Saturday, January 25, 2014

IRISH TERRIER

You will have to bear with me.  I have chosen yet another dog with a 'square' shaped head. I have never been able to resist them.  Friends of my folks had one when I was very young and his memory has stayed with me over the years.  I forget now what type Dinky was but he was a delightful dog with quite strong curly hair and a lovely face.

The Irish Terrier is from Ireland and is considered one of the oldest terrier breeds as the Dublin Dog Show in 1873 was the first to provide a separate class for Irish Terriers.  By the 1880s, they were the
fourth most popular breed in both Ireland and Britain.


The Irish Terrier is coloured golden red, red wheaten, or wheaten.  A small patch of white is allowed on the chest but no white must appear elsewhere.  As these dogs age they do sometimes have grey hair here and there.

These dogs are very active and enjoy consistent mental and physical challenges; if they aare well-trained they may do well at a variety of dog sports, such as dog agility.


Irish terriers are full of life, but not hyperactive; it should be able to relax inside the house but be roused to full activity level quickly.  They are good with people and have a highly developed sense of loyalty and it is important they they have a strong responsible leader, for whom they have natural respect.  Most of them love children and tolerate rough-housing to a certain extent.  They certainly do need exercise and should be daily so an owner needs to be active. Isn't this one beautiful animal?


These dogs are often dominant with other dogs and, as with any dog, poorly socialised individuals can start fights and early socialisation is a necessity.  Most have strong guarding instricts and when they instricts are controlled, make excellent alarming watchdogs.

The breed's origin is not known.  It is believed to have descended from the black and tan terrier-type dogs of Britain and Ireland, just like the Kerry Blue and Irish Soft-haired Wheaten Terriers in Ireland of the Welsh, zlakeland and Scottish Terriers in Great Britain.  This is a 1915 Irish Terrier:


6 comments:

  1. They are so perky looking.. Definitely too much energy for me to handle though lol.

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    1. I love the look of them but I feel you'd have to be very young to be a good owner of one of these dogs.

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  2. Hari OM
    I can understand the favouring of the square head; I have a similar thing for long-nosed big-eared almond-eyed types...

    as for dogs...

    Hehehe, sorry that was naughty. It is true though, that we tend to be imprinted with what we bonded best with in childhood. This certainly looks like a lively, maybe feisty, breed! YAM xx

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    1. hahaha!! I enjoyed that comment and the one about dogs too.
      I didn't have a lot to do with dogs when I was young but I do think Dinky remained in my memory so maybe that is why I like these particular dogs. I'd never own one though as I prefer labradors or retrievers. You know the big softies. xx

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  3. I'm always surprised to see the larger terrier breeds. In my childhood I only ever saw the smaller ones, the Sydney Silkies, the Fox terriers, the Maltese terriers.

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    1. I don't remember many dogs from my childhood (except Dinky) and was always a tad fearful of bigger dogs although I sometimes they are perhaps more trustworthy than the tiny ones. I guess it's all to do with their owners in the long run through.

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