Natural History

I am not a terrier expert, so I have no idea whether this theory is even possible.

The following comes from Rawdon Lee’s The Terriers. A History And Description Of The Modern Dogs Of Great Britain And Ireland (from the 1894 edition):

It is most unpatriotic for writers on canine matters to fly back for the origin of our best dogs to foreign countries. Even this has been done with the Bedlington, as was the case with the Dandie Dinmont terrier. The latter was said to have got its crooked fore legs and peculiar shoulders from a cross with the German dachshund, the writer to that effect forgetting that what would produce it on the one would do so on the other, viz., a long heavy body, too much for the little legs to support without giving way under its weight. Of the Bedlington, it was said that the strain had been brought, about the year 1820, from Holland by a weaver who settled near Longhorsley; but all the Holland there has been about him was that Mr. Taprell Holland was one of his great supporters twenty-four years ago, and a leading exhibitor of the variety in its earlier days.

What kind of “Holland” dog could be in the Bedlington’s ancestry?

Well, there is a Schnauzer-type dog from the Netherlands, called a Smoushond. It vaguely resembles a long-legged, rough haired terrier.

Its was not standardized until the early twentieth century, but it is likely that small ratting dogs of this type were common in the Netherlands. It is possible that some of these dogs made their way to Northumberland. Perhaps they accompanied British sailors and soldiers leaving the Low Countries after Waterloo, or they could have  been introduced by a Dutch weaver who settled in Northumberland in search of work.

Smoushonden

The modern Smoushond breed was reconstructed using a lot of border terrier blood, and it is very likely that the border terriers have certain relationship with the Dandie Dinmonts and the Bedlingtons. They were developed in areas that were not far from each other, so some of the similarities I am seeing with the Smoushond and the Bedlington come from this influx of border terrier blood.

Of course, I may be reading too much into all of this, and it may be that Rawdon Lee was simply wrong about the Dutch dogs. He took the last name Holland to mean Dutch.

I do know that Dandie Dinmonts and Bedlingtons have a close ancestry. Bedlingtons and Dandies were whelped in the same litters. However, Bedlingtons are know for their sight hound physiques and their “linty” coats. They also come in an unusual liver color. Both the coat texture and liver coloration appear to be indicative of some poodle or poodle-type water dog ancestry.

But in the end, who actually knows what is really behind the Bedlington terrier?

I am willing to consider lots of different potential ancestors of this breed, but the possible Dutch connection makes me think of the Smoushond.

Maybe I am wrong.

This is nothing more than idle speculation.

But it is a possibility that I am considering.