Of Bedlingtons, Bull Terriers and Chinese Cresteds

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | local info

The Bedlington Terrier is often described as looking like a lamb on a leash, probably because it has non-shedding hair with a woolly texture. These dogs may be blue, sandy, liver, or dark brown/black and sable and can be solid colors or even have tan markings. These become whiter as the dog grows older, but should never be pure white, which indicates a lack of “guard hairs;” the harsh hairs in their coat that give it texture and offer the dogs protection.

This breed has a wedge-shaped head with sparkling eyes. Although it gentle when resting, the Bedlington Terrier is every inch a terrier when aroused. Its body shape, however, is unusual for a terrier, being somewhat like a Greyhound or Whippet in construction, which enables it to gallop at great speed.

Bull Terriers are muscular and muscular with a short, dense coat. Acceptable colors for show dogs are white, any color other than white, or any color with white markings (although blue and liver are highly undesirable).

The Bull Terrier’s most recognizable feature is its head, described as ‘egg shaped’ when viewed from the front, almost level at the top, with a Roman nose sloping evenly down to the end of the nose with no stop. The unique triangle-shaped eyes are small, dark, and closely set. The body is full and round, while the shoulders are robust and muscular and the tail is carried horizontally. It walks with a jaunty gait, and is popularly known as the ‘gladiator of the canine race’.

The Chinese Crested Dog is a relatively small hairless breed of dog. Like most hairless dog breeds, the Chinese Crested comes in two varieties, both with and without fur, which are born in the same litter; the Hairless and the Powderpuff.

At first glance, the “Hairless” and “Powderpuff” varieties of Chinese Crested Dogs appear to be two different breeds, but hairlessness is simply a dominant trait within a single breed. The Hairless has soft, humanlike skin, as well as tufts of fur on its paws (”socks”) and tail (”plume”) and long, flowing hair on its head (”crest”). In addition to being a dominant gene, the “hairless” gene is lethal when homozygous. All living hairless Cresteds are therefore heterozygous for this trait.

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