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.
Denne historien er fra February 27, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra February 27, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
