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But who is the Skye?
The Skye terrier is
certainly one of the oldest canine breeds of the west coast of Scotland.
Originally, the region was
populated by the natives of the island and was
then invaded by the Vikings, the two peoples saw dogs living in the
Wild on the island as domestic animals and adopted some of those. For centuries, men have used dogs to protect their
houses or farms against Vermin as rats, foxes, badgers.…
The
Skye in history:
In the mid-fifteenth century, English writers began to use
in their books the word "terrier" to describe all
dogs hunted
vermin.
In the 16th century, John Caius, the official doctor of Edward VI, of
the
queen Mary I, and of the Queen Elizabeth I, withdrew from his duties as
doctor of the royalty and became "Master of Gon City ", College teacher at the
University of Cambridge in 1559. He was passionate about the different varieties
of dogs present in England and he has written a book entitled "of
English Dogges," published in 1570. Because Scotland is a independent country
, the Treaty of Caius doesn't include Scottish dogs, except for a
reference to a scot dog with a long coat.
"The utility and the atypical
physical
of this long fleece suit terrier graded it in the category of alien
dogs. These dogs who lived on the island had a particular physical with their long
rough coat, extraordinary look accentuated by their length body and long
fringes of the face which didn't leave anything to appear of the face itself.
These dogs interested so much the people of the Isle that they were the
only ones allowed in the room of their master. The men's vision towards their
dog was changing, they had now enjoy to live with their own dogs in the life
of every
days and stopped
to see him, just as
an utility animal..
Things had changed quickly especially the men's opinions considering the dog
differently.
He had forgotten that
dogs were
not perfect in general, this was
especially true in the noble classes of society than among craftsmen, but why
could we
assist suddenly
at this
interest
for dogs
in general? Was is
because
the farmers
discover,
in first,
that dogs
could be
so intelligent,
so clever
and so usefully that they became almost
perfect. " The first dog to be exported from the north territories was
Beggerly, which was watched with such fascination and wonder that aroused in us the first man The moon!
The Skye terrier is differentiated in the
Treaty of Caius than the other terrier breeds in reason of his long hair, the passage where
he mentioned " The length of their hair completely hide their bodies and
face "is the first allusion to our Skye Terrier.
However, Caius also described
the hair on our dog as "waved" an adjective that does not correspond any
more to the breed today. Another old legend locates the origin of Skye Terrier during
a certain night of 1588
during which died on the isle's coast, a Caravel boat called the "Invincible
Armada".from which a Maltese pet could escape and came to meet the local terriers
living already
on the this
isle.
Smith mentioned
this story in his Natural History of dogs in 1939,
and Beeton, more commonly known as Stonenge, resumed this
History in his
book "Quillick the Skye" (dog in the heath and disease (1859): "In a period of
great storm, one day, In 1588, a caravel of the "invincible" Armada came
crashing on the rocks of Canal Minch.
It is said that among the survivors of
the sinking were dogs of the equipage, some kind of dog with long abundant hairs,
dogs type Epagneul or type Maltese.
These feature dogs would then be married with
local terriers and have produced the ancestors of our current Skye Terriers "
In reality, we have no scientific way whether the Spanish sailors had
actually boarded dogs, but however bones of dogs have been discovered aboard
the "Mary Rose".an English warship that ran aground in 1545.
Another legend of
the 16th century brings another version about the beginnings of the breed of Skye
terriers, which seems more realistic than the Spanish gallion's legend and must
keep our attention. In 1568, the Catholic Queen of Scots, Mary, was obliged to abdicate of
her throne to his son. Mary left
England and
went to live
with her cousin,
the Queen Elizabeth I, which put her n prison.
During his incarceration, Mary has
acquired a Skye Terrier. In 1586, Mary was recognized guilty of conspiring against the
Queen Elizabeth I, her cousin, which immediately signed the death
execution of Queen Mary I. Mary I, Queen of Scots, was
Decapitated on the
8 of February,
1587, at the castle of Fortheringay. When the guards attempted to remove his
body, they discovered the Skye Terrier hiding in her skirts. stained by the
blood of the queen, the Skye refused to move and began to scream.
The ministers
of Elizabeth I burned the remains of the personal things of the Queen Mary, because they
suspected that in reason of her strong catholic faith, her personal effects
could take a sacred character, they also ordered that each of his clothes is
burned and
The place where that took place performance is carefully cleaned
and rubbed…
Several of the guards managed to capture the Skye and cleaned
the little dog,
full of distress, refused to eat anything.
