SET off for a walk around the country lanes and I wager £5 that you can't make it home without spotting at least one labrador and tripping over a cocker spaniel or two (please note that I will not be honouring this bet). Take a turn around town and you will do well not to encounter a French bulldog; it is almost impossible to avoid crossing paths with a poodle-cross of some description.
A nation enchanted by dogs and the prospect of welcoming one (or 101) into our homes for the past century before this, pet ownership was an unaffordable luxury for most unless the animals were working dogs -we are also creatures of habit. It would appear that the more we are exposed to a particular breed, be it by family, neighbours or famous faces, the more the idea presents itself that we, too, must own one of these magnificent specimens.
Kennel Club (KC) puppy registrations for the past decade bear witness to the fact that we are currently a nation in thrall to the three dogs mentioned above (the poodle crossbreeds are not recorded, but statistics aren't always needed to know something to be true). In fact, the six most popular pooches in the UK today account for more puppies than the other 216 breeds combined no wonder some of our lesser-known dogs are in danger of falling off the radar entirely.
Looking back over the years, some of the usual modern-day suspects appear in the list of our favourite breeds time and again, but there are also a few more surprising entries.
Who would have thought that the wire-haired fox terrier, a dog set to be added to the KC's breeds at risk for the first time in its history, was once Britain's top canine companion?
Dog of the decade 1920s
Top dogs of the 1920s (by KC puppy registrations)
1. Wire-haired fox terrier (61,082)
2. German shepherd (32,824)
3. Airedale terrier (21,783)
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
