A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'W'

W - West Highland Terrier, Wheaten Terrier, Whippet,
       Welsh Terrier

There used to be stories about an English man, an Irish man, a Scots man and a Welsh man.The same principal applies to this post about dogs, but in a different sequence.

Poppy, a West Highland Terrier, featured in my series about North Yorkshire Village dogs.

Poppy - West Highland Terrier

You may read about her here.

"Westies" originated from Scotland and have a distinctive white coat. They were bred to hunt small rodents at places such as farms. However the Westie I met at Whitby in North Yorkshire had a carriage of its own.

Fast asleep - it had had a busy day

I always like meeting Archie, he's the most laid back dog I know.

Archie - Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

The Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier originated in Ireland and is possibly one of the oldest Irish dog breeds. They were once known as the 'poor man's dog,' working on farms as herders and hunters of vermin and small game.

When I first Archie he had a patch of ginger hair. He had rolled on a dead hedgehog and had to have some hair cut off before the vet could remove all the spines. For a while, as his hair grew back, you could not miss that ginger patch.

When I was boy towards the end on WWII my father bought a whippet from Monmouthshire (South Wales). I used to take her out for walks. I wrote a (long) story about one such walk called 'The Chase.' It began - 

"The whippet sat bolt upright on the grass, shivering with anticipation of being allowed to run. When the command came, ‘Away Flick, away,’ she was gone. She cleared the dry stone wall by the roadside at such a speed that from afar she appeared to be just a flash of brown against the grey dry stones and against the green field where she landed – or did she? She seemed to be flying - close to the ground like a different-coloured swallow on the wing in a desperate hunt for flies." 

Phoebe - a brindle/white Whippet

Whippets are sight hounds, popular as racing dogs. They can reach speeds of 35 mph (56 km/hr). The English Whippet or Snap Dog was even known as the 'poor man's racehorse.'

When I first met my Welsh dog I thought she was an Airedale puppy; I was wrong.

Tilly - Welsh Terrier

She is owned by the same couple that used to own Joe, the Airedale Terrier, I included in the Challenge under 'A.

The Welsh Terrier is claimed to be the oldest dog breed in the UK. Bred originally to hunt rodents and badgers they are now largely a show dog.

Famous owners of Welsh Terriers have included President J F Kennedy and the UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee.

I hope you have the time to watch the video with which I end the post. It's quite delightful.

The Man Who Talks to Dogs

A-Z Challenge – ‘D’

Because of my interest in dogs I started to write about the dogs in the village where I live. The outcome – I suppose I now know as many dogs as people and I’ve heard people call me, “The man who talks to dogs.”

The first dog I remember was when I was very young, I’m not sure that I was old enough to go to school. The only photograph (now lost) that I saw of my father was him kneeling on the front lawn with Punch. Punch was an Airedale with a simple attitude to cats – he hated them. Mind you he took it to extremes when he killed the landlord’s cat for being on his lawn.

The first dog that I was allowed to take out for a walk was a white Labrador/Lurcher named Laddie, the gentlest dog you could imagine. He kept us in rabbit meat during WWII. Poor Laddie came to an untimely death when he was chased out off an alleyway behind a village pub straight under the wheels of a lorry.

Flick, the Whippet, came from South Wales. She covered herself in glory in a very short time by catching a hare almost as big as herself. I once wrote a short story based on this event called ‘The Chase.’

Major the Springer Spaniel had a demeanour to match his name. I’ll swear he sat to attention while his photograph was taken. Major was owned by my future wife’s family in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

 Major

My wife and I have never had a dog. One of my sons and my daughter have made up for this. Milly and Cara were the last two Irish Water Spaniels owned by my son. Milly was the most intelligent dog I’ve ever met and not a bad footballer either. She craved chicken bones and was the scourge of the neighbourhood raiding refuse bins for the remains. (You may read about Milly and Cara at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/04/irish-water-spaniels.html).

Milly and Cara

My daughter who lives in America had two golden (yellow) Labradors, a brother and sister, named Sam and Maxie. They are the stars in my blog post ‘Dogs of Troy’ at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dogs-of-troy.html

Gem, Sam, Jack and Maxie

 When my daughter moved house, the pack increased to four with the addition of Gem, a black Lab mutt, and Jack, the chocolate Labrador know affectionately as the ‘Brown Bomber.’ Jack is my Lucky Dog (http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/12/lucky-dog.html)

 

Jack

 Only Gem of the ‘originals’ is still alive and she has been joined by the elder statesman, a Retriever named Cody – the most obedient dog I know. He loves fishing in the lake.

 Cody

Scout and Lily are the younger Retrievers in the house. I have been told that it’s my job this summer to train Lily to behave. Wish me luck when I talk to the dogs.

[Posts and photos on North Yorkshire Village Dogs may be found in my blog archives in December 2009, January, March, June, July, September, October and December 2010]