It is reported
that Queen Elizabeth I was very upset by the persistence and dedication of this
dog to his
owner of this dog and ordered to feed the dog willingly or forcibly. But the
little Skye was not impress provided and camped on its position. The
Legend
says that the little dog continued to cry his mistress and finally died.
In the seventeenth century, the island is still isolated and insulated from
hazards of history: Walter Scott described it in his Rob Roy as "A wild
world filled with rocks, caves, forests, rivers, mountains, so high that the
wings of the devil himself would be tired if he wanted to fly to the top "Some filiations
are beginning to be mentioned in official documents.
Towards 1740, Georg Maim mentions in the story of his trip on the Isle of
Skye that hunting foxes are practiced and precise It took place in the
following manner: Initially we sent two or three pairs of fox terriers then, and
only then, it let go the "log terriers"," thereby hear the Skye terriers, to
finish the job and bring out the animal out of its burrow. When the party 's
announced too long, riders wore the Skye on their horses to avoid
unnecessary fatigue and posed by land, for their final task…
It seems
that this would be the nineteenth century that Skye Terriers are beginning to go
abroad, where the Lord of the island offered of a couple of these fabulous
dogs to the Duke of Argyll. Then, he decided to breed them, and decided to
offer the product
of his work
to many people of his entourage… The great boom?
Utopia…
Until the end of the eighteenth There is no more information concerning
the Skye terrier's
breed, which
could give us
precious details
to understand
the past of our dog. . In the writings of that period,
the authors speak
very often about
the Scottish
terriers but
nowhere they
named them as
Skye Terriers.
The first specific reference indicating
the Skye terrier was made in the work of Hd Richardson in 1847. "The Skye
Terrier, and
Appointed was described as being the most perfect discovered in
the western islands of Scotland, and on the Isle of Skye in particular. ".
But until 1861, Skye continued to be exposed canines in exhibitions under
the name "Scottish terriers" Until the canine exhibition in Manchester where
a class by itself is created for Skye terriers.
The popularity of Skye
terrier definitely came in the early nineteenth century. In 1844, no doubt
that the name of
Mrs Pratt and the history of the dog, notified
the real begin
of the popularity
of this breed .
She used to
go for a walk,
every day, with
a pair of Skye
In Hyde Park, one day when her
dogs began to run after a badger and caught it before it has time to enter
in his hole.. This hunt, described as
While sporting, by an admirative London, which was certainly not accustomed
to see a spectacle in the center of the city, is reported to Queen Victoria… The
queen wanted absolutely to meet these famous dogs, she falls in love,
finally Mrs. Pratt was obliged to give one of her dog to the queen, her male
named
Islay.
The paintings made for the royal family by Sir Edwin Landseer, and
the sculpture of Queen conducted by William Nicholson
shows the image
of the Skye Terrier.
The Skye Terrier has become the pet of choice of the
nobility. During 1890, duchesses would almost ashamed if they had not been
accompanied during their walks into the park by their long terrier, outward signs of
wealth and popularity. This has contributed greatly to the evolution of the
breed
in people's minds. The small Skye fighter vermin became a beautiful, tall and
elegant dog has to
A long fleece that required some respects, and some care.
Some research has indicated that some Epagneuls may have been crossed with
Skye to improve the quality of their coat.
Curiously, changes in the
physical appearance of Skye terrier to make it more sophisticated and giving it
a look more precious have certainly contributed to decline of the public's
enthusiasm
for the breed.
Later, in the19th century, most of Skyes was so big and broad
shoulders that they were unable to go hunting Terrier, and the cares necessaries
to have a long
coat rendered it
unfit to use
it as a hunter.
Little by little,
farmers have replaced their Skye by other breeds of terriers more rustic and
more functional. Persons High society had abandoned the race and chose another
favorite dog,
poor Skye..., who was no longer in their Eye,
dog in vogue, long before the death of Queen Victoria in 1901
In the 20 th
century, Skye terriers have never been even more famous in the public eye
as their ancestors, but never mind
after all, it is well known that the
phenomenon of fashion creates a race that is rarely beneficial to the latter.
The real
Lovers Skyes Terriers were pleased to constat this phenomena, let
them time to
work more on
the blood lines.... These fans are no longer Only English or Scottish,
no, the Skye terrier had become international.
