Page 122 - K9News_Issue16_May2021

THE
How it became a breed
Dogs of various breeds (Poodles, Canaan Dogs,
Japanese Chin and Miniature Pinschers etc.)
have been a very large part of my life for many,
many years with my primary interests being
showing, judging, show admin and, of course,
enjoying them as home pets. I combined these
interests with a fulltime career as an accountant
and my wife, Jan, took the lead, both figuratively
and literally with dog grooming, feeding, training
etc. and show handling. When the opportunity
arose for me to take early retirement I jumped at
it and having more time to be hands on with the
dogs I decided to stretch to a new breed which
would be exclusively “mine” rather than “ours”.
So, which would be the new breed for me?
I had all the 200+ Kennel Club recognised
breeds to choose from so, unconstrained by
cost or distance, I had to narrow it down. I
began with considering what I could offer to a
new dog. All our current dogs are a Toy Breed
and live regular lives in the house with us, no
kennelling and a neighbourless 1 acre garden
to themselves for their exercise so a newcomer
would have to be a smallish breed to fit in with
both their and our situation. I was not interested
in a coated breed which would require me
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MAY 2021
ENGLISH
TOY
TERRIER
for me and could it be
one for you?
By Rob McLeod (Dunline)
to increase my presentation skills – I would
certainly be responsible for a normal wash and
brush-up, ears, teeth, nails and conditioning
etc., but anything beyond this has always been
Jan’s domain and, after all, this was supposed
to be my retirement! So, that’s the size (small
or Toy) and coat (short, smooth and naturally
super-smart) - sorted.
Next I wanted to consider temperament and
health/build.
Temperament is crucial in both the home
environment (for the happy co-existence of dogs
and people) and the show ring. Show dogs
MUST inherently enjoy showing not just tolerate
it and you can’t train for personality. A proud and
smart dog with a sparky attitude will catch the
eye so for my own search I wanted a breed on
his toes, elegant, alert and quick to respond.
Added to this my retirement age legs required a
mainly free-standing table exhibit. My knees still
work but they prefer rather less kneeling than
previously so a breed to be generally baited/
attracted is a no brainer.
In build (conformation) and health there is