Working Sealyham

[logman 0]

I reckon this is a pointless request, but does anyone know of such a beast?

Distance not a problem if theres a pure bred worker about.

My fatherinlaw worked a pure bitch prior to the badger act. Cracking dog by all accounts

Is there still any of this blood left undiluted?

[DUCKWING 302]

WELL MATE ,

 

THE ANSWER TO THAT ONES YES , THERE IS SOME SEALYHAM TYPE BLOOD ABOUT ...........

 

HOWEVER ITS KEPT MAINLY IN HOUSE , SO TO SPEAK , I WOULDNT RATE YOUR CHANCES .....

 

GOOD LUCK , ALL THE BEST

 

DUCKWING

[PBurns 9]

If, by "Sealyham," you mean a ** Kennel Club registered ** terrier, you are unlikely to find a working dog. If you are willing to accept any short-legged thick-bodied white terrier that looks the part as a "Sealyham terrier" you will find some cross mix of a Russell that will look the part and which may make you quite happy. Will this thick-bodied and short-legged dog work underground? That question will not be determined by genetics alone; at least as big a factor is how much experience you give the dog. Owners disappoint dogs more than dogs disappoint owners.

 

The greatest booster of working Sealyham's was Jocelyn Lucas in the 1920s and 30s. After the War, however, Lucas did not find much demand for his dogs and in the end he himself seemed to give up and began crossing them with Norfolk terriers to make smaller dogs -- the so-called "Lucas terrier," which never seems to have found much work underground.

 

Later Frantisek Horak also found Sealyham's getting too big and began crossing them (with Scotties!) to make the Cesky terrier -- a dog that also found very little work underground (see http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2005/...ky-terrier.html )

 

What is interesting here is that: 1) Non-KC working dogs did not disappear and they are still out there in numbers; 2) too large a size always becomes *the* problem with working terriers pulled into the KC, and; 3) As soon as you focus on KC registrating when acquiring a dog, you find fewer and fewer workers available until at last they disappear altogether.

 

Which brings us back to the first line of this point: What is a Sealyham? If you think it is a Kennel Club breed, then you are putting registration first. If you think it is a dog with a particular "look" to it, you are putting looks first. If you are serious about digging, my advice is to ignore name, color, and registration and focus on size and working background. Life is too short to have an ugly dog, but with size and work as your guides, you can still find some very pretty dogs in all colors.

 

 

Patrick