Does anyone own rare native breed dog?

[BoogleMcGroogle]

As the owner of a common-or-garden Labrador, who makes up for it by regularly being Best Dog ( oh yes he is, who’s best dog? Yes you are etc.), I’m a little starstruck by the glorious Otterhound who cheerfully ambles about our village, oblivious to her celebrity status. I also remember a gorgeous Cumber (?) Spaniel who attended the special class for naughty dogs that I frequented as a twelve year old with our rescue Staffie. Both rare and gorgeous things.

Anyone else care to share their rare native breed dog to enrich my fantasy of having a house full of them? Photos would be doubly marvellous.

I know someone with a Lancashire Heeler

[quote Mollymalone123]@Splodgetastic shelties normally have 2/3 pups and I think to have one is rare.they are incredibly hard to come by now. We got our old girl when she was 5 from France as she had been sent there to keep the gene pool going.Both mine are from show dogs so are small. The only thing that annoys me are when people do ‘ooh look it’s minituare Lassie’ 😂 -well no because that’s the very large beautiful Rough Collie- totally different breed[/quote]
My MIL has two shelties, such amazing characters!

@Justcashnosweets

This is a fab thread! I don't have vulnerable breed, I have a wonderful old Springer, but I have wanted a Dandie Dinmont Terrier for years. I've also considered a Clumber spaniel but after reading this I'm not so sure 😆

Look at the working Clumber spaniel society on Facebook it's a great place for information

However in my experience the rarer the breed, the more infighting and bitching goes on in these small groups

Clumbers are great, but they are slow to mature, it takes around three years whereas in a ess it's about a year. You have to be in it for the long haul and be prepared to be owned by it, not own one lol

I don’t have a rare native breed, but my village seems to have more than its fair share - there’s an Irish red and white setter, a pair of dandie dinmonts (gorgeous dogs) and a sealyham.

We have Welsh Springer Spaniels. They are on the vulnerable list. I would highly recommend this breed. They aren't as bouncy as the English Springer Spaniels. Lovely temperaments.

I imagine Midsomer (Murders) to be full of vulnerable native breeds. Lots of hard stares over the village green from the Skye terrier family towards the deerhound owners.

A couple of years ago we were on an otterhound walk with about 20 other hounds in a big park when we ran into a gathering of the local Doberman owners club on the other side of the pond. It was like the fight scene in Anchorman - but with no fighting, obviously. I half-expected the Manchester terriers to come over the hill in a van.

@TheGoodEnoughWife

We have Welsh Springer Spaniels. They are on the vulnerable list. I would highly recommend this breed. They aren't as bouncy as the English Springer Spaniels. Lovely temperaments.

I met a gorgeous puppy WSS this week, have never understood why this breed isn't as popular as the English - bit of an easier size and calmer ... and prettier!

@Whitney168 totally agree!

I would love to have an unusual breed but I suspect I will choose intelligence again, it's hard to have any other kind of dog once you have had collies. If I get the job I've applied for I can take my dog to work so pet ownership is back on the cards

Thanks @RandomMess and @herechickchickchickchick 😊

@TheGoodEnoughWife your Welsh Springers are gorgeous! Definitely a breed to consider for us!

We breed and show Parson Russell Terriers

@Mollymalone123, telling me how rare they are doesn’t help, there was one puppy left from an unusually large litter, available to come home at end Jan but (1) my youngest is prob too young and (2) my DH just won’t come on board with a smaller dog, grrrrr 😭😭😭

No dogs at all here (yet) but seen quite a few native breeds in my home town over the years: Skye terrier, Field Spaniel, Kerry Blue terrier, Dandie Dinmont and Bedlington Terrier (not sure if that qualifies but it was quite interesting).

Um... shelties really aren’t that rare btw...

Loving this thread!

We currently have a Parsons but most people think she is a JRT.

We saw what absolutely looked like a rough haired Parsons in the park. It was a Jack a poo - no hint of poodle to look at tbh. I said oh all the brains of a poodle then, lucky you 😂

@tabulahrasa

Um... shelties really aren’t that rare btw...

Agree, nothing that rare about Shelties. No need to force a decision when the time isn't right, 2021willbetheyear.

It is interesting why some breeds fall out of favour. Obviously there are some on the VNB list that are quite specialist and don't fit easily in to modern life (Bloodhound, Otterhound, Mastiff for example) - but then there are others which are not that far off far more popular 'cousins' that I don't understand.

