We dog owners love our good boys and girls, but there is no escaping the fact some of them are just big goof balls. Even though some of them were bred with very distinct purposes in mind.
For those of you who don’t think of dogs beyond being man’s best friend, here are a few examples. Labrador Retrievers are bred to retrieve. Foxhound were bred to hunt foxes. And there is a chance whatever dog you have might have been bred with a view to something specific as well.
Is your dog a failure when it comes to this? Take heart, because you are not alone. Here are 75 other dogs that completely fail at what they were bred to do.
1. Murdoch
Murdoch is and Irish Wolfhound. They are bred hunting wolves and elk, and for pulling men from their horses during battle. However, Murdoch prefers to cuddle, steal pork chops, and his own farts catch him by surprise.
2. Winston
Winston trained—and failed—to be a guide dog. However, his trainers said he had “low motivation,” which seems to be code for lazy. Since he spends 95% of his time snoozing, I think they called that right.
3. Piper
Piper is a Bernese Mountain Dog. She should be able to herd cattle. She should also be able to pull 10 times her weight. However, she spends most of her day sleeping, occasionally moving from the bed to the couch.
4. Emmett
Emmett is a foxhound, and as I mentioned above, they have been bred to hunt foxes. But according to his owner, Emmett is a lover, not a hunter.
5. Gregor
Gregor has been bred and trained to be the perfect guide dog. But this friendly boy is too distracted making new friends to do his job so he got fired.
6. Archie
Archie is a beautiful cocker spaniel and his breeding is to be a gun dog that chases on command. Poor Archie barks at the clock.
7. Edmund
Edmund is an English Pointer. The point of this breeds existence was to a gun dog used on game shoots. However, he is an undisciplined, lazy lout with a habit of wandering off wherever he pleases.
8. Kyra
Kyra is and English Springer Spaniel. Her job on paper is to spring game fowl from the moors. However, in real life, all she seems to do is find unnecessary sources of water.
9. William
William is a dachshund. They were bred to flush rabbits and badgers out of their holes. Poor William doesn’t even know how to dig.
10. Jed
Jed is a border collie. They are bred to herd sheep but it seems he herds bicycles. Oh, and retrieve sticks and destroy tennis balls.
11. Newton
Newton the poodle was bred to hunt down ducks in the water. Since he’s afraid of water that will likely never happen, but it’s said that he’s a great footwarmer and he’s okay with the mailman. Good boy!
12. Tilly
Tilly the golden retriever didn’t lower herself to retrieve when her owners were perfectly capable of doing it themselves. And look at her? Do you blame her?
13. Kodi
Kodi’s owners think he is part ridgeback, and they are bred for killing lions. He may not be able to bring down the kind of the jungle, and he is afraid of water, but he’s always there when they wake up from a nap.
14. Charlie
Charlie was bred to herd sheep. But that’s too much work for him. He would rather spend his time in comfort and being wise.
15. Buddy
Buddy was meant to hunt foxes, but maybe a different kind of fox? He prefers to spend his time belly up to the bar, eating nibbles and drinking cosmos.
16. Sadly, we don’t know her name
But she is a Latvian hound and bred for hunting boar, elk, and deer. But it seems all she can take down are old loaves of bread.
17. Woody
Woody is a Labrador retriever. But according to his owner, his only efforts at retrieving are anything you are trying to eat.
18. Percy
Percy is a saluki or Persian hound. One of the worlds oldest breeds, they are sometimes referred to as the “greyhound of the desert.” They were bred to hunt down game animals by sight instead of scent. Percy has only ever caught a squirrel, which he didn’t harm, and would rather lay about dozing.
19. Lucy
Meet Lucy, who is a Siberian husky. Husky were bred for pulling sleds for long distances and being alert to the sound of danger. She’s most alert to the sound of cheese wrappers.
20. Maizy
Maizy is a border terrier mix who should be terrorizing small animals. Instead she specializing in finding the most comfortable spots to nap in.
21. Zeppelin
Zeppelin is a LabraDane. That means he should instinctively want to retrieve or take down wild boar. In reality he prefers to make friends with toads and bugs, and nose booping wild mushrooms.
22. Cara
Cara is a Newfoundland dog. They were bred to help rescue people from water. She prefers to just lounge around in it.
