Tenacious: An Alternative History of Dogs

Abstract

Across the world, most dogs have always been mongrels or street dogs, yet historians have focused on breeds and pets. This article examines those other ubiquitous and tenacious but neglected dogs to propose an alternative and complementary history. It does so by looking at Latin America and Colombia in three moments: the formation of these dogs as a result of colonialism; the limits to how and ways in which dogs gained distinction before fancy breeds came into the picture; and mongrels’ persistence, as well as attempts to vindicate them, once the pet revolution took hold of this region in the second half of the twentieth century. This story, which spans over 500 years, shows what it is like to do history from the periphery and what is gained from this.