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QUOTE, "Shalista, post:
...why do (Rat Terriers) seem so rare, then?
I've literally never even met someone who's heard of them, much less met one.
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It just comes down to popularity. - dog breeds, like so many things, have waves of popularity & then fade to near-obscurity. Sometimes they fade to oblivion, which is a real shame - the loss of a breed is very sad, as once gone, it is gone forever.
Re-creating the “Olde English Bulldogge” is a romantic notion, but the new breed will never be what was lost, before.
Terriers & other small breeds were the popular family dogs before Ww2, but after 1945 / 50, with more prosperity, larger breeds took over, & by the 1970s, the family dog was far more likely to be a Lab, Golden, or even a Saint, than a JRT, Rattie, or Beagle.
Big memes create huge demand for specific breeds, & that causes enormous problems - Dalmatians have had 3 separate boom & bust fads, all linked to Disney films, & they are really not an easy family breed. They need loads of aerobic exercise, & they are GUARD DOGS who are quite turfy.
Without lots of socialization, proofing, & training, they *will* bite someone, it’s just a matter of when & whom.
St Bernards similarly suffered from 4 massive popularity waves, the 1st in the 1960s, then later with each of the 3 “Beethoven” films. It destroyed their temps, & dog aggro, or even human aggro, is now fairly common in Saints. // A 130 to 150# dog who would like to just take U out, is a very scary & risky dog.
Saints are also getting more brachy every year; most of them now have facial folds below the eyes. - falling haws / droopy lower eyelids, cherry eye, entropion, ectriopion, stenotic nares, wrinkle dermatitis, sinus infections & URIs, they all come along with the accordioned foreface.
They also have structural problems - trick knees in a giant breed cannot be ignored, as they are in Chis; the dog will be crippled w/ o surgery, which is expensive & not risk-free.
They have also been bred for greater size overall, especially for more massive heads & chests, which cause elbow, shoulder, & even wrist problems.
All of those are down to fads - when any dog with 3 legs, cloth ears, & gonads was bred, so long as s/he was of the Breed of the Month. Temperament, skin health, functional structure, organ health, all became immaterial in the desire to cash in, before the wave went by.
- terry
.
...why do (Rat Terriers) seem so rare, then?
I've literally never even met someone who's heard of them, much less met one.
______________________________
.
It just comes down to popularity. - dog breeds, like so many things, have waves of popularity & then fade to near-obscurity. Sometimes they fade to oblivion, which is a real shame - the loss of a breed is very sad, as once gone, it is gone forever.
Re-creating the “Olde English Bulldogge” is a romantic notion, but the new breed will never be what was lost, before.
Terriers & other small breeds were the popular family dogs before Ww2, but after 1945 / 50, with more prosperity, larger breeds took over, & by the 1970s, the family dog was far more likely to be a Lab, Golden, or even a Saint, than a JRT, Rattie, or Beagle.
Big memes create huge demand for specific breeds, & that causes enormous problems - Dalmatians have had 3 separate boom & bust fads, all linked to Disney films, & they are really not an easy family breed. They need loads of aerobic exercise, & they are GUARD DOGS who are quite turfy.
Without lots of socialization, proofing, & training, they *will* bite someone, it’s just a matter of when & whom.
St Bernards similarly suffered from 4 massive popularity waves, the 1st in the 1960s, then later with each of the 3 “Beethoven” films. It destroyed their temps, & dog aggro, or even human aggro, is now fairly common in Saints. // A 130 to 150# dog who would like to just take U out, is a very scary & risky dog.
Saints are also getting more brachy every year; most of them now have facial folds below the eyes. - falling haws / droopy lower eyelids, cherry eye, entropion, ectriopion, stenotic nares, wrinkle dermatitis, sinus infections & URIs, they all come along with the accordioned foreface.
They also have structural problems - trick knees in a giant breed cannot be ignored, as they are in Chis; the dog will be crippled w/ o surgery, which is expensive & not risk-free.
They have also been bred for greater size overall, especially for more massive heads & chests, which cause elbow, shoulder, & even wrist problems.
All of those are down to fads - when any dog with 3 legs, cloth ears, & gonads was bred, so long as s/he was of the Breed of the Month. Temperament, skin health, functional structure, organ health, all became immaterial in the desire to cash in, before the wave went by.
- terry
.
