Our post title could be construed as “fighting words” were they said out loud in a Irish pub among dog people. We’ll leave it to the terrier people to duke out which is the gamest terrier in the Emerald Isle, but the fact remains that the Glen of Imaal Terrier had for many years (if not still) a formidable reputation as the gamest terrier in that land. To underscore the point, its breed standard is the only one we know of in which the dog is called upon to be, “active, agile, silent and dead game.”

“Dead Game” is a terrier term that describes a dog that doesn’t back down from an encounter when the odds are stacked against it. It references the tenacity of the breed or its character.

Glen of Imaal Terrier Photo is of “Stanley,” aka GCH Finnabair Pride of Wicklow, owned by Jerry Kindall and Amy Tighe