Wednesday, February 14, 2018

The Norfolk Terrier Is a Nice Pet Dog



This dog, Winston, won the terrier group.

This is a generally healthy breed, without exaggeration.

Created as a pet, it’s a fine little dog.

Not every breed is a basket case full of contrived histories and pretension: the Norfolk is not.

This dog's origin are well known. During the late nineteenth century some of the undergraduates at Cambridge University bought small terrier dogs from a dog dealer named Charles (Doggy) Lawrence. These small terriers, generally red or black-and-tan in color, were popular pets and were sometimes known as Trumpington Terriers -- the name of the street in Cambridge where so many students lived.

Just prior to World War I, a Norwich huntsman introduced the short-legged terriers to the USA, calling them the "Jones Terrier" after Frank Jones who was a breeder in England who exporting a lot of dogs to America at the time.

In 1932 the dog was pulled into the American Kennel Club as the "Norwich Terrier," and a drop-eared version of this same dog was declared a "new breed" and labeled a "Norfolk Terrier" in 1979.  The dog entered the show ring at Westminster that very same year.

2 comments:

PBurns said...

Embrace Pet Insurance advises that Norfolks and Norwichs are often saddled with mitral heart valve issues and advise making sure both parents are checked. Even then, the genetic load is still there and may pop up. See >>> https://www.embracepetinsurance.com/dog-breeds/norwich-terrier

That said (please note the caveat): "Norwich Terriers are relatively healthy *for a purebred dog*."

Jennifer said...

I take it you don't like this source, but the Finnish Kennel Club data show the Norwich terrier to be the healthier...life expectancy a bit over two years longer, less heart disease, fewer tumors...also fewer accidental deaths. N>200 for both breeds.
https://jalostus.kennelliitto.fi/frmTerveystilastot.aspx?R=272&Lang=en
https://jalostus.kennelliitto.fi/frmTerveystilastot.aspx?R=72&Lang=en
Heart problems mostly for in old dogs with both breeds.