Star of my own show?

Greetings from the Cairngorms National Park!

Gail and I are enjoying our annual long weekend with our friends in the slightly shabby (in a good-for-dogs sort of a way) Edwardian grandeur of Inshriach House, near Aviemore.

As you know, I am accustomed to taking centre stage on these occasions.

However, this time it seems I have some rivals in the posing department.

Notably Hemp the border collie (house mate for the weekend).

Then there's  Tufty the nut-hungry red squirrel, outside the kitchen window.

And not to forget Angus the Scottie, met on the path around Loch an Eilein.

So rivals, yes. But in think we can all agree who's the all time posing champion...

New doggy in the park

We're not sure when he appeared as we only noticed him when walking round Duthie Park in the opposite direction to the usual route.

He s a bonny wee chappie, don't you think?

Which of course makes two of us.

We are all designer dogs

For once, Gail brought home from the library a promising looking book last week.

'The Invention of the Modern Dog' is all about how the concept of distinct dog breeds was developed in the UK, from around 1850 to 1900.

Of course I was mostly interested in my own breed and so turned straight away to the index and looked up all the entries for Fox Terriers.

I am pleased to report that we were recognised as a distinct category of terrier in the very earliest of dog shows, along with Skye Terriers, Bedlington Terriers and Dandie Dinmonts (but not Scotties and Westies).

Reading further, we learned that the Irish Wolfhound was once virtually extinct and had to be 're-invented' by incorporating a mix of Deerhound, Mastiff, Borzoi and Great Dane. And that the St Bernard as we know it today bears scant resemblance to the original types bred by monks in Switzerland around 1700. In fact almost all the dog breeds now thought of as 'traditional' are a result, to a greater or lesser extent, of judicious cross-breeding. There is nothing new about a cockerpoo!

I was fascinated that Francis Galton (better known as the father of 'eugenics' and cousin of Charles Darwin) proposed a programme of breeding dogs for intellect rather than appearance, while suggesting that the reason no-one had so far pursued this idea was that "...intelligence makes them [dogs] of little value as slaves..." and that intelligent dogs "... are too critical of their master's conduct..."

Gail, who actually did read the whole book, says that it was "interesting in parts", but by the end she felt she'd learned rather more than she needed to know about the infighting between the human factions involved in developing breed standards and organising shows in the Victorian era.

Well if she'd only listened to her own very intelligent Fox Terrier and followed his focussed approach to selecting the best bits! 

Urban wildlife

So the other night, on my pre-bedtime 'comfort walk' around our Aberdeen neighbourhood, Gail and I spotted a fox, strolling down the street in front of us, bold as you like.

It was the second time we'd seen him in as many weeks.

As you know, we live in inner city area, albeit one with parks and green spaces nearby.

Can you believe that Gail criticised my reaction to this sighting, implying that what she described as my "ear splitting high pitched barking and frenzied straining at the leash" was somehow not acceptable behaviour.

Pray, what part of FOX terrier does she not understand?

photo from internet

Once again we are delighted to take part in the LLB Gang's Nature Friday blog hop.