The Mighty Mite

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260 – March, 2022

By Lee Connor

Here in the UK, as I write this, we are (COVID allowing) gearing up for Crufts and, with perfect timing, Norway has recently announced that it is banning two British breeds–the Bulldog and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The news was broadcast, quite gleefully, in the Daily Mail and the comment section was awash with the most startling ignorance and fallacies.

One of the most commonly used lines being, “look at examples of the Pug/Bulldog/Dachshund a hundred years ago, they were so much better then–modern day breeders have completely ruined them.”

Now, whilst there are indeed breeds that I feel have been worsened by fads in the show ring (and I am quite happy to call them and their breeders out), on the whole this statement is quite demonstrably false, and I have proved it over and over again – but, of course, it doesn’t stop the ignorant from constantly trotting it out.

On the contrary, in a vast number of pedigree breeds, breeders have greatly improved upon the dogs of the past.

Take for example the breed I am going to feature this month, the Toy Manchester, or English Toy Terrier as he is known in his homeland.

Click here to read the complete article
260 – March, 2022

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