Eastern Promise

They have a starry following, but characterful Tibetan terriers are still a well-kept secret. Emma Hughes meets the best dog of which you’ve never heard.

ON screen, Hugh Bonneville is rarely without a yellow labrador: Pharoah, Isis and Tiaa, the Downton Abbey dogs, trotted alongside Lord Grantham for most of the programme’s run. However, off-set, his heart belongs to two charming eccentrics with considerable star power of their own: a pair of Tibetan terriers.

‘We were looking for a child-friendly dog when my son was very small, 11 years ago, and we happened to know a breeder who lived near us,’ he explains. Once they had been thoroughly vetted, the Bonnevilles were allowed to meet a litter, among which was a cuddly, all-black puppy with a crinkly coat and a quizzical expression. Mr Bonneville had thought it might be nice to give the dog a Tibetan name, but his son had other ideas and christened him Teddy.

Two and a half years ago, he was joined by Sasha, who’s black with a white bib. Together, they run rings around the family at home in West Sussex. ‘The idea of playing fetch with either of them is ridiculous,’ Mr Bonneville admits. ‘They demand a lot of tummy scratching and, in the evenings, they just want to be pampered.’

Nominative determinism seems to have played a part in shaping Teddy’s character. ‘Tibetans aren’t aggressive in any way and Teddy is certainly not an alpha male—in fact, he’s the most beta or even gamma dog you’ll ever meet,’ Mr Bonneville says, laughing.

However fond they might be of creature comforts, the pair love getting their paws dirty. ‘I’ve been doing the South Downs Way with some mates in 20-mile chunks recently and both of them have been coming along—Sasha, in particular, is very keen,’ Mr Bonneville says.