British Heritage Dog Breeds

I am writing to this group as an Otterhound owner and breeder in the US. Worldwide we are struggling with our numbers
consistently dropping. I was recently at a meeting of the National Animal Interest Alliance in Pennsylvania and asked for ideas to see our breed surviving for the future. One of those ideas was to consider the breed as a Heritage Dog Breed bringing attention to it in that way. We certainly fit that title with our history in the UK. I was hoping this website could help me gain some new ideas and I enjoyed the articles in the Dog World posted online. I was somewhat discouraged that many of the posts on this website are dated from several years ago. The Otterhound is such a precious breed and I am so worried about it.

I live with 4 Otterhounds-1 dog and 3 bitches and try to bring it to the public attention whenever I can. I am an active participant in the Otterhound Club of America.

Hi Becky. I have always been a dog lover and I am very newly interested in purebreed dogs. After watching the Westminster competition, I started to seriously think about getting a dog for the family. As I started reading about different breeds, I was so devastated to read that some of them are near extinction. I never knew that could be possible. So, I went all over the net and learned about all these different breeds that are in trouble. I am taking a special interest in this forum because I am of Irish and English ancestry myself and because we have so many vulnerable breeds. The otterhound is one breed that really broke my heart because there are so few! I keep asking myself what I can do short of buying a huge space, breeding the rarest dogs and finding good homes for them. I ask myself what one person can do? Dogs are truly man's best friend. They've given us so much. Right now I'm thinking that the best thing I can do is adopt a dog from a rare breed. Margaret

Hi Margaret,
You can see there are several endangered breeds so finding one to give a home to is a good start. Another good thing to do is once you have that dog, get him/her out to meet people at every venue you can think of so others become familiar with them. Most of the breed clubs in the US have a website where you can find others interested in the particular breed and who are breeders or if there are rescues. We have so few of our breed in the US and have had only 2 rescues in 7 years. Breeders are very good to take back their dogs if there is a problem and rehome the dog themselves.

Good luck finding your dog!

Becky

Thank you Becky. That's a wonderful idea to get out there and show people what a wonderful dog you have and how precious the breed is. I'm definitely going to check out some websites. I'm happy to see that even though these dogs have certain medical problems, they are finding the genes responsible and there are genetic tests. Margaret