BS: border terriers

Subject: why not a thread for border terriers?
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 12:26 PM

My introduction to border terriers came from James Herriott the author veterinarian.

He wrote a piece called "Abandoned," in which he described driving a country road with his dog in the car with him, and passing a little border terrier who was running like mad to catch up with whoever had dumped him and driven off.

From beginning to end (the abandoned terrier is adopted and the couple who have adopted the dog bring it to "Herriott" for checkups and vaccinations) the little dog is charm on four legs.

I have never traveled to the UK but am told that BTs are very popular and often seen there. I get all excited when I spy a BT over here, but Cairns and Yorkies are far more common in the US, terrier-wise.

Have at it, everybody.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 12:35 PM

Almost everybody. I dislike all dogs with all my heart and soul, though I can weaken if the dog is friendly, quiet, under the full control of its owner (rare in this country) and doesn't jump up. It would also be a good thing if no dog was allowed out of its house unless it had undergone an enema first.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 12:55 PM

Aw that's so sad keberoxu. Who on earth could abandon a dog like that, and the poor thing running desperately after the disappearing vehicle? Sad chapter of the book.
Our employer at the holiday barn which we cleaned until recently had a BT. It was quite elderly, but very friendly. They had it to catch rats around the farm, as they sensibly didn't like to use poison (very 'green' couple) It was an excellent ratter, and enjoyed a real outdoor life on the farm.
Steve, are you friendly and quiet, and in full control of your owner by any chance? :) (And more to the point, I hope you have an enema before being taken outside!!)

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 01:51 PM

Are you offering? 😜

If I rushed around outdoors and made loud noises, jumped up at people, cocked my leg up at every lamp-post and crapped at random in the street I'd spend the rest of my life incarcerated. Yet curs get away with it. And I pay taxes and dogs don't. I mean, how fair is that!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 02:22 PM

We get quite a few dog walkers going past our unfenced bungalow garden each morning, and many of them let their pooches wee and poo in our front border. But I don't want to turn into a savage, bad-tempered old witch, so I try not to mind. And I do love animals of all kinds.

Terriers aren't easy to train as pets. They're quite stubborn and can be disobedient. One of my elderly friends had her best boots punctured in several places by her neighbour's terrier when she visited them. They let in water now.

Steve, I think we'd better put you on a lead... and maybe attach a muzzle? :)

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 02:55 PM

When I started a thread about a dog breed,
I was not expecting to hear from a cat.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:04 PM

come on Steve... how can you say you dislike all dogs..

how many have you actually cooked and tasted....????

how about a pie.. with a little melted cheddar..😜

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:10 PM

With friends like that who needs needs enemas.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:24 PM

Dunno, pfr. Went to some dodgy late-night restaurants when I was at college after eight pints and wasnt fussy about what I ate...🤢

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:42 PM

Our Border Terrier is a brilliant little dog. Wouldn't be without him, my buddy while my wife's out earning a crust.

People who don't like dogs arent wired properly. Never met a dog I didn't like but, on the other hand, I've met a great many humans I disliked intensely.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:54 PM

just to get back on topic:

"It was less than a week later that I opened the waiting-room door and saw an elderly couple sitting there with (the rescue dog) on the end of a very new lead. He adopted his usual gambit of rolling on to his back as soon as he saw me, but this time there was no helpless appeal in his expression but sheer joyous abandon with the comical little face split across by a wide panting grin."

(part of the happy-ending conclusion of "Abandoned")

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 03:57 PM

I live in Airedale - Home to the Airedale terrorist (or is it terrier?) but I have only ever seen one! Lovely thing that one but I dunno if they are all as well behaved.

