We haven’t
had a dog for a while after the tragic death of my Pippin. Stil it was not
complete so we began a search
for a new dog, family friend. We searched
in the dog pounds but sadly we didn’t find a dog that could live with
cats.
So we
searched for a breed that suited us, Rinze had some demands like ‘the dog
shouldn’t be too big’, with that in the back of my mind I began an internet
search for a suitable dog for us and our cats. We found a good match for
all our wishes, the Lancashire Heeler. A black and tan like Rinze wanted
with a great character like I wanted.
-
Pippin smiling -
Lancashire
Heeler History
Although
the origin of the Lancashire Heeler is uncertain, it is believed by many to
have originated when the Welsh Corgi, used to drive cattle from Wales to
markets in Lancashire in northwestern England was bred with the local
Manchester Terrier. The resulting black and tan dog did work similar to the
Corgi, driving livestock by nipping at their heels and also had the ratter
instincts of the terrier. These qualities made it a dual purpose dog and it
quickly gained popularity. They were found to be alert, energetic and
tireless workers and became popular working dogs on Lancashire area farms.
Alternate theories suggest a smattering of other breeds throughout the
history.
One
theory suggests the Lancashire Heeler is one of the original ancestors of
the Welsh Corgi rather than the more widely held belief that the Corgi
preceded the Lancashire Heeler. References to a dog with a description
similar to that of the Lancashire Heeler date back as far as the early
sixteenth century.
Lancashire
Heeler Did You Know?
* The
Lancashire Heeler has been assigned the Herding Group designation.
* The
Lancashire Heeler has been recorded in the Foundation Stock Service since
2001.
* The
Lancashire Heeler is also known as the Ormskirk Terrier.
* The
Lancashire Heeler has a unique characteristic - The Heeler smile. When
contented, Heelers have been
known to
draw back their lips in an effort that emulates a human smile.
* The
Lancashire Heeler is a rare breed, numbering only around 5,000 worldwide.
* In 2003,
the breed was placed on the endangered breed list of The Kennel Club, U.K.,
due to the small
number of
dogs composing the gene pool and the risk of several inherited diseases. An
international effort is
now
underway to lessen the breeding of high risk dogs and to minimize and
control the known health issues
that face
the breed.
* The
Lancashire Heeler is truly a versatile breed. The Heeler works to this day
as a herder and ratter, a gun
dog, a
retriever, and a handicap assistance dog.
Raika's 1st year...
Raika is
with us since 21st of July and is doing great. She sleeps through the night
and already walks on a leash. She is slowly learning to listen to her name
and some commands and playing the fetch game with us.
Since she was well 3 months
old she has been swimming to fetch sticks or balls from the water, slowly
but surely she is swimming longer distances as she grows older.
Now over 5 months old she is
already developing a thicker coat and almost all her baby teeth have been
replaced.
She
is starting to gard the house when people come near the house she barks a
couple of times to let us know about the danger outside ;-)
She likes to play hide and
seek games and fetch games a lot, on land and in the water. She things that
she is a big girl, but doesn't really know how small she is in bodymass.
She also
has a hobby, gardening, so every day I am missing a piece of grass or one of
my plants has been cut.
April 2008
Raika is almost 1 year old now and becoming
quite a lady! We hope she will ace her exams in june and will look for a
nice sport for her to do, like Flyball.
Raika after her 1st year till now...
November 2008
Raika is now 1 year and 7 months old. She's and adorable dog, always
cheerful, happy and ready to go when something is happening!
Sometimes she can be a 'bitch' too, to some dogs, to other dogs she can be
really sweet and playful. She's a lady with preference ;-)
Nygel and Raika really are mates and love to run, play, swim fetch balls and
sticks etc together.
This year we went to the dogshow for dogs without an pedigree again, there
are games and dogsports as well that day, it was really fun! Raika won 4th place with an excellent report. We went home, tired but with a
price, dogfood and two happy and tired dogs.
May 2009
Raika has finished her Obedience
B course and Agility beginners course. We are starting Agility 2nd course.
September 2009
Raika has been to a dogshow for dogs without pedigrees, this is organized by the KCWF in Den Helder, additional to the dogshow there are demonstrations of various dogsports, afterwards you can enter the workshops, much fun!
Raika has been judged and was ordered to come back with 10 other dogs for the 'final evaluation', she got 3rd place and we went home with an excellent report, tired but very happy!
November 2009
Raika has passed her "Agility beginners" en "Agility advanced" exam. I am very proud of her, as she passed the first exam flawless. The second exam we made a few mistakes but we are working on that.
We visited the "Winner Show 2009" at the RAI Amsterdam. There was a breed introduction. The
lancashire heeler club was present as well. It was a great day and it was really nice to see other Heelers as there are not that many in the Netherlands.
CLICK HERE FOR THE GROUPPICTURE OF THE WINNER DOGSHOW 2009
Mei 2010 Raika took her"Agility star" exam. Just one minor mistake. So we thought we passed, unfortunately we weren't fast enough and didn't pass the exam. Next time I'll have to run faster! We are still very proud of her as she had run a great course! Sept - Dec 2010 We attended a dog show for dogs without a pedigree, it was held at the KCWF in Heiloo. Not only did Raika receive a great report, also a 3rd price, we are very proud! Raika has passed het Agility (star level) exam and also was the fastest, so we got e trophee for 1st place! In December we went to the Winner Dog show in Amsterdam, Raika was a mascotte for the LH stand. We bought loads of stuff for the cats and dogs, went home fully packed (my bag even broke). April - Aug 2011 Raika started a flyball course, we shall see how fast she can learn this new game/sport. It took some lessons, about 9, but she got it. Now we wait for next warm season to start lessons again to get her to go faster when she reaches the machine she waits a bit too long before putting her paw on the peddal. She is a very socialble dog and there is somebody attending the machine, she finds that very cosy and wags her tail vigorously. Her big brother Nygel did a 'dog frisbee' course, Raika is benefitting from that too, whenever we practice she comes along too and run's so fast ons those short legs after the frisbee's. Nov 2011 Raika is starting a new season in Agility, it had been almost a year ago since her last course. We ar looking forward to the lessons and hope to improve on some points, like creatinng more distance between handler and dog, she really is a heeler ... To be continued...More about Raika's family:
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