As their breed names often attest, dogs are a truly international bunch. Named for their places of origin and sometimes even their original breeders, dog breed names offer a fascinating look into how we relate to man’s best friend. Let’s take a look at 12 different dog breed names and their backstories.

　　狗是真正全球化的群种，他们品种的名称常常能证明这点。狗品种的命名是它们的起源地，有时甚至是他们最初的饲养场所。对于我们与犬类(人类最好的朋友)有哪些关系，其品种可以提供一种有趣的视角。让我们看看12个不同的狗品种名臣和他们背后的故事。

　　Akita秋田犬

　　This Japanese breed is named for the prefecture in the north-west of Honshu, where they are thought to have originated. Sometimes these dogs are known as Akita inu (literally ‘Akita dog’ in English). Also popular is the Shiba inu, most famous for being the face of the doge meme.

　　这个日本品种的狗，其名称由西北部地区的本州岛而命名，本州岛被认为是秋田犬的起源地。有时，这些狗也被称为“Akita inu”(照字面意思是：秋田犬)。同样流行的说法的还有“Shiba inu”(日本柴犬)，它们因为表情包而出名。

　　Corgi 柯基

　　The dog of choice for Queen Elizabeth II, who has owned several corgis, the corgi originates in Wales. In Welsh, the name means ‘dwarf-dog’, from cor ‘dwarf’ and gi ‘dog’.

　　柯基(犬)是为英国女王伊丽莎白二世精心挑选的犬种，她现在养了好几条柯基。柯基起源于威尔士，在那里这个名字意味着‘dwarf-dog’(矮狗)，由于“cor”等同于“dwarf”(矮小)，“gi”等同于“dog”(狗)，因此组成了corgi。

　　Dachshund 腊肠犬

　　Lop off the hund (German for dog), and you end up with dachs, which is German for badger – what these dogs were originally trained to hunt. You might also know these dogs as wiener dogs, a reference to their long, thin bodies, which are reminiscent of sausages.

　　拿掉单词“Dachshund”中的hund(hund在德语中是狗的意思)，就剩下dachs(在德语中表示獾的意思)，因为这些狗最初是被训练去捕抓獾的。你可能也听说这些狗被称为维也纳香肠狗，这是因为它们细细长长的身躯干会让我们联想起香肠。

　　Dalmatian达尔马西亚狗(斑点狗)

　　Dalmatia is the name for a region that is now part of Croatia and Montenegro, formerly part of Yugoslavia and before that an Austrian province. Despite those famous spots, the Dalmatian is related to the Great Dane.

　　“Dalmatia”(达尔马提亚)是一个地名，最开始是奥地利的一个省，后来是前南斯拉夫的一部分，现在属于克罗地亚和黑山共和国的一部分。达尔马西亚狗命名的来源除了与那么多著名的地点有联系，也和大丹犬有关。

　　Doberman(n) pinscher 杜宾犬(平斯彻犬)

　　The name of this breed comes from its first breeder, Ludwig Dobermann (1834–94), a 19th-century German tax-collector. The origin of pinscher, on the other hand, has not been verified, though it has been suggested that Pinzgau, a region of north-western Austria, may be the source.

　　杜宾犬这个名字来源于它的第一个饲养人——Ludwig Dobermann (1834–94)。他是19世纪德国的一位税务员。另外，也有人猜测平斯彻犬这个名称的由来可能与奥地利西北部一个叫Pinzgau的地区有关，但这种说法尚未被证实。

　　Great Dane大丹犬

　　As much as the literary-minded among us wish that this dog breed were named after Hamlet, the breed name comes from the French grand danois (‘Great Dane’), and likely is descended from a mix of mastiff and greyhound or wolfhound.

　　出于文学情结，许多人希望这个品种的狗被命名是因为《哈姆雷特》这部作品，然而这类狗品种命名来源于法语词grand danois(“大丹犬”)，它很可能是獒犬和灵缇犬或者猎狼犬杂交的后代。

　　Jack Russell terrier杰克罗素梗

　　‘Jack Russell’ owners must sometimes wonder who it is that their dog is named after. Jack Russell, as it turns out, was an English parson known as the ‘The Sporting Parson’, who began to breed terriers for sport in the first half of the 19th century.

　　杰克罗素梗的主人们肯定有时会好奇他们的狗是以谁的名字来命名的。后来人们发现，Jack Russell是一个英国牧师的名字，他在19世纪上半叶以运动为方向开始饲养梗类犬，被称为“运动牧师”。

　　Labrador拉布拉多犬

　　Named after the Labrador Peninsula in Canada, where the breed was developed, the Labrador retriever is one of the most popular dogs in the US and UK. The name ‘Labrador’ comes from Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador, who helped to map that section of the Canadian coast in at the turn of the 14th century.

　　拉布拉多犬是以加拿大的拉布拉多半岛命名的，拉布拉多犬在这里繁衍发展。这个品种的猎犬是美国和英国最受欢迎的狗之一。‘Labrador’这个名字来源于葡萄牙的一位探险家，叫作João Fernandes Lavrador，他在14世纪初帮忙绘制了部分加拿大海岸地区的地图。

　　Rottweiler 罗威纳犬

　　Known for its abilities as a guard dog, the Rottweiler comes from the German town of Rottweil around the turn of the 20th century. Formerly, the dog was known as a Rottweiler Hund, or ‘dog from Rottwei’.

　　罗威纳犬因为它的看门能力而出名，这个名字来自20世纪初德国一座名为Rottweil的城镇。之前，这种狗也被叫做Rottweiler Hund，或者来自Rottweiler的狗。

　　Shih-tzu 西施犬(狮子犬)

　　Given that there’s nothing particularly intimidating about these small lap dogs, it’s amusing to learn that the name comes from the Chinese term shīzigǒu, which roughly translates as ‘lion-son-dog’.

　　虽然起狮子犬这样的名字，但是这种小型哈巴狗并没有什么可怕之处。有趣的是，这个名字是来自于中文“狮子狗”shīzigǒu，直译成英文是狮子狗‘lion-son-dog’。

　　Spaniel 西班牙猎犬

　　Originating in Spain, spaniel comes from the Old French word espaignol (or espaigneul), used to refer to a ‘Spanish dog’. One popular breed of spaniel is the King Charles spaniel, so named due to the great fondness that King Charles II of England had for the dog.

　　西班牙猎犬起源于西班牙，它的名字来自古法语词espaignol (或者espaigneul)，曾经用来表示一只“西班牙的狗”。查尔斯王犬是西班牙猎犬中最受欢迎的品种之一，以查尔斯王犬来命名是由于英国国王查理二世曾经养过这种狗，并非常喜欢它。

　　St. Bernard圣伯纳犬

　　Why exactly is a dog named after Saint Bernard of Aosta (c. 996–c. 1081)? The reason is that Bernard of Aosta founded guest houses in two dangerous passes in the Alps, known both for their hospitality as well as the specially trained dogs that he and the other monks often employed to rescue travellers. Both the passes (Great and Little St. Bernard) were named after him, along with the breed of rescue dogs that he started.

　　为什么恰好是这个品种的狗以“Saint Bernard of Aosta”(圣伯纳德，公元前996-1081年)命名呢?因为圣伯纳德在阿尔卑斯山的两个危险的通道处建立了宾馆。这个宾馆因为他们的热情好客以及他和僧侣们用特殊方式驯养的犬类去营救旅客的举止而出名。这两处通道大、小阿尔卑斯山，连同他开始饲养的这种救援犬，都以他的名字命名。

（编辑：何莹莹）