Do I capitalize the names of dog breeds?
Do not routinely capitalize the names of dog breeds. Many breed names are composed of proper nouns that you capitalize and generic terms (like retriever or terrier) that you lowercase.
Breed names are often composed of a place-name, as in these references to the breed’s country of origin:
French bulldog
German shepherd
Irish setter
Portuguese water dog
Sometimes the place-name refers to a region within a country:
Airedale terrier
Akita
Brittany spaniel
Labrador retriever
A generic term of foreign origin might also be combined with a place-name:
Lhasa apso
Another formulation for breed names includes the name of the person who created the breed:
Doberman pinscher
Gordon setter
Jack Russell terrier
Many breed names are composed entirely of generic terms, even though the terms may no longer be common parlance or may be of foreign origin:
affenpinscher
cocker spaniel
miniature schnauzer
Yet other breed names are capitalized according to convention and for clarity:
Old English sheepdog
Shiba Inu
These same guidelines apply to other animal breeds, like cats or cattle:
Maine coon
Texas longhorn
Consult a dictionary like Merriam-Webster when you’re uncertain.