A nation of dog lovers?

Issue 40 of Edition Dog (January 2022) features my article that highlights the awful treatment of dogs in the name of medical research.

The politics of division

Issue 36 of Edition Dog (September 2021) featured my article on the hot topic of the moment – Pen Farthing and his mission to safely get his staff and animals out of Afghanistan. He was ridiculed in the media and this raised the debate of ‘pets before people’.

The vegan dog and the slippery slope

Issue 34 of Edition Dog (July 2021) featured my article about why pet owners should be worried about the recent rise in vegan diets.

GSDs of yesteryear

I encountered a German Shepherd ‘meet’ over Hankley Common (Surrey) last weekend. It’s always an impressive sight, seeing such a large number of the same breed running around and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Great Danes of yesteryear

Growing up, we had Rottweilers and German Shepherds – “proper dogs” as my old man would call them. He seemed to equate size with canine superiority!
If his scale had any real merit, what would it make the giant amongst dogs – the Great Dane?

Dachshunds of yesteryear

I recently discovered Volumes 1 & 2 of Van Bylandt’s ‘Dogs of all Nations’ in a bookshop in Hungerford.
This is the second edition (published in 1904) and It is a truly epic production – a jewel of canine literature.
It possesses scores of photographs of dogs that I haven’t seen published before and over the coming weeks I will post some of these fascinating photographs (of various breeds) for owners & fanciers to pore over.
Today, I’m going to focus on my breed, the Dachshund, interestingly I have heard/read about a number of the dogs featured but have never seen photos of them before.
I hope Dachshund lovers enjoy them!

Renting with dogs

I was thrilled with how my recent piece for Edition Dog (on the minefield that is renting with dogs) came out. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who shared their opinions and experiences.

As we have discovered, renting with one dog is hard enough; renting with four is almost impossible. We actually got to the stage where we thought we would simply have to split our household – Marc and I going one way with the boys and Mum going her own way with the two girls.

The Good Shepherds

I’ve long been a keen advocate of our rare and vulnerable native breeds and have written numerous articles about them and possible ways to boost their dwindling numbers over the years. Usually, I have gone along the lines of how to redeploy these beautiful dogs into brand new 21st century vocations – given that many of the jobs they were originally bred to do – now longer exist or no longer require them.

However, for my recent two-parter in Country Smallholding Magazine I tried a completely different approach, I wanted to showcase examples of some of the “at risk” terriers and herding breeds doing the job they were initially bred for and their possible usefulness for the modern-day smallholder/hobby farmer.

Is it the dogs or the people that have changed?

I recently wrote a piece about the suitability of several of our terrier breeds for the smallholder. I particularly wanted to focus on their ability to control rats and mice – the bane of any livestock keeper.

I am keen that, to significantly raise their numbers (and interest in them) more of our rare/vulnerable native breeds need to get back to work.

A Mini Dachshund Mystery

I recently wrote a piece on the extraordinary rise of the Miniature Dachshund for American dog magazine, Canine Chronicle.

Whilst researching it I came across a fascinating photograph of a girl with what looks like a very respectable looking Miniature Wirehaired Dachshund.

What’s so odd about that you may ask?