if you wanted to recover a KC breed

[Pops 19]

hypothetical (make believe), so money doesn't matter (or maybe it does if you want to keep it realistic)

 

say you wanted to bring back a KC breed like the yorkie or westie, which would it be & how would you try to do it?

[shepp 2,285]

I would ignore both the existing examples because they are little more than furry icing bags and start from scratch.

[stainlee 27]

Manchester Norflk, Norwich, Cairn terriers all look as if they were useful in the past.

[shepp 2,285]

Yes I recon you could revive them

[Rey27 83]

Both the yorkie & the Westie are shadows of there former selves. but if you were to revive any KC breed that has lost its working ways. then you'd probably be best to mix them with dogs that work well already, but you'd lose the looks. not many true working terriers that look like a Westie for example.

[Waz 4,263]

Airedale. I would buy in lots from different lines and select the ones with the best nose to breed, cull hard. Maybe for drive add some bulldog blood cull hard for any undesirable traits. Would happily tear up KC registration papers.

[CarraghsGem 92]

recovering the yorkie would be hard but not impossible, i would cross them to lakie to bring back the bone and gameness but keep the colour, and keep mating to yorkies to bring back in the coat type, old working type yorkies were bigger and heavier boned than modern types, at the end of the day they are ratters so it shouldnt be hard to bring them back up to workers although it will take a fair few generations of hard culling to bring it up to standard, my mothers pet yorkie from top show bloodlines was a successful mouser so the gameness and instinct is there, just needs finding! would be harder to revive the breed if they had been bred for going to ground.

Edited August 25, 2010 by CarraghsGem

[heshimus 1]

if you ("TRYING") revive them for working them they will not be a KC breed anymore... because working breeds aren't bred for the looks.

besides that they ruin everything they touch... so leave them be.

 

and this is from a former FCI "dog breeder".

 

having working dogs is much more satisfying and workable than show standards, even those standards aren't applyed in the showring.

many of the called "judges" never heard about many of the breeds.

is like one once told me about jagdterriers, that my dog was "a jagdterrier not a german hunting terrier" because he as 12kg and it's small!!!

enormous joke!!!

 

so do not go there because you are messing with the "kc cheese" and the mice wouldn't like it.

leave them be with their awesome dogs, full of character (this is a joke), and full of bad traits in genetic...they are PROFESSIONAL.

 

sorry for any offensive words but i was a FCI breeder for 15 years, was a fool for 15 years, was mistaken for 15 years and was lyed and cheated for 15 years!

and afterwards "the others are doing all wrong with the inbreedings and linebreedings", at least they know what they are doing. breeding best worker to best worker!

 

all the kc breeds are ruin, saved 1 or 2 that has some working breeders yet, but a minority that will disappear.

money talks higher than working value!!

 

 

best regards

[stevemac 434]

Well I am a ANKC judge Have been for 12yrs kept and berd fox terrier Rhodesian Ridgebacks and English fox hounds for 30yrs I can tell you that It is a difficult job to keep pur bred working dogs to try to keep dogs as close to the breed standard and have dogs that work to a satisfactory level. but This is what I have done since I was about 12yrs old. I have nothing against cross breed dogs I even own a few but I do have a passion for pur bred dogs In any of the groups of hunting breeds of dogs there are still dogs that have a temperment suited to work. in some breeds they are far and few between but it has been these dogs that I have sort out and have even encourged other breeders to use a perticular dog over their bitch to try and reinforse this temperment in a pup that I wanted to purchase. From this point on it is a matter of matting dogs of simular temperment, puppy selection introducing them to the required work and moving on the ones that do not make the grade. the numbers that make the grade are small but it is very satisfing to have pur breeds that work.

 

Of the 3 breeds that I have mucked around with the foxhounds had litters that went to both foot hunting and mounted packs.

The fox terriers I must admitt I had a time trying to get the size down for earth work so I gave up in the end and kept them as cover dogs, blood tracking dogs and even catch dogs for pigs. My best ones excelled at these jobs there were a couple that failed so they were moved off to pet homes. the advantage of pur breds is their is always a market for pets.

The hardest breed to maintain working dogs in has been the ridgeback though I have a very good dog at the moment I use to find and bail feral pigs. Unfortunately they are a breed that has suffered at the hands of the show world I put this down to 3 different reasons the obvious reason of dogs never selected for hunting ability when bred. The breed Not having enough time in its home land as a pur bred hunting dog before its dispersal around the world and thirdly the vast majority of ridgebacks are owned by women and they breed them for the softest temperment they can find.

 

This hobby of mine has deffinatly had its up and downs and been very satisfying when it has worked.

Edited August 25, 2010 by stevemac

[welshwizard 33]

I would definately try the Norfolk and the Norwich, both a tidy size to start with. No point in trying the Wire and Smooth Fox Terrier, I also like the idea of a working Manchester Terrier. We can all dream.

[Malt 379]

Domesticated dog breeds are all the same animal. In theory and with enough time you could breed almost any one of them to a certain type.

 

If I were to start off trying to recreate a specific breed, I think I'd start with the closest working type that was available.

[judge2010 196]

old english mastif, bulldog, english bull terrier, bullmastiff etc the list goes on.

[Bryan 1,362]

bedlington

sealyham

jack russel

lakeland

border

wheaten

staff

 

start by tearing up the rule book defining a working dog by a physical standard only.

 

Breed whatever remaining workers exist in these breeds together cull hard and keep going.

[tinytiger 840]

id say that once vital genes are lost from breeds that there is no way of getting them back without crossing to breeds that do work.Then again i once saw a yorkie that worked fox with great enthuasism and a wire fox terrier that would have held his own anywhere as a worker

[longbow 14]

If I could change "recover" to "recreate" it would have to be the Airedale. The Airedale is reputed to

be a mix of water dog/hound crossed with small northern terrier. So why take a risk with show dogs

when the raw matirials still exist in working form! Take 1 big hound (personally i would use a HPR

much like a hound but more trainable and available) mate it to a working terrier (no shortage of them)

& bingo theres your Airdale! OK it may not be that simple (understatment) but you get the idea.

 

If it has to be recover I allways fancied a norfolk or norwich...or maybe a dandie dinmont.

cheers