In the twentieth century as in
the past century, dogs of the Isle of Skye continued to be presented at
canines exhibitions in Britain. Each year, it's just Nearly 200 babies Skyes
who see the light of day. Thirty eight Skyes were enrolled in the canine
exhibition of Crufts in 1998. Unfortunately, Skye Terrier never has been
better devoted dog exposure (BIS) since this distinction has emerged, however,
Twice he was crowned best in the terrier group. In 1907, it was the Skye of
Mr. Claude
Alexander "Wee Mack Adel", who won
The group. In 1974, the second Skye
to win a group was the dog "CH Silhill Silver Secret" to Mrs. S. Atkinson. A party of
The best English and Scots Skye were expatriated to the world to become the
founders of the race everuwhere in the world.
The evolution of the breed
was seriously disrupted during the two world wars but thanks to the eagerness of
some
Passionate, strong blood lines have been preserved and the breeding of
quality Skye has been able to follow its progress after wars...
The Skye today:
Today, there are breeders of Skye terriers in
France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Poland,
Australia, New Zealand, South America, Canada, the USA, etc..…
The first
Skye terrier officially registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC) was the dog
"Romarch" in 1884. The breed was
presented at the most
prestigious exhibition of the country. The creation of the American Skye Terrier Club
(STCA) was salutary to
the development of the breed both in terms of quality and
in terms of its distribution. Therefore from the beginning of the year 1938,
STCA members have devoted their time and energy to promulgate the breed
of
Skye. The club members reserve a warm welcome and encourages the curious to
take information about the Skye Terrier directly from the club itself.
The
headquarters of the club is based New York. Nowadays, with the advent of new
technologies, the club's American Skye terrier
touchs many more people by
having its own site, with email and telephone line.
Since the early 40, Skye
terrier has a stable evolution . Each year, between 100 and 150 babies are
Skye see the day and are listed on the American Kennel Club register. In the
early 60's, we even witnessed a surge of race caused by the Walt Disney's
film . The film recounted the story of Greyfriars
Bobby, a Skye Terrier belonging to a shepherd. When the shepherd died, his dog
full of distress, spent its whole life to sleep in the cemetery near his owner.... A statue has been erected in his memory at the entrance to the
cemetery in Edinburgh. This media had a bad impact on the breed by pushing
the temptation breeders to multiply by four production this year, with all the
problems we can imagine.. This new celebrity refond gave to the breed a new
award at Westminster.
A Skye terrier
obtained a BIS
for the first
time in the
breed story,
this high title
was won by Walter
Goodman for
his dog "CH
GLAMOUR Good
news"...In 1996, another beautiful black Skye,
CH FIINSKY Oliver (Finland), became very famous by winning the Terrier
Group at Westminster.
During the last 25 years, registration has been
nearly constant number of 125 births.
In 1997, it was still registered a
slight increase with 137 births.
In 1998, it is more than 111 Skyes who were
enrolled at the American Kennel Club.
In 1999, more than 75 Skyes which were
presented at the Cruft, with the consecration of the best female lice, since
Exported to France, Mariquita Braveaddition.
Farmers today's absolutely
no regret the lack of enthusiasm for their race, they prefer to produce it confidentially for real lover.
All unscrupulous breeders and conscientious of
Skyes fear, in fact, to see their race suffer from a phenomenon of fashion.
Recently, dalmatiens suffered from the release on the screens of the Walt Disney's
cartoon
"101 Dalmatians" , which took effect
Deplorable on the quality of
their race, too widely, sold without any care. Indeed, Adults
and Children dreamed to tight in their arms the adorable puppy
they had seen in the film, but few disappointed and surprised to constat the
difference between
a dog in a cartoon
and an alive
animal.
This
kind of purchase
are very often
followed of a
tragedy, dogs
have been often
let down and
abandoned in the SPA
or given to
special animal
protection associations. Its
important, to
produce the
Skye Terrier,
little by little
to have time
to choose the
perfect home
for him…
But in France, then?
A small trace of Skye in the history of
France passed almost unnoticed, James H. Offer offered to Louis XIV
a couple each Scottish terriers, which included of course a couple of Skye Terrier. But
this gift didn't let any memories in the French story . Nothing after, in the
book speaks
about the breed
in France, it
has disappeared...
Today, in France on Skye goes wrong… What sacrilege when you think that
all the great breeders of this world have built their
kennel on French origins, such
as "From Chamardière", "Mandane", "Luchar", "Ricelaine", "Du petit
Tanagra",
"Neuville Mousseaux", "Saint Lubin" and many others…. We remember these fabulous
American champions Jacinthe of Ricelaine, Bistro Saint Lubin, Jimmy of
Ricelaine, Evening Star Luchar, You'll do the Luchar that gave the basis of
the greatest pedigrees in America… Whether we remain there for good legacy?
