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| 19th century Skye Terrier |
Winding up to Discover Dogs this weekend, the Kennel Club has trotted out
its usual spiel about endangered breeds - those that attract less than 300 registrations a year - urging pet owners to buy them to save them from extinction. But small numbers spell big trouble in terms of tiny and inbred gene pools and/or the risk of inherited disorders. My advice? Steer well clear. Dog breeds often fall out of fashion for good reason - sometimes because the work that prompted their creation no longer exists (as in the Otterhound); other times simply because they just ain't that attractive or distinctive. Sure, celebrity ownership influences a gullible public (something else the KC is whinging about) but that's just life.
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| Imagine coping with that coat on Skye in winter.... |
The KC refers to them as "vulnerable native breeds", making them sound rather special. They're not. They're out of favour and out of time and if no one wants them beyond a handful of show-breeders trying to preserve them in aspic (as is often the case) we should let them go. And don't you get misty-eyed about the demise of Greyfriars Bobby (the Skye Terrier that, legend says, sat on his master's grave for 14 years). The dog no longer works, breeders have selected for a more and more impractical coat and there are other similar terrier breeds with much larger gene pools.
