I have lost count of the number of times when discussing the low numbers in my own breed, that someone has said something along the lines of “what your breed needs is a celebrity”. Ah yes the 'celebrity pill', guaranteed to cure all ills. Then again, "perhaps if we could just get our breed to be adopted as the marketing logo for a major international company or even get Walt Disney to make a film about them – surely then all our problems would be solved – wouldn’t they"?

But there is one British Heritage breed which has had all these and more – you have probably already guessed that I am talking about the Old English Sheepdog. Originally used as a herding and droving dog, the breed quickly caught on big time as a show dog, not only in the UK, but particularly in the USA.

My grandparents on my mothers side were East Enders and lived in a house which was part of a long road of brown brick terrace houses, complete with outside privy and backyard. Back in the 1920s and 30s, London had a huge rat problem, but this street in Leytonstone had a secret weapon. One of the residents owned a Sealyham Terrier. Whenever a fellow resident had a rat problem they used to knock on Alf's door and ask to borrow him. So effective was the little dog that this was one of the only streets in this part of London to remain largely rat free.