Only two terrier breeds originated in Wales, and it’s no surprise that one of them is the Welsh Terrier. What may be more unexpected is that the Sealyham Terrier is the other one. It was a Welshman, Capt. John Owen Tucker Edwardes, who devoted himself to creating his idea of the perfect terrier, the Sealy, and he got it from a mix of the Welsh Corgi, Dandie Dinmont, West Highland White, Bull Terrier and the Wire Fox Terrier, among others.

While both breeds could make a case for being the Welsh Terrier, the Welshie might trump the Sealy in terms of longevity. Some believe the Welsh terrier may have originated from pre-Roman invasion times when the Celts retreated to Wales and the Lake District. Others point out that by the time the creator of the Sealyham Terrier, Capt. John Owen Tucker-Edwardes, was born in 1808, an ancestor of the Welsh Terrier was already mentioned in 1450 by a Welsh poet thanking someone who’d given him a dog thought to be a forefather (or mother) of the Welsh Terrier.

It was through an Irish kid, however, that some people became first acquainted with the Welsh Terrier. President John F. Kennedy’s favorite dog was “Charlie,” a Welsh Terrier given to him by his wife, Jackie, during his campaign for president. She often referred to the terrier as “Jack’s dog,” and “Jack’s dog” was known to routinely swim laps in the pool with the President.

The image at the top was shot by Washington correspondent Fred Blumenthal in 1962.