Maintaining the health of our breed
August 1981 - August 2011 - Thirty Years ago this month...
NOW LAUNCHED!!! Almost 4000 Lancashire Heelers already added:
Visit the database at www.lancashireheeler.com !!
...The Lancashire Heeler community of 1981 celebrated recognition of the Lancashire Heeler as a pedigree breed. This was no mean feat although Lancashire Heelers had been seen across the UK for many years.
Pat Taylor (Tapatina) tells of her grandparents keeping Heelers which have never been out of her life (at least early 1900s). Enid Lord (Foxthyme) tells similar stories having received her own first Heeler, Jack, as a Christmas / birthday present in 1957.
A pivitol point in our breed occurred in the 1960s when Lancashire Heelers gained in popularity.
Gwen Mackintosh took Lancashire Heelers into her heart and home and began to breed them for friends and family. Others soon became involved this time, notably Kathie Kidd, who ultimately did much to promote the breed through her books etc. These early years brought about a sea change in Heeler history as the pioneering breeders of that time began work together with the common goal of achieving breed recognition . In some way the breeders of the era found time to communicate, formulate an initial breed standard and make representation to The Kennel Club to establish a new pedigree breed. In those days telephones were viewed a luxury and there was no internet or mobile 'phones at all! Face to face communication was the order of the day - a lesson for our times maybe!
Build the Lancashire Heeler Family Tree
Conversations and requests I have had in the past 2 years fall into two groups:
- Fortunate that many good memories still exist, in the past months I have managed to talk to some of those that laid the foundations of our breed with a view to preserving what we can of Lancashire Heeler history and recording the achievements that have been made to date. Those people have been very generous in offering photographs and memories to help preserve the history of our breed.
- We now have many new Lancashire Heeler owners, breeders, and enthusiasts who regularly contribute here and who are getting more involved with showing their dogs and socialising at fun days, Heeler walks etc. Agility and obedience trials are also becoming much more popular. I regularly receive requests for information on owners' pedigrees, breeders of the past etc and after starting the voluntary eye register was asked whether it would be possible to add sires and dams also. The growing numbers involved have made that too difficult in its current format. Following repeated requests I have been working on a database for some months that will allow this.
The above have evolved into an on line pedigree database where individuals can add their dogs details, pictures etc and build the Lancashire Heeler Family tree. I have already received photographs from a number of breeders and others are searching out records so that previously unknown dogs may well come to light. This is an opportunity for all to contribute. The database site has been undergoing testing for the past few weeks and will launch with almost 3000 Lancashire Heelers already entered. It will contain public domain information only unless owners / breeders themselves wish to add other health data voluntarily.
The database is independently provided for the entire Lancashire Heeler community and will provide an ongoing, growing history of the breed. I am mindful of the fact that if left in the sole custodianship of an individual it could very easily be lost to the breed at some point. I have therefore contacted the Kennel Club Library who have confirmed that they will accept the collection as part of their library archive. The material gathered via the community site will also form part of that archive. This will ensure that everything we collect will remain accessible to all in the future.
The database will launch this month in celebration of 30 years of recognition. It is not perfect (far from it!) but I hope will be a source of useful information and an opportunity for all to interact with the history of our breed.
The database launch will be announced on our homepage and in our newsletter. If you are not already subscribed you can use the subscribe button at the top of any page to do so.
If you would like to contribute to this project please let me know.
The Lancashire Heeler Pedigree Database has now been launched and I am pleased to announce that our project, and use of the database, has been endorsed by The Lancashire Heeler Association. You can contribute to this project by visiting the Lancashire Heeler Pedigree Database website.
Janice Jones
