Dogs on Stamps

Hello all from a beautiful springy Sunday!

Unfortunately, I had to miss the previous edition of Sunday Stamps (which most probably would have seen a bunch of cats featured here), but here I am back for the letter D, which kinda logically would feature a bunch of dogs :)) If I was about to list the subjects I have mostly featured on stamps, both dogs and cats would rank rather high.

So here today I would like to present you a small part of my dogs stamps' collection, consisting of stamps only, and excluding anything like covers, FDCs or maxicards - I will leave those for another occasion.

First is a set of 6 Bulgarian stamps issued in 1991, featuring 6 drawings of small breeds of domestic dogs:

- the Japanese Chin, also known as the Japanese Spaniel, is a dog acknowledged for its importance to Japanese nobility;
- the Chihuahua, which the smallest breed of dog and is named after the state of Chihuahua in Mexico;
- the Pinscher a small breed of dog originating from Germany;
- the The Yorkshire Terrier, a small dog breed of terrier type, developed during the 19th century in Yorkshire, England, to catch rats in clothing mills;
- if I'm not mistaken, this should be a Chinese crested dog
- the Pug, a breed of dog with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail.

Next is the Croatian edition of Children's world stamps issued in 2013, and I am kinda surprised that I haven't posted this one here yet.
Four different cuties here:

- the Bichon Frise - a small breed of dog of the bichon type which is a member of the Non-sporting Group of dog breeds in the United States, and a member of the Toy Dog Group in the United Kingdom. A very cute puppy, very likable and sociable. Extremely adaptable, cheerful and animated, bichon has gained many admirers since it appeared in the beginning of 70-ies of the last century as a relatively unknown breed.
- the Golden Retriever - a large-sized breed of dog bred as gun dogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties, and were named 'retriever' because of their ability to retrieve shot game undamaged
- the German Shepherd - a breed of medium to large-sized working dog that originated in Germany.
- and another cute Yorkshire Terrier

while we are at it, my favourite reference to Golden Retriever up to this day is this one :D

Next is a sheet of 3 North Korean stamps issued in 1977 but unfortunately I couldn't figure out the dog breeds, except that they all should be some kind of domestic dogs. If anyone has some more information, please let me know.

Six lovely stamps from Portugal, dating back to 1981, issued for the 50th Anniversary of the Dog Breeding Union.

- the Portuguese Pointer (15.00) - a breed of dog developed as a gun dog. It is one of several pointing breeds and is mainly used in red-legged partridge hunting;
- the Serra de Aires (8.50) - a medium-sized breed of dog of the herding dog type, and is one of the indigenous regional dogs of Portugal.
- the Portuguese Water Dog (7.00), or cão de água, originally from the Portuguese region of the Algarve, from where the breed expanded to all around Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to retrieve lost tackle or broken nets, and to act as couriers from ship to ship, or ship to shore;
- the Serra de Estrella (33.50), or the Estrela Mountain Dog - a large breed of dog which has been used for centuries in the Estrela Mountains of Portugal to guard herds and homesteads;
- the Castro Laboreiro (25.50), the Portuguese Cattle Dog or Portuguese Watch Dog, is a dog breed of the livestock guardian dog type, originating from Castro Laboreiro in the northern mountains of Portugal;
- the Portuguese Podengo (22.00) - an ancient multi-sensory hound (sight and scent) breed of dog from Portugal.

and the last part of today's post is dedicated to these four adorable dogs on stamps from Romania, issued in 2012.

- the Carpathian Shepherd Dog (Ciobănesc Românesc Carpatin) - a breed of large sheep dogs that originated in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania;
- the Romanian Mioritic Shepherd Dog (ciobănesc românesc mioritic),  a large breed of livestock guardian dogs that also originated in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania;
- the short-haired dachshund - a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed.
- and here we also have another Golden Retriever

Speaking of dogs, I love them all, but I have a soft spot for stray dogs, while when it comes to dog breeds, it is the Rough Collie which is in my heart, since I literally grew up with one, called Ares, and later even had one of my own, called Eddie.This is one of my favourite pictures with Ares, dating back from 1985 or 1986.

well, no more rambling from me today. It is time to check what the others have come up with for today at Sunday Stamps.