Fell Terriers?

**Twisterdog** · 09-14-2007, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by Brody's Mum

Not that Tobey has done a day's work in his life

If he is anything like my terrier pack, I bet he has done PLENTY of work in his life. Not necesarily the work you WANT him to do, mind you, but work that is important to him nonetheless.

My terriers seem especially excel at the jobs of home redecorating and landscaping. Once, they decided the wallpaper simply had to go ... so it did, from three feet off the floor down. The couch also was simply TOO full of stuffing, and some had to be removed ... from the bottom up. And the smooth grass in the yard was simply toooo boring, dahling ... now we have huge hills, valleys and craters. The "surface of the moon" look is SO today!

**Suki Wingy** · 09-15-2007, 02:26 AM

What people don't realize is the idea of "breeds" is relativley new, within the last two or three centuries. Before that their were "types" of dog. Outcrosses were very common. A dog was either defined by its job, its location, its founder, or a combonation of them. For example, a "pointing dog" or a flushing breed. Some got general characteristics, like the "bengal harrier" was a spotted harrier. It made no difference wether someone crossed in some birddogs or mastiffs somewhere, as long as it could do its job.
I like to make the comparison to horse breeds. Sure you have your pure bred registries like the Jockey Club, APHA, and AQHA, but you also have types based on the job they were bred to do or a similar characteristic. For example, hunter/ jumper, dressage, cob, etc.
There will always be a large discrepancy in terriers because of the way the breeds were formed. Breeds sprung up very localized, and all terrier breeds are very related. I think of most working terrier breeds as extreme specialization of the same breed.

**crow_noir** · 09-15-2007, 03:56 AM

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Originally Posted by Suki Wingy

What people don't realize is the idea of "breeds" is relativley new, within the last two or three centuries. Before that their were "types" of dog. Outcrosses were very common. A dog was either defined by its job, its location, its founder, or a combonation of them. For example, a "pointing dog" or a flushing breed. Some got general characteristics, like the "bengal harrier" was a spotted harrier. It made no difference wether someone crossed in some birddogs or mastiffs somewhere, as long as it could do its job.
I like to make the comparison to horse breeds. Sure you have your pure bred registries like the Jockey Club, APHA, and AQHA, but you also have types based on the job they were bred to do or a similar characteristic. For example, hunter/ jumper, dressage, cob, etc.
There will always be a large discrepancy in terriers because of the way the breeds were formed. Breeds sprung up very localized, and all terrier breeds are very related. I think of most working terrier breeds as extreme specialization of the same breed.