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.

When dog people think of British Toy Dog Breeds they will probably think of the Yorkie, Cavalier and maybe even the King Charles Spaniel. Far fewer will think of the English Toy Terrier or the Pomeranian.

The Pomeranian? But surely this is one of those fancy foreign breeds isn’t it? It even has a foreign sounding name - Pomerania being a region of Eastern Germany and northern Poland.

Nope - the Pomeranian is classified by the Kennel Club as British through and through and jolly pleased we are to have them too! They come in a range of colours, enough to satisfy the even the most discerning of owners - white, tan, black, brown, orange, sable, wolf or white with colored markings. As the requirements for a smaller-living-space, city-friendly-type of dog emerge in the 21st Century, the Pom Pom would appear to be a breed which ticks all the right boxes. Indeed in the USA they are ranked at number 13 in the popularity charts, making them the fifth most popular British Heritage Dog Breed in America.

I have attended so many dog shows over the last 30 years as a trade stand holder, dog exhibitor and photographer that, like an ageing rock musician, all the gigs are beginning to merge into one. So please forgive me if I can’t remember the exact year of the next story, but I do recall it to be the early 1980s.

Back when Crufts was held at Earls Court in London, Sheila and I used to trade there with our gallery stand and it was just about the only stand back then selling affordable early breed art and history.

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.