Talking To The Terriers At The Westminster Dog Show

[BlueMTexpat]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/talking-to-the-terriers-at-the-westminster-dog-show/

The fall of the terrier

The American Kennel Club, which is the governing body for dog shows and whose membership includes Westminster, tallies the most popular breeds in the country each year, going back to 1935. This data is based on purebred dog registrations with the club, which says it registers nearly 1 million dogs each year. (There are something like 80 million dogs owned in the U.S.) [In the mid-20th century,] many of the all-star terrier breeds began to decline.

This fall from prominence has affected more than the multi-champion terrier breeds. The Dandie Dinmont, the Skye, the Kerry Blue, the Bedlington, the Welsh, the standard Manchester, the Australian and the Lakeland have all seen significant declines in popularity, as well.

For some terrier breeds, the situation is existential. In 2011, a campaign was launched to save the Sealyham terrier — winner of four Westminster Best in Shows and once the dog of choice of King George V, Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor — from extinction. “If we can save the rhino or tiger, we can surely save this useful and charming breed of dog,” the British magazine Country Life wrote.

[elleng]

1. I KNOW!

I'll probably never see MY favorite:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~btca/BTCA-Liberty's%20Devonshire%20Temptress.htm

HERE's a winner: ONE OF THE GREATS: BEDLINGTON TERRIER CH. ROCK RIDGE NIGHT ROCKET


In the Bedlington Terrier, one of these remarkable dogs was Ch. Rock Ridge Night Rocket, owned by Mr. & Mrs. William A. Rockefeller and handled by Anthony Neary, manager of the Rockefellers' Rock Ridge kennels.

http://www.akc.org/learn/akc-gazette/bedlington-terrier-night-rocket/

[BlueMTexpat]

2. Nice links, elleng! eom

[elleng]

3. Thanks. Just saw this:

Though he’s not a dog with a chip on his shoulder,
Let this not fool others to think themselves bolder;
For no matter what they do, he can do better –
Own one and see, you will not be a fretter.
The sages all say, if life you wish merrier
Go thou and get a Bedlington Terrier.

I MISS our Toni! (First link, she was ours! Won her award before we adopted her.)