When cynologists began to notice the Border Terrier in the middle of the nineteenth century, this dog had long been a familiar part of the Cumberland and Westmorland countryside in the north of England. the effect of which he had been able to attract the sympathies of the lords who hunted the fox, but also those of the peasants who had found in him an intractable guardian of the farmyard animals and sheep.
Protector of herds against predators, replacing in a way the shepherds that dispersed habitat of these hazy regions with a harsh climate prevented to be always on the spot to watch over their livestock, the Border Terrier would contribute to the safeguarding of the heritage of English peasants for whom the wool (known worldwide as the cheviot, the name of the mountains which originated the Border) was the first wealth. Very popular, the Border Terrier thus became the hero of stories and legends in which the authors liked to draw from him an apologetic picture.
Formerly known as the Reedwater Terrier or Coquetdale Terrier, the Border Terrier takes its current name (which it received around 1880) from its original region, on the borders of England. say border in English). As for knowing his ancestors proper, the cynologists, after much discussion, agree today to admit that he is related to the Bedington, the Dandie Dinmont, the Lakeland Terrier, these three dogs being born in regions close together, as well as with the Redesdale, a White Terrier now extinct, to which the Border puppies owe some small white spots.
Appreciated by several families in Northumberland, including the Dodd and Robson, who raised various subjects before crossing them, Border Terriers participated at the beginning of the century in various exhibitions in the Border Counties, and more particularly in Northumberland. It was at this time that dog enthusiasts, enthusiastic about the ability of these dogs to work and fearing that they would suffer from competition from other Terrier breeds, decided to create the Northumberland Border Terrier Club, a few years before the British Kennel Club registers the first Border Terrier in the category of little known and foreign dogs (in 1913). This dog was named after Moss Trooper, a name that his owner, Miss May Rew, had probably given him in reference to both his home country, marshy and hilly, and the qualities he was good at. The club set up its own registry on the sidelines of the British official bodies, but its audience gradually declined. By 1920, the Northumberland Border Terrier Club had ceased to exist, just as another club, the Border Terrier Club, was emerging. The latter is still active today, and it can be considered the true club of the breed. It was the same year that the Kennel Club officially recognized the Border Terrier. The Club established a first standard, which modified very little of its original features, making the Border Terrier a working dog but also an exhibition.
The Border Terrier has a certain reputation in Sweden, but it is naturally in his country of origin and in the British Empire that he has established himself, up to and including in South Africa. In France, finally, and this confirms the confidential nature of the breed, there have been only 76 inscriptions in the Book of origins since 1920. The last reported litter, of 4 puppies, dates back to October 31, 1986. It can be deduced from that there are currently about twenty Border Terriers in the Hexagon. |
English (United Kingdom)