Smooth Collies - not sure people associate them much with Roughs, or indeed recognise them as a breed, but far more manageable in the family home than the far more popular Border
Miniature Bull Terrier - all the look of its bigger cousin, but a lot less dog which suits modern housing better
Wheatens - a very attractive dog, don't believe they are meant to be particularly feisty, would offer all the look of some of the popular Poodle crosses but in a more predictable form
Welsh Springer - as above, handier size, calmer temperament than the far more common English
Various lovely Setters that get live totally in the shadow of the Irish

The family of an ex-boyfriend used to have a Kerry Blue. She was gorgeous, smart, affectionate, had a lovely personality and was utterly beautiful. She was better than my ex! I have two wonderful rescues at the moment but I do often think of Kerry Blues.

Thanks for sharing your rare dogs. I have discovered a few I've never heard of.

I was a great dog fan as a kid and remember seeing the Dandy Dinmonts at Crufts (1987!). They were absolutely adorable and had so much character. A Dandy Dinmont would certainly be on my list if we didn't have a cat. I'm nervous of terriers and cats together (not sure if that's justified).

QueenBeth Oh my gosh! You own an otterhound. I am genuinely starstruck. I'm not sure that one would suit our lifestyle at the moment, but when things slow down in a few years, I would absolutely love one. Although our local otterhound owner insists that she is less bother than his daughter's Lab. Do you know any who are trained to work? We've loved gundog training with our Lab and he adores the water training. I'm now daydreaming about taking my fantasy otterhound (Brenda) to training and splashing about with her.

@Whitney168. Wheatens are generally more energetic and bonkers than feisty. You could definitely tell my girl was a terrier, she was very tenacious and determined and was quite feisty in a typical terrier way as a pup, but calmed down with maturity. By the time she was elderly there were certain lines that were getting a bit of a rep for having aggression issues. The breed club was very on the ball though, so I would imagine that will be something they will have worked hard to eliminate.

Re comparisons to Poodle crosses in appearance. I see what you mean, but for people who are put off Poodles because of the grooming aspect, I wouldn’t recommend a Wheaten either. If I ever had another (which I won’t as I could never replace my beautiful girl, she was a one off) I would go for an Irish coat (tighter curls and better weather protection, but harder to come by).

I learned to groom and clip myself, but if you’re not interested or up to it, they need regular professional grooming and as they’re not a common breed, you can end up with a dog that looks more like a blonde Schauzer than a Wheaten if the groomer is unfamiliar with them. When I got my girl there was a trend for very tight, blocky clips, with extremely angular heads. I preferred my girl’s coat looser with a more natural flowing shape, but it meant daily grooming and regular bathing to keep it in good condition. There are two local to where we live now and they have similar coats, kept in a similar style to mine. Her coat absorbed rain/wet/mud, like cotton wool and she hated getting wet as a result. The English coat tangles very easily as well, if not well managed, so daily grooming is a must. I did clip her short when she was elderly, as it wouldn’t have been fair to put her through hours of grooming every week when all she wanted by that point was a quiet life and somewhere warm to snooze.

We are currently on a list for another Vulnerable Native Breed (English Toy Terrier - only around 98 pups a year in the UK) so totally the opposite end of the coat care spectrum. I have never had a short haired, single-coated dog before, but am looking forward to being able to retire most of my huge grooming kit! My current dog is a great hairy Lurcher with Deerhound in his mix and even groomed daily, he still manages to constantly cover the house in fur.

@tabulahrasa yes I agree they aren’t rare or endangered but meeting up with people asking for help with how to get a puppy over the last few years from a breeder ( as in a proper breeder) or would I consider mating my dogs ( no way) it is really hard to find a breeder without an incredibly long wait list-I was just lucky to get my pup 8 years ago- pure luck- and to get a rescue shelties even luckier!😂 I bump into the same shelties over and over again - I think there is one breeder somewhere in Bristol - mine in Devon stopped years ago- so honestly it is worth going through KC or Champdogs and I’m afraid you will just have to be patient @2021willbetheyear - sorry x

What sort of size are Welsh Springers?

I’d love an English or Red & White Irish setter (both on the list), but I don’t think we’re the right home for one, sadly.

A couple of years ago I was on a beach in Northumberland and a whole 'pack' of Old English Sheepdogs came past. It was a beautiful sight.