23. Laszlo
Laszlo is a Hungarian vizsla with a bit of Labrador retriever thrown in. Both his parents were what they were bred to be, gun dogs. He prefers to spend his time wiggling around.
24. Samuel
Samuel the Samoyed. He was bred to be a sled dog in the coldest parts of the earth. While he is impervious to the cold, he prefers to find a spot to nap in about 5 times a day.
25. Gamine
The regal looking Great Dane was bred to be a hunting dog. However, Gamine is best known for naps and snobbery.
26. Niamh
She is a Romanian mioritic shepherd. These dogs were bred to guard livestock and tear apart the predators that might endanger them. Niamh is afraid of cats and needs to be cuddled in the evening.
27. Fergus
Fergus is part collie and part retriever. When he should be spending his time herding and retrieving, he is making sure to have the best seating in the house.
28. Bailey
Bailey the beauty is a German shepherd dog. They are working dogs bred to herd, and they make excellent guard dogs. Her only aim seems to be to guard her owner from oversleeping, as she will pull off the covers when the snooze has been hit too many times.
29. Miss Abner
This fine lady is a retired racing greyhound. She is now much loved and her favorite thing to do is eat fruit.
30. Barney
Barney is a Jack Russell terrier and should be able to take down a fox. But he’s too tiny and afraid of everything. The only thing he will chase is a mini tennis ball.
31. Hudson
Hudson is a bulldog and they were bred to bait bulls. He is deathly afraid of trash bags and love to snooze about in weird positions.
32. Nasa
Nasa is a border collie, husky mix. She should be a good working dog and able to herd anything. She does neither but lives to annoy her siblings. She also loves to say woo.
33. Binks
Binks is a greyhound and bred to run. Run fast. However, he spends most of his time taking up the sofa and simultaneously snoring and farting.
34. Shakespeare
Shakespeare is a border collie and should be chasing down sheep. It appears he prefers to boop noses with them.
35. Pretzel
Pretzel is a dachshund, which was bred to tunnel down holes to catch rabbits and badgers. He doesn’t know what either is and only tunnels under warm blankets.
36. Buster
Buster is a Jack Russell, Staffordshire bull terrier mix and bred to catch rats. If he sees a mouse, he expects his owner to deal with it. When chasing squirrels, he will slow down if he gets too close.
37. Belle
Belle is a cocker spaniel. They were originally bred in Spain as a hunting dog. The closest Belle has ever come to hunting is when a package of sausage was slightly out of reach.
38. Stripes
Stripes is a whippet. They are bred to hunt rabbits but Stripes just hunts for the most comfortable spot in an armchair.
39. McKinley
McKinley the lab was in training to be part of a new line of excellent assistance dogs. Accept she prefers to do what she wants and had no desire to please her handlers.
40. Indy
Indy is a Golden retriever. He is part of a breed bred to retrieve. But Indy is more of a chaser since he will chase after anything throw, but he won’t bring it back.
41. Rose
Rose is a Maremma sheepdog. And you guessed it, she should be herding sheep. But there are no sheep only humans, and she keeps directs them accordingly.
42. Flossie
Flossie is a Labrador retrieving, especially bred for retrieving things from the water. She prefers dry land and her squeaky toy.
43. K’eyush
K’eyush is a husky and they are all about cold and snow. And pulling sleds in all that cold and snow. And while he lives in the snowy north, he isn’t too excited about it all.
44. Poppy
Poppy is a smooth coat collie and her breed herds animals, especially sheep. She has no sheep to herd, but she does get unhappy when there are no humans about.
45. Arya
Arya is a border collie. Other than posing for some fine photography, she spends her days as a therapy dog for troubled teens instead of herding sheep.
46. Milo
Milo the cocker spaniel was bred to be a bird dog. He prefers walks in the rain and his comfy bed.
47. What a tired boy!
This Rhodesian ridgeback is bred to hunt lions. And I imagine that would be a pretty tiring job. But this boy just snoozes all day anyway.
48. Zhara
Another Rhodesian ridgeback is bred to hunt lions. Zhara just lies under the bed barking at things, and when she’s on the bed she won’t go to sleep unless she is spooned with one of her humans.
