In January of 2024 AKC released an email welcoming these smart, sturdy, compact dogs as an officially recognized AKC breed, the 201st, actually. According to the AKC, this breed has been around for quite some time in London and abroad, and in 2003, the breed was placed on the Endangered Breeds list of The Kennel Club, U.K, due to the small number of dogs composing the gene pool and the risk of several inherited diseases.
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Written By: The Dog Journal
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Small, powerful, sturdily built, alert and an energetic worker, the Lancashire Heeler works cattle but has terrier instincts when rabbiting and ratting. They have a unique characteristic called the Heeler Smile; when content, Heelers have been known to draw back their lips in an effort that emulates a human smile.
This sounded like a good story, and so we dug into the breed, the history of it, how it came to the United States, and what it takes to get a breed like this recognized by the American Kennel Club. We’ve taken the liberty of interviewing a few Lancashire breeders and longtime passionates of the breed, so if this sounds like a good story to you too, read on!
Originally I assumed that this was a very new breed, but as it turns out, the Lancashire Heeler breed has been around for a number of years, but mostly overseas. Following is an article put together by Jacky Cutler, a passionate Lancashire Heeler breeder.
Although the general opinion is that Heelers came about as a cross between Corgis and Manchester Terriers, that is a very simplistic explanation and the truth is probably much vaguer. One theory is that when cattle were brought from Ireland often to the Welsh coast they were met by farmers with their Welsh herding dogs, the fore runners of today’s Corgis. They were driven by road to the markets in the north west, and along the way met up with the northern black and tan terrier types favored by the locals.
Dogs were dropped off at farms along the way, and over the years, various other farm dogs were probably included in the mix. Different types emerged, with some weighing anything up to fifteen pounds, and others were of a smaller stamp, and it used to be claimed they could fit into a poacher’s pocket or in the space under the farmer’s rocking chair. They became known by various names, including Ormskirk Terrier or Ormskirk Heeler, as that is where more uniform types became established.
Aside from driving the cattle to the markets and slaughterhouses the Heelers were excellent ratters and so became general purpose farm dogs, a job they are more than capable of doing to this day, with no split between working and show dogs. There is photographic evidence of purebred Heelers being on farms for getting on for two hundred years, and often these dogs had the tipped ears, which are seen less frequently these days.
Although many more started to become purebred, it was not until Lady Gwen Mackintosh of the famous toffee empire became interested in them in 1961, after seeing one belonging to a family member who had moved to Norfolk from Cheshire, that efforts were made to get the breed registered. She acquired a bitch and began breeding and started to keep records, as she was involved with breeding and showing Boxers at her home in Brooke, in Norfolk and it was a natural progression to record her litters. They were often given to friends and family, and enthusiasts got together at her Norfolk home and began to hold shows.
In 1978 a meeting was held at South Walsham in Norfolk, with enthusiasts coming from Lancashire and Yorkshire and the Lancashire Heeler Club was formed. They decided that a breed standard was needed so this was formulated and they began to keep a register. Experts would examine dogs and if acceptable they were added to the register. One stipulation was that they must be black and tan, and any liver and tan puppies were frowned on – it is even suggested that some breeders would drown them at birth.
Gwen Mackintosh’s affix was Acremead, and after protracted discussions with the Kennel Club the first Heeler accepted onto the breed register in 1981 was Acremead Bogey and that year there were just three dogs registered. The Lancashire Heeler Club received Kennel Club recognition in 1983 and Gwen was made President. Their first show under Kennel Club rules were held in 1984 at Rackheath in Norfolk and the Secretary was Kathie Kidd, who had worked with the founder members of the Club and was the author of the First Book of the Lancashire Heeler (‘The Red Book’) which is now out of print and the occasional copy that becomes available is quickly snapped up as it is considered the ‘Heeler Bible’ . Some copies have been sold for three figure sums. The next nine years saw shows being alternated between Norfolk and Lancashire.
Blackpool was the first Championship Show to offer classes in 1982 and the Best of Breed was Pat Taylor’s Tamara of Tapatina (subsequently renamed Feniscowles Princess Tessie once Kennel Club registration was available). This meant Heelers could qualify for Crufts although they were in Any Variety classes.
In 1987 the first Heeler to win a red card at Crufts was Haelarbobs Gracie Fields, bred by Molly Old and owned by Mr and Mrs Bevan. In 1988 Heelers were given their own classes for the first time and Frank Jackson judged the breed, awarding Best of Breed to Kathie and Barbara Kidd’s Acremead Biscuit of Kalo bred by Gwen Mackintosh, a daughter of Acremead Bogey.
Gwen was there to witness this milestone in the breed’s history which she had done so much to promote.
1989 saw the start of a remarkable run of wins at Crufts for a dog called Tushielaw Clyde owned by Sarah Whybrow. He was Best of Breed six times between 1989 and 1995, with his record being interrupted just once in 1992 by Enid Lord’s Delsteps Madonna of Foxthyme bred by Stephanie Taylor. At Crufts in 2017 there was another milestone when a dog from Sweden, Nor Duch Midsomer’s Bouncing Nordic Power NV-16 owned by Mette Kjellstedt was Best of Breed and his ancestry can be traced back to Tushielaw Clyde.
