Thursday, September 25, 2008

A Breed History: The Short Horn Terrier

The Short Horn Terrier is pictured at right. It was created by "Sir" Waler Scott who cross bred it with a dairy cow (or was it a dairy man?) kept in the kennels of Lord Fenshaw of Fenwick upon Upton.

Similar dogs have been worked for centuries by nameless faceless people in remote sections where telephones have still not penetrated. These dogs were designed to run 40 miles a day, tackle 40 pound fox and then win ribbons at the shows. The sagacity of the dog is admired by all, and its purity is maintained by scrupulous pedigree records. The best dogs can be traced back to Waler Scott himself!

The picture at right shows the whisp of hair on the forehead which suggests a Bedlington may have been crossed in with the aforementioned dairy cow. The ideal measurement of this breed is 14 inches by 14 inches by 14 pounds based on the size of quarry which the original breeders were careful to never actually handle or measure themselves.

The face of the dog should look like a little like a roadkill ferret. The expression and dark eyes make the face of this dog particularly pleasing to the eye.

This dog is the "original terrier" from which all other breeds are derived, and it is kept as a working breed to this day. Somewhere. By someone. Sorry: no further details are available.
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