49. Mochi
Mochi is a terrier mix. Her owner thinks she is part Glen of Imaal terrier that are bred for hard work. Mochi has that mixed up and hardly works instead.
50. Remus
Remus is a mini Australian shepherd and is bred to herd. Remus doesn’t herd, but does enjoy chewing paper and giving kisses.
51. Kit
Kit is an otterhound, and his breed is for hunting otter. His true specialty however, is killing boxes.
52. Merl
This is Merl the corgi. Corgis are bred to be active and to herd sheep and cattle. They aren’t supposed to be lazy, but Merl doesn’t know that.
53. Benni
Benni is a Bedlington terrier and bull lurcher mix. Benni was meant to be a working dog, but that’s not how things have gone. When he isn’t being stalked by a midget cat he is protecting his human from leaves.
54. Bailey
Bailey is a standard poodle and bred to hunt waterfowl. But instead, Bailey only hunts cheese and follows his people around the house.
55. Amani
Amani is a shepherd mix, bred to work with livestock. She shouldn’t be afraid of anything the size of a cow, but she’s afraid of yorkies, Pomeranians, and pretty much anything that moves.
56. Dax
Dax should be herding cattle. But he was fired from his job at a ranch because he couldn’t do the job. Now he spends his time keeping the pillows together.
57. Moss
Moss is a decker terrier. His job? He was bred to hunt rodents. But he spends his time sitting with his people.
58. Jacko
Jacko is a shepherd and bred to herd and protect sheep. He moonlights as a Jedi master or otherwise lounging about.
59. Daisy
Daisy is a kelpie and collie mix, so her job should be rounding up sheep. That’s far too taxing, and she likes to find places like this plant pot to take a nap.
60. Georges
Georges is a golden retriever and is bred for retrieving waterfowl such as ducks and birds. But birds are his friends. And he’s afraid of the dark.
61. Buddy
Buddy is a Nova Scotia duck trolling retriever and golden retriever mix. But he doesn’t believe in labels and he doesn’t retrieve anything.
62. Blackthorn’s Karimihone
That’s the official name of this pure-bred German Shepherd Dog, but she’s now known as Zille. She’s bred to be a working dog, but she runs around the yard collecting balls and only understands 4 commands.
63. Shiba Inu
This Shiba Inu is bred to hunt all types of small game. Her owners once had a mouse in the house and she just let it scoot around her legs and went back to sleep.
64. Millie
Millie is a border collie mix and herding sheep is in her genes. She’s chosen a position in marketing instead.
65. Jubbie
Jubbie is a Yorkshire terrier. They were bred to hunt down rats and mice in small tunnels. But the only thing that Jubbie has ever caught is a nap.
66. Tide
Tide is a Rhodesian ridgeback. These strong dogs were bred to hunt down lions in Africa. Tide just takes his napping very seriously and starts to pant when he’s outside for more than 2 minutes.
67. Towser
Towser is a keeshond and they were bred to keep vermin of barges. Towser is afraid of the water, but he’s a great companion dog.
68. Ebony
Ebony is a Patterdale terrier and bred to hunt rabbits and foxes. They are also known as a noble breed. But Ebony likes to snooze and does a great Elvis lip impersonation.
69. Holly
Holly is a border collie and bred to be a working dog—chasing and herding livestock. She spends 90% of her time snoozing on the sofa with no inclination to work.
70. Gerald
Gerald is a French mastiff. These dogs are bred to fight off bears and wolves, but he is an office dog in Dorset. Other than the occasional dress up party, he sleeps most of the day.
71. Ciera
Ciera is a Samoyed and bred to work hard pulling sleds in the snow. She’s a big lazy floofer that makes a great fireplace rug.
72. Roxy
Roxy is a pug. They are known as lion dogs and for their bravery and skill as a guardian. But Roxy only guards her sleep spot on the rug.
73. Florence
Florence is an Italian Spinone and is bred to be a gundog. And while she once retrieved some seaweed and will flush the occasional pigeon out of the garden, she mostly naps.
74. Zuki
Zuki the German Shepherd Dog is bred to herd in harsh climates. She prefers to snooze and watch the hens wander the property, with no inclination to herd them at all.
75. Bellis
Bellis is a Finnish lapphund. She was bred to herd reindeer and guard homesteads. What she really prefers doing is napping all day.
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