A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'X'

X - Crossbred; Sprocker, Labradoodle, Cockapoo

When I first met Gus I thought he was a Spaniel but his owner said he was a crossbreed resulting from the mating of a Springer Spaniel female with a Cocker Spaniel dog. That gave me the idea of what to include unde 'X'.

Sprocker Spaniel - Gus (6 months)

Of course you may obtain a Sprocker in several different ways by crossing:

• Springer with a Cocker
• Springer with a Sprocker
• Cocker with a Sprocker
• Sprocker with a Sprocker

It's not surprising then that they occur in a variety of colours, weights and heights.

If you are looking for a dog that does not shed its hair you might look no further than a dog like Milly. She's a -

Labradoodle - Milly

The Labradoodle results from crossing a Labrador Retriever with a Standard/Miniature or Toy Poodle. The term Labradoodle first appeared in 1955 but was not popularised until 1988.

In Australia they were trained as Assistance Dogs for a time.

A group of Labradoodle Assistance Dogs

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway and Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne of Norway own a black Labradoodle.

Spaniels and Poodles get around a bit because an English Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Poodle (Miniature or Toy) produces dogs like the one we met earlier in the Challenge under P (for Pippa)

I meet her almost every day.

Cockapoo (Pippa)

She's a hypoallergenic dog too.

A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'C' - Dogs

C - Cairn Terrier, Cocker Spaniel, Rough Collie

The letter 'C' enables me to include two world famous dogs. First there is:

Toto - the Cairn Terrier
(Illustration by W W Denslow for Frank L Baum's novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

Terry, as Toto, and July Garland as Dorothy
(Publicity photo for 1971 NBC TV showing of MGM's 1939 ;The Wizard of Oz)

The Cairn Terrier is one of the oldest terrier breeds and originated in the Scottish Highlands not Kansas. However the dog I meet in my North Yorkshire village is much less famous but just as friendly when you see her.

Cairn Terrier - Pippa

There are a lot of Cocker Spaniels in the village of many different colours from

Cocker Spaniel - Black

To : 

Blue Roan Cocker - Jasper

He was not too keen on being photographed. Cockers are ideal gun dogs but Jasper's just a pet. My next two were always pleased to be put of show.

Blue Roans - Thomas & Leo

But supposedly the most famous dog in the world was a:

Rough Collie

Lassie, the fictional female dog, was created by Eric Knight in a short story, later expanded into a novel called 'Lassie Come Home.' The novel was subsequently adapted in to the 1943 feature film that became the first about the exploits of the 'legendary' dog. 

Many of us in Britain have erroneously believed that Lassie was an American 'invention.' An early depiction of Lassie can be traced to a story called 'The Half-brothers' written by Elizabeth Gaskell in 1859. Later Nigel Clarke's 'Shipwreck Guide to Dorset and South Devon' told of a Lassie that saved the life of a sailor in WWI who had been torpedoed on HMS Formidable and left for dead in a mortuary until Lassie 'rescued' him.