Nothing, absolutely nothing,
Apart from one or two pale descendants because
I must admit they are far removed from the original type. We are more interested by
our own person. I remind my discussion in 2000 with Nicole TRELUT, breeder
"Mousseaux" Neuville told me that she preferred having a Dandie Dinmont Terrier,
when she had to take a dog, because Skye was dead and she found that everything
she saw resembled no more to the real Skyes.
I thought it was a little hard
for us, I still had illusions, but I am forced to see that she was right ... Our ancestors have left us a gold
heritage but
we weren't
able to keep
it and to work
with it... What a tragedy… The quality of our dogs is far
from spectacular, with a few exceptions ... The bonds are so pale,
lost the beautiful pigmentation because we were attached to product some cream
dogs, nevermind
the important
rules of colors:
the precepts of our ancestors, their recipe for success: a
blonde did not marry a blond… The backs are hollow and / or undulate
An
hugely top line
which waved
when they are
moving but the
most important
still to have
a mountain of hair, but
anyway with
a smile, and
with a compliment
to the judge,
dogs become… Champions and breed dogs who have their
backs even more hollow and so forth, pathetic, just pathetic… Sometimes,
females like males… Dogs have become heavy and fat, no neck because in the
Grease, when we know that in the standard it is clear that
the Skye should slide gracefully on a ring… Gliding gracefully,
Ah, what a
beautiful image… We see now Skye with back legs like the rabbits, walking with
the two back
legs going together...,
Both legs at the same time and then it starts
to have the hind legs which describe the funny movement will eventually
Knock on one another but never mind, but no stress, because everything
is hidden under the hair…. And most importantly will allow to bite
judges even it had disappeared, the default comes back very quickly…
Nowdays,
only one or
two breeder
are interested
to produce and
to work on the
breed. There's
no agreement
between breeders,
'one for all
and all for
one" as
we say in France...We
are not able
to work together, to
watch in the same direction when to
be driven
by the same passion: the Skye Terrier. It's a pity for the breed... The skye
is alone among
a person group,
unable to progress..... The race has always been produced confidentially
because people
need to be some
real passionate people and need
a lot of personal
work to progress.... In the early 80, births registered with the Societe
Centrale Canine
(French Canine
Sovciety) counted
painfully 50 births per year. However starting
ears 85, several people took passion for the breed and decided to breed Skyes
terriers and
try to do a
nice work for
the breed.. I'm
speaking about
kennels Des Donades, Of Miss Liberty, Du
Pont de Constantine, Small Grys, Des Vallées Engissoises ...and so on.… The
breed gave the illusion to rebirth with peaks of birth of up to 209 subjects for the
year 89. This craze, lasted until 1992, births exceeding 150 subjects
annually. But from 1993, the descent into hell began,
Number of births
continues to fall dangerously. Many kennels disappeared on account of the ambiance
in
exhibition
too hard and unjust, puppies that are selling poorly and Skye
still has the horrible reputation as a difficult character dog, which
damaged the Skye's popularity ...even
if now are able to see
some real gentlemen
Skyes terriers,
the mentality
about the breed
is not easy
to change..., However,
Judges take pleasure to
judge them,
they are not
so afraid than
in the past. This is the result of
hard work of genetic selection that gave this result little by little..
Wrong
excuses and
nonsense, why so many wrong excuses? I do not think that the 209 babies born
in 1989 have been more difficult to place in good families, in fact people
are not courageous
enough to support
the breeding
constraint… It's
a pity to constat
that our show
dogs in general,
are very far
from the engravings of great champions printed on glossy paper and living
abroad…
The birth of the new century sign the breed's
death ,
some years, it is only one litter which is produced in our country, sometimes
two.... Bitches
produce less
and less puppies
in each litter, we
are obliged
to constat that
the Skye goes wrong…
Today, with almost 7 births per year,
96% less than in the years 80-90, Skye terrier can't Survive. The blood lines
need to be renewed
year after year and the poor number of birth doesn't allow to change the existing
blood... The wait is long for people who want to have
a Skye puppy, some
of them prefer
to import of dog from abroad
It's
also a pity
to constat that
these peoples
prefer sometimes
to buy another
breed, tired
to wait their
Skye puppy....… We must react because with 96% less
of Skyes births,
the breed won't
survive in our
country very
longer, and especially our
blood line couldn't be renewed and the quality of our dog will become very poor
year after year
can not happen again now as it should
If We really
love our breed,
the Skye Terrier,
we must prove
iour love to
the breed…
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