this dog, it’s fairly new to the AKC, only...

Duration:00:30:27

70 – Why Are You a Puli?

1/31/2019
The Puli is another chorded sheep dog from Hungary. A question you might ask, “Haven’t we already done this dog?” No. Well, kinda? The Komondor and the Puli are incredibly closely related. So much so, that they are essentially hot swapping with each other when their shifts end. The Puli mostly herds its charge during the day, and the Komondor guards at night. Also the largest difference between the two are the color of the coat and their size. The Puli has an interesting temperament in that...

Duration:00:25:24

69 – Why Are You an Italian Greyhound?

1/24/2019
The Italian Greyhound, or the “IG” or Iggy, is basically the greyhound. The largest factor in determining the difference is the Italian model is tiny. They may have been related to another type of similar looking dog, but they were more or less bred down this way. Although it is a “toy” breed, it is also a hound dog. In fact it is the smallest sight hound breed recognized by most organizations. So you’re probably wondering, “Why ‘Italian’ Greyhound?” Well the Italians were the ones who...

Duration:00:29:02

68 – Why Are You a Border Collie?

1/17/2019
The Border Collie, also known as the “not-Lassie collie”. That’s right, the collie that everyone knows about is not the one that everyone knows about. The Border Collie is however, THE herding dog. These dogs are used to herd just about everything. Including sheep, pigs, chickens, and any other kind of bird you can imagine. Oh were you going to say ostrich? Yeah, they herd those, too. I wish I had video proof, but I can’t find any on such short notice. The Border Collie is also one of the...

Duration:00:40:08

67 – Why Are You a Samoyed?

1/10/2019
The Samoyed is that fluffy white snow dog that smiles. That’s right, it actually smiles. It’s got full on pareidolia going on. Interestingly the fact that this dog can smile actually does serve somewhat of a purpose. Much like the other dogs that we had covered recently (can it be recent if it’s almost been a month?) it is of spitz breed origin. So it is well at home running and working in the snow. The dog was named after the people who used them, sharing a very similar name. Until someone...

Duration:00:28:40

66 – Why Are You a Bernese Mountain Dog?

12/20/2018
The Bernese Mountain Dog, or known as Bernies or Berners, is a big dog from the mountains of Bern. As a mountain dog, it’s probably not shocking at all that they are super furry and large. It’s almost like they developed the way they are due to the elements. As they are larger dogs, they were mostly used as guarding dogs for their owner’s farms. They were even strong enough to pull carts into towns. Granted, I don’t know how big these carts were, but still cool to say about a dog. The dog...

Duration:00:28:23

65- Why Are You a Siberian Husky?

12/13/2018
The Siberian Husky is THE snow dog. When you look at people doing sled racing, it is likely this dog that you think of. It’s also the dog that someone who doesn’t know much about dogs thinks looks like a wolf. These are actually a pretty healthy and old breed, and you would be surprised that it actually comes from Russia. That’s right, it’s not a misnomer like the Australian Shepherd or the Labrador (which is totally from Newfoundland, ha! Well, originally I mean.) The dog has a lot of...

Duration:00:39:46

64 – Why Are You a Tibetan Mastiff?

12/6/2018
The Tibetan Mastiff is that one giant scary looking dog you’ve seen pictures of. The one when you literally type in “giant furry scary dog” that pops up first. Seeing as how the dog was originally kept as guard dogs, the look is well earned. So if you are trying to rob a Tibetan Mastiff’s house, you’ll probably see that version. Generally though, these dogs tend to have an indifferent demeanor. They are also incredibly lazy. The dog actually has little human guidance in how the breed...

Duration:00:32:50

63 – Why Are You a Boykin Spaniel?

11/22/2018
The Boykin Spaniel, or as I wish we mentioned in the episode, “The Swamp Poodle” is a dog. It is known for hunting wild turkey in South Carolina. The reasoning for the name Swamp Poodle, is because apparently wild turkey love to hang around swamps. Did you know that? Did anyone know that? I thought they were just wild after the US President released them from the White House on Thanksgiving! The Boykin Spaniel was especially loved by its creators, because it was a smaller retrieving dog...

Duration:00:26:58

62 – Why Are You an Afghan Hound?

11/15/2018
The Afghan Hound: named after Afghanistan, or the blanket? It’s the former. Probably for both, actually. Kyle asked this question, but I don’t think we got a straight answer. Anyway, the Afghan hound is known for two things: 1) they have very long locks of hair all across their body 2) they are the dumbest dog. I suppose there are people who look at the world that way, so here’s the answer. Not completely true, we’ve unpacked a bit on how these grades are received in previous episodes. The...

Duration:00:24:39

61 – Why Are You a Scottish Terrier?

11/8/2018
The Scottish Terrier, or the Scottie, or like 12 other names is a dog from Scotland. I know, surprising. Well, it IS Scottish, but the English were the first to form a breed club around it. When you look at the dog these days, you typically see them only in one color: black. But when the dog was being “invented” they came in a wide variety of dark colors. If you’re still not sure which dog this is, just think of the dog that looks like a broom. An interesting concept to consider is that...

Duration:00:39:27

60 – Why Are You a French Bulldog?

11/1/2018
The French Bulldog, or the Frenchie, is another bully breed dog. Surprise! But seriously, the name of the dog is pretty descriptive. Just like Kyle had said in a recent episode, the naming schema was “Place, thing related to what it does, dog/hound”. The history is very similar to the other bully breed dogs, but this dog was originally the reject dogs. When English Bulldogs came out too small, they would send them off to France. The French loved this. The dog is actually much more popular...

Duration:00:32:38

59 – Why Are You an Affenpinscher?

10/25/2018
The Affenpinscher, or the “monkey dog”, is the final dog of Dogtoberfest! Don’t worry, I’ll go back and address that “Monkey Dog” thing. Apparently someone thought the dog looked like a monkey. That’s the story. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get your adrenaline running. Interestingly though, in German, Affen translates into english as “ape”. Which only furthers the whole thing, because Apes technically are not monkeys. Go ahead ask any know-it-all around you, they’ll be sure to point that...

Duration:00:27:46

58 – Why Are You a Jagdterrier?

10/18/2018
The Jagdterrier, pronounced “Yack Terrier”, is a relatively new dog in the dog world. By that I mean, it was basically invented by as a science experiment during WW2. I specifically mentioned WW2 and science experiment, as it should have put a specific person in your mind. Don’t worry, had nothing to do with him, but the creator did have some dealings with that party. Essentially, the man who went on to create the Jagdterrier wanted to make a fox hunter with a German look. Problem was, he...

Duration:00:29:01

57 – Why Are You a German Shorthaired Pointer?

10/11/2018
The German Shorthaired Pointer, not to be confused with the other dogs with the same names, is a. . . Pointer Dog. What is a pointer dog? Well, you’ve probably seen a dog that is depicted as a “smart” or overly obedient doing a point. Scooby Doo has done it when he is pretending to be competent. The Pointing technique was obviously trained, but it’s also based off of a natural occurrence in the breed. The dog uses the stance to better triangulate the position of prey. Humans eventually...

Duration:00:45:06

56 – Why Are You a Doberman Pinscher?

10/4/2018
The Doberman Pinscher! We’re back in Dogtoberfest time, and we’re picking one of the most well known guard dogs. In most mediums of entertainment, they usually appear as guarding an area of dubious intent. Interestingly, it is one of the few dogs used for guard work to be bred for that sole purpose. Way back in Germany, a Herr. Dobermann wanted to have a dog that was excellent at protecting him in a new job venture. So he went out and made one. But he still couldn’t get a dog with the kind...

Duration:00:42:01