Dog days for British breeds

Wednesday, 25th November 2009

Many of our traditional working dogs are in danger of dying out. In abandoning the Sealyham and Dandie Dinmont, says Matthew Dennison, we diminish our heritage

Imagine the scenario. You are a military man who retires at 40. Able-bodied, cushioned by a small army pension and the income from a rural estate in west Wales, you turn your back on soldiering. You remain through and through a sportsman. Across your peaceful acres foxes, badgers and otters carve their busy paths. In barns and hedgerows rats and rabbits run amok. How to rout out so much quarry? Only one way presents itself to the resourceful mid-Victorian landowner: breed your own terrier. It is 1848. Meet Captain John Tucker Edwardes.

Edwardes knew what he wanted: a sporting little dog, low to the ground, tenacious, brave and mostly white in colour — in every way a characteristically 19th-century British ideal. He threw into the melting-pot four breeds of terrier and a strain of corgi. The result? The Sealyham terrier, named after the Captain’s estate near Haverfordwest.

Once Sealyhams were among the world’s favourite dogs. High-profile owners included Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, Princess Margaret and Bette Davis. Last year, out of nearly 40,000 terrier puppies registered with the Kennel Club, Sealyhams accounted for 43. Only the Skye terrier — that long-fringed Yorkie lookalike which claims Greyfriars Bobby among its number — fared worse. Captain Edwardes, of course, is long dead. The statistics suggest his doughty little dog may shortly follow him to oblivion.

The time has come for some canine chauvinism. The nation’s dog fanciers need to start buying British. In December 2006, the Kennel Club issued a call to arms. Its list of vulnerable native breeds contained 24 British breeds reporting fewer than 300 puppy registrations a year. All were working dogs. Three years on, all remain on the list.

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