JUDGING THE Welsh Terrier
BY BRUCE SCHWARTZ
HISTORY Small black and tan dogs were first men- tioned in 55 B.C. by Julius Caesar as he sent messages back home. Centuries later when Briton won the war over Wales those black and tan dogs remained in the northern region of the British Isles. John Marvin, in his Book of All Terri- ers , cites a poem written about 1450 which describes a red and black working Terrier:
You gave me a dignified (picked) Stick-and a good bitch, A black, red-bellied terrier bitch To Throttle the brown pole-cat And to tear up the red fox.
“They are diggers who work in the soil.The dirt is propelled by their front legs between their spread hind legs.Their drop ears prevent lose dirt from entering the ear canals.”
It is commonly accepted that this descrip- tion was of the dog that was to become what we today call a Welsh Terrier. In the mid 1800s dog shows were evolving and people were showing Old English Black and Tan Terriers or Old English Wirehaired Black and Tan Terriers. As a breed, the Welsh Ter- rier gained recognition around 1884 and the Welsh Terrier Club was formed in England in 1886. Just two years later the first Welsh Ter- riers landed in America. These dogs belonged to the common man. He helped him to keep his domain free from predators and vermin. They are diggers who work in the soil. The dirt is propelled by their front legs between their spread hind legs. Their drop ears prevent lose dirt from enter- ing the ear canals. Like many other terriers, they work badger and fox.
210 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2021
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