BWM - I don't mind them but prefer cats. What does that make me? :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Thompson
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 04:09 PM

It makes you neither a hypocrite nor a miser, if you believe Christopher Smart.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: bobad
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 04:17 PM

I never trust a person if they don't like dogs, but I always trust a dog if they don't like a person.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: ranger1
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 06:03 PM

Keb, I've met a few border terriers, and they're great dogs. Very high energy, very intelligent, and very stubborn. But then again, I've just described pretty much every terrier out there. They're dogs that need a job, preferably one with some mental stimulation.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Teribus
Date: 29 Mar 17 - 11:09 PM

"Went to some dodgy late-night restaurants when I was at college after eight pints and wasnt fussy about what I ate...🤢" - Steve Shaw

So judging by some of your recent posts, nothing much has changed there then 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 05:00 AM

Nowt wrong with fish and chips and a mug of builder's tea to wash it down, Teribus. If you avoid such delights because you think they're dodgy, that explains why you're so miserable all the time.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Teribus
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 05:05 AM

Thinking more of your taste in wine dear boy.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 06:07 AM

Really? I haven't really divulged much about that except for mentioning the lovely Nero d'Avola from Morrisons, have I?

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 11:44 AM

Long ago we had a cairn terrier whom we named McDuff. McDuff was a wonderful little pet. We had taken him over from some relatives who were real yahoos, and he was SO happy to be with a gentle family that understood dogs.

Between having seven people in the family and having a big yard, he got the stimulation he needed as a terrier.

However, I recently came across a YouTube video called something like "Ten Breeds that have been Ruined since 1900." They listed white terriers as one. Too cute for their own good, probably. So if I were getting a border-type terrier, I would get a dark one.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 12:36 PM

Well behaved dogs are tolerable.

However there seems to be, in the UK, a prevalence of thought that if you don't like dogs there is something wrong with you.

I choose not to have a dog because basically they are unhygenic animals and more often than not stink.

One of the pubs I frequent in the UK is like Crufts on occasion, with more dogs in the room than people.

One thing I have noticed here in Ireland is that very few people take their dog to a bar, long may that continue.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 12:50 PM

I think dog owners should be aware that some people are terrified of dogs (my sister's best friend was badly savaged by a huge German Shepherd dog when young, and literally trembles when she sees any dog coming towards her) Also, many people have allergies and being near a dog (or having one jump up) can set them off sneezing and choking.
Others don't like the slavering that leaves them covered in dog saliva. Or the odour (as Raggytash says).

I personally can cope with all this, and there's no animal I don't like (except spiders!) but not everyone feels the same.

Another point to make is that, as said by Ranger1, such dogs need stimulation and work to do, company and exercise. A couple up our street have just got a young border collie. They're out at work all day, then just take it out for a brief walk in the evening. The poor thing is stuck in a small bungalow, lonely and bored, and now they tell me he's 'getting nervous'. I suspect he's actually slowly going insane. When you see sheepdogs on TV doing such wonderful work, it's tragic that this collie is suffering solitary confinement. If only I wasn't so old and a bit frail, I'd offer to take him out, at least for an amble in the local woods. Why are so-called dog lovers so ignorant?

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 02:07 PM

A lot of us aren't 'so ignorant', Eliza. We choose our dogs carefully (we didn't get our dog until I retired so that one of us is always here at home for him), we chose a breed with characteristics which suit our life-style, and of a size which suits our home (the aforementioned Border Terrier), he gets a minimum of two-and-a-half hours of walking a day, off-lead when in safe spaces, we spent a lot of time and effort in training him to behave properly on the lead, we are fastidious about cleaning up after him (even to the point of carrying a pack of wet-wipes to wipe up any unfortunate 'smears' left when we pick up his turds).

The thing I don't understand about **some** dog-owners is why they go to the trouble of picking up their dog's shit, and then hanging the bag in the trees and bushes, or throwing it down on the ground and leaving it.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 02:15 PM

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tar all dog owners with the same brush Backwoodsman. And you sound like perfect owners. It's just one sees such sad cases on Paul O'Grady's programme ('For The Love Of Dogs', about Battersea dogs' home in London)

Some people see dogs (especially puppies) as some sort of animated toy, then get bored with them and neglect them, or even abandon them when the novelty wears off. Makes my heart ache.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 03:09 PM

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog it's too dark to read.

From 'the wisdom of the Gnomes'

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 03:40 PM

Couldn't agree more, Eliza!
And I love books too, DtG!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 05:35 PM

Oh, Backwoodsman, it's easy. If someone observes your dog having a shit, you have to pick it up. Once the observer has gone, the warm turd-bag goes into the nearest bush. If no-one sees your dog having a shit, you can just leave it. Bude's footpaths are plastered in dogshit, yet we're told that "it's a small minority of dog-owners who let the rest down." Well,if it's only a "small minority," there must be ten times as many dogs as people in Bude. It isn't a small minority at all. It's the majority.

And I honestly don't understand the mentality of people who cheerfully take their dog for walkies and doesn't mind (a) putting their hand inside a thin plastic bag to pick up a fresh, warm turd, and (b), to proudly lug that scrotum-like turd bag around until they find a bin. Frankly, I think I'd rather paint my privates in honey and let loose the dancing ants.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 05:40 PM

Perhaps pet shops should sell doggie home colonic irrigation kits...??? 🐶 💩

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 06:14 PM

..btw... Steve...

Are you absolutely certain it's dog shit...???

What with all these well off incontinent pensioners retiring to the seaside,
and the tory council cut backs shutting down all the public toilets... 😜

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Mar 17 - 07:14 PM

Nah. Pensioner turds are pencil thin, as they have to squeeze past those internal piles. The Bude ones are thicker than a Porkinson's banger. Definitely dog. Arguably, they taste better...

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 02:40 AM

We've had this conversation before, Steve, but I pick up my dog's shit every time, no matter whether someone is watching or not. I'm just as outraged a you by dogshit left lying around for other people to step in, and I have firm principles in this regard. So, stop being an insulting cunt by trying to oh-so-sneakily infer that I only pick up when other people about. You don't know me, so keep your clever-cunt insinuations to yourself.

And as regards putting your hand in a bag and picking up a fresh warm turd, it's time you grew up, grew a pair of balls, and stopped being such a squeamish big girl's blouse.

Now fuck off.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 04:24 AM

Steve, please oh please get out the honey and the paintbrush! I just love the idea of the dancing ants performing a foxtrot on your...er...privates!!! :)

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 05:42 AM

Good for you, John! You know flippin' well I didn't mean you personally. Now try going back to bed and getting out the other side.

Would that be before or after the promised enema, Senoufou? 😜

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 06:44 AM

Steve, I'll have you know I've performed many enemas (I worked as a temporary auxiliary nurse in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary during my student vacations) and have been told I was 'very slick', so have no fear!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 08:52 AM

I feel that you're somehow closing in on me! 😱

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 09:54 AM

Senoufou, why don't you give it a try - keeping the dog with you during the day. You might find it's good for both of you. If not, then not.

One thing is for sure - a border collie locked up 8-10 hours a day alone is going to turn into a problem dog for its owners and all the neighbors.

My own neighbor (age 75) had a mild stroke and became depressed. His wife went out and bought him a fox terrier. That dog turned his life around.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: JHW
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 01:16 PM

Next door has a Parson Russel called Tilly. Her friend with a Border Terrier (Jack) will let Jack go on the village green when Jack will run flat out down the green, up the path snicket and along our estate to next door and yes bark for Tilly to come out on the walk. I can put up with the barking to admire the enthusiasm.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 02:40 PM

A Parson Russel? I hop that that identification wasn't made solely on the grounds that it was wearing a dog-collar!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 02:41 PM

Grrr. If I tried hopping these days I'd end up in A&E!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 03:48 PM

Here in Norfolk we have Norfolk terriers and Norwich terriers. Both are hypoallergenic, so good for people with allergies etc. I think farmers in this region needed excellent ratters, as in the past, rats colonised grain stores (we're principally a cereal-farming area) and both these breeds are excellent for controlling vermin.