For several years the two breed registers ran alongside each other but the Kennel Club unexpectedly decided that the Lancashire Heeler Club register should close in 1989, and no more unregistered Heelers could be accepted. There are still some unregistered dogs being bred on farms in Lancashire, and very occasionally we manage to persuade an owner to apply for registration through the ‘unverified parentage’ route. After the acceptance of the breed onto the pedigree register in 1981 as the smallest breed in the Working group, Heelers were classed as a ‘rare breed’ until 1999, when Challenge Certificates first became available. The breed was then placed in the newly formed Pastoral Group from January 1999 and this was also when the liver and tans were first accepted into the standard.
Thefirst ever Champion was Mr. and Mrs. Russell’s Ch Foxthyme Material Girl, who became the breed record holder. The breed has gone from strength to strength, with several having gained group places at championship shows. The Russells also had the the first liver and tan dog to gain his crown with Ch Jestikka Glenord, a son of the aforementioned Material Girl. The current breed record holder is Doddsline Daffodil at Welshmoor, owned by Mike and Maggy Jones. In 2010 another breed society was formed, and the Lancashire Heeler Association was registered by the Kennel Club in April 2011, holding their first show in the October of that year.
The breed started to be noticed by enthusiasts abroad and began to be exported to Scandinavia, and we now have a sizeable population of Heelers in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Holland and several European countries, with others as far afield as the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan, where the first litter has recently been bred. Many of these countries now have their own Clubs and after application by the Norwegian Lancashire Heeler Club they became recognized for showing by the FCI in 2016 and more recently by the AKC.
Our wish as guardians of the breed is to see it remain as a sturdy working dog, capable of doing the job it was bred to do and judges are asked to bear that in mind and not allow it to become either a toy or terrier type.
The United States Lancashire Heeler Club (USLHC) is a member club of and serves as the approved Parent Club of the American Kennel Club (AKC).
USLHC was founded by a group of dedicated individuals in 2016, with main objectives being: a) To encourage and to do all possible to bring the natural qualities and historic purpose of the Lancashire Heeler to perfection according to the current AKC breed standard, and b) To urge members and breeders to accept the current standard of the breed as approved by the AKC as the only standard of excellence by which the Lancashire Heeler shall be judged.
So there we have it, the origin and history of the Lancashire Heeler. The Lancashire Heeler Club of America says: They sure look cute and that smile and tail wag are enchanting, however, this little cutie requires constant socialization, training, and they must have a job, regardless if it is going for a walk a couple times a day, playing ball, or competing in sports. This breed is a power chewer, and barks, so keeping this dog busy is key to a happy life for both of you.
In our search for facts about the Lancashire Heeler, we interviewed Sheryl Bradbury, the president of The United States Lancashire Heeler Club. Sheryl is also very passionate about the breed, and gladly answered our questions.
TDJ: Sheryl, tell us a bit about yourself and how you became involved in the breed.
Sheryl: Sure, So I’ve personally been involved in dogs all of my life. My father had German Shorthaired Pointers and Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. My mom had a little poodle,so dogs have been in my blood all my life. I started with dogs with great Danes and English mastiffs. They were awfully big and didn’t live long enough, so I was looking for a breed that was going to be around for a long time. Once while I was at Crufts, I watched these little Lancashire Heelers in the ring, and thought that they were absolutely amazing little dogs, and decided that I was going to look into them when I got back home.
I came back home found and met a great breeder down in Mississippi, and I came home from there with Baba. Baba has basically been the dog that makes it just like a potato chip. You can’t have just one. You’ve got to have a couple. Anyway, Baba had a litter of puppies, and they were an amazing litter of puppies. 6 of the 7 have titles, I believe, in various dog sports and confirmation.
When I got home and got my Lancaster Heeler, I joined the United States Lancashire Heeler Club. Back then they were still in the status of the FSS program, or the Foundation Stock Service Program. That’s the first level of getting a breed recognized with the AKC, and it’s a lot of work.
Since I had experience with Lancashire Heelers, I was elected president, and it’s kind of like a freight train moving fast. We got things Lancashire Heeler done. I did an audit of the club and found that the club had done enough work that we could write the letter to AKC, and ask to move from FSS status to Miscellaneous status.
So that’s my involvement. I’m an AKC Junior Showmanship judge. I’m the president of the Lancashire Heeler Club and the Nebraska Kennel Club. I’ve served in just about every position in a dog club, including training director.
TDJ: Very well! So, what inspired the idea of a Lancashire Heeler? Did somebody just wake up one day and say, “Hey, we need a new breed.”
Sheryl: Lancashire Heelers have been around for a very long time, just not in the US. There was a couple of people early on that really appreciated the breed, and imported dogs from the UK over into the United States, and it kind of took off from there it. It wasn’t a really popular dog, but there was a handful of people that were committed to the breed. They liked it’s versatility, and it’s ability to just about do anything for you, but also be your best companion.
TDJ: Cool. So when you get a litter of puppies, are they all