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)
Denne historien er fra February 28, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra February 28, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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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