JHW that's so sweet! Some people way up the top of our road had a little cat called Scooby Doo, and every morning when they let it out, it always zoomed down to ours to hobnob with our three Siamese. They all seemed pleased to see eachother. Sadly, Scooby Doo died of some unspecified illness. Animals of all types seem to like having 'friends'.
keberoxu, I'd quite like to own a dog, but my husband isn't too keen. He loves our cats though.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 06:58 PM

We've been married for forty years and, until 2013, we always had cats. It must have been us, but none of our cats were ever aloof and they all loved us to pieces. Our last one, a lovely fellow, died suddenly and very prematurely in September 2013. We decided to go petless from then on as we wanted to do the holidays we could never really afford before and we never had the heart to put our cats in catteries. We live in the middle of nowhere in a half-acre garden away from roads, surrounded by fields, and all our cats were in their element. They were all good mousers and, I don't know why, they hardly ever bothered the birds that we attracted with our bird-feeding station. I can't imagine that we'll never have cats again. It will take just one fluffy kitten to catch Mrs Steve at just the right moment!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 31 Mar 17 - 08:03 PM

I'm a small market town west country boy, i grew up on an estate with close extended family, and between us all sorts of pets..

dogs, cats, ferrets, hamsters, mice, budgies, myna birds, chickens, fish, toads, newts, lambs, piglets, horses...

uncle kept horses in his shed, and lambs in his kitchen.. until the council found out..

When I was about 6 or 7 he took me out for a drive to a pig farm,
on the way home I had to sit in the back of the van on a couple of sacks full of piglets to keep them still and quiet...

I presume he paid for them...???.. never saw them again....


Me and the mrs decided to stay childless and petless...

I pine more for never having a dog again than missing out on fatherhood...

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Apr 17 - 11:17 AM

I'm impressed by your list, punkfolkrocker.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Apr 17 - 05:18 PM

I hope that quoting James Herriot in the OP would set a tone. Lesson learned.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 01:35 PM

Norfolk and Norwich terriers are relatively small dogs. Short legs. Border Terriers are recognizable in several ways. The dog's body is relatively small, but the legs are long -- the standard says something about "racy hindquarters"! which goes with those long legs. Borders can be VERY speedy.

And then there is the prized Otter Head.
Be it noted, this is not to be confused with Otterhounds, which are a separate breed. I had not heard of Otterhounds most of my life, I think they are scarce. Rather large shaggy ungainly looking, at least the one walking around at Westminster was.

Border Terriers, however, are sometimes bred to have a head that resembles that of a UK river otter, with the eyes a fair distance apart, and a broad flat squarish forehead. It's a distinctive looking head once you've seen one.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 09:03 PM

Jaysus, I'd hate to be a male dog with short back legs. Jogger's nipple sounds bad enough, but...

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Apr 17 - 10:23 PM

Hi, keberoxu.   Now I get it. Border terrier is a particular breed, not just a group of hunting terriers.

About tone - all we can do is ignore the folks who barge in, being vulgar and crabby. Think of them as somebody in the corner of the room who doesn't know how to act, and the rest of us pretend he isn't there.

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Apr 17 - 04:19 AM

Some pearl-clutching going on on here. Vulgar and crabby? :)
I'm sure we all realise there are various breeds of terriers, including the Border Terrier. It's just nice to share views and stories about other dogs. And a bit of a laugh never comes amiss. This isn't the Sunday School!

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 03 Apr 17 - 05:49 AM

The mudcat Sunday school maybe aint as holier than thou as it as it used to be...

Nature has taken it's course...
and so many of the past elderly mudcatter church busybodies
will now be up there interfering in any committees vetting new entrants into heaven... 😇

Hmmm... heaven or hell... wonder which place has the best folk clubs... and if they let dogs in.... ??? 😜

Subject: RE: BS: border terriers
From: Senoufou
Date: 03 Apr 17 - 05:55 AM

Dogs are lovely, and should be let in anywhere! But I have an idea which has the best folk clubs... :)

The Mudcat Sunday School! Hee hee!