While the Welsh Terrier is said to be one of the least quarrelsome of the terriers, it would be a mistake to regard the breed as a pushover. “Welshies” have the fire and courage needed to tackle a prickly creature like the badger, a critter described by many as one of the eight meanest animals on earth. Welsh Terriers are also said to take themselves seriously, and thus are endearingly unapologetic. Caught in the vicinity of an obvious misdemeanor, (say, an upended trash can), and a Welsh will react by pointing a paw at the culprit who really did it.
Some have claimed that the Welsh Terrier is the oldest existing dog breed in the UK having originated in Wales in the 1400s, and a note from a poet written in 1450 thanking the recipient for his new dog is tough to refute, but all can agree that the Welshie is certainly one of the oldest pure bred terriers. There’s ample evidence that the breed has changed very little from the all-round working dog developed several hundreds of years ago in the high mountains and low valleys of Wales.
We’ve been digging into breed standards of late, and have found that many breed standards were written only after a breed club was formed, even if the dog was hundreds of years old. Such was not the case for the Welsh Terrier. The Kennel Club in England recognized the breed in 1887, and the breed standard was written the same year. Not just that, but by the time the AKC officially recognized the breed in 1888, and the Welsh Terrier Club of America was formed in 1900, both had a standard from which to work.
Show us your Welshies!
*Daeargi Cymreig: Welsh for the Welsh Terrier