Gadharc human na Héireann As early as 6000 BC, human life existed on the island we now
know as Ireland. From the 4th century, Celts from the mainland
regularly invaded the island; after the Romans came the Normans,
who founded settlements and cities like Dublin in 841.
Crooked and straight legs In
1575, George Tuberville published The Noble Art of Venerie
or Hunting, an English version of a French book. In this book,
a distinction is made between Terriers with crooked legs and
Terriers with straight legs. The crooked-legged ones go easily
under the ground and are excellent exterminators of small vermin,
like mice, moles and rats, and even badgers and foxes. In his
A History & Description
of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain & Ireland,
Terriers (1894), Rawdon Briggs Lee wrote, “There is a glen,
Imaal, in the Wicklow Mountains that had always been, and still
is, justly celebrated for its terriers. It would be hard to
specify their colour in particular – the wheaten in all shades
to that of bright red.” In The Twentieth Century Dog Book (1904),
reference is made to long-bodied and short-legged Terriers
found in the Irish County of Wicklow. The best reference to
the breed comes from The Irish Terrier by Jowett (1904). In
it the author states, “There was also another strain of Irish
Terriers, kept in the Glen of Imaal, in the Wicklow Mountains,
which still exists but is not recognized, being mostly blue
and tan, with an occasional wheaten and black and tan, short
of leg, long in body and not straight in front, but dead game,
being bred and kept for nothing other than destroying vermin.” Tough and multi-functional The County of Wicklow, situated on the east coast of Ireland, and the glen of the Imaal in particular, is the home of the Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier. A glen is nothing more than a valley and the Imaal is a small river. When this Terrier came into being and developed into a separate breed, the valleys of the desolate and waste Wicklow Mountains were hardly accessible - ideal for independent development of a breed with little influence from outside, and one of the reasons the Glen of Imaal Terrier stayed a local breed for a long time. The development
of this Terrier took place thanks to farmers and miners, rather
than hunters or breeders. In the 17th century, King William
III donated small pieces of land in County Wicklow to solders
who had serviced in his army. Descendants of these soldiers
farming in this area needed a tough, multi-functional dog on
their premises. These dogs also spent hours in dog wheels,
turning spits, and were pitted against other dogs in the then-popular
sport of dog fighting. At that time, breeders were not interested
in breed points or dog shows, and before the mid-19th century,
this Terrier was not really appreciated by sportsmen.
Dead Game Certificate Nobody knows for sure, but the ancestors
of the Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier are possibly the Irish Terrier,
the Irish Wolfhound, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the
Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. Although we know there was crossbreeding,
most of the ancestry is speculation, because there is no written
proof.
Maximum substance for the size of the dog The
Glen has always been classified as a rare breed and, looking
at him, the first impression is of a low-set, short-legged, powerful
Terrier. The body is longer than high, and low to the ground.
The breed standard says: “…great strength with the impression
of maximum substance for the size of the dog.” No wonder, because
the Glen has evolved through generations of hard work into the
sturdy dog we know today. He is active, agile and silent when
working. Otherwise, he is gentle and docile and can be a very
acceptable house dog and companion. In general, he is less excitable
than other Terriers, shows courage when needed, but can be dominant.
In a nutshell, the Glen may be a small, short-legged dog, but
he is not a lap dog!
Origin: Original purpose: Description: Serious faults are an undershot or overshot bite, too short in body, a straight front and hound ears. Eliminating faults are a black and tan colour, a narrow foreface and aggressive or overly shy. Height/weight: Information:
A breeder/exhibitor/judge and retired bookseller and publisher, Ria Hörter is a contributing editor of “Onze Hond”, leading dog magazine in The Netherlands. She also writes for “The Canine Chronicle”, “Dogs in Canada”, for the Dutch Kennel Club and the Dutch hunting magazine “De Nederlandse Jager”. She is the president of the Welsh Springer Spaniel Spaniel Club Netherlands, Editor of the Club’s magazine and the Secretary of the Breed Group of Gundog Breeds in The Netherlands. She is a member of the World Dog Press Association and was a finalist the 2005 Annual Writing Competition of the Dog Writers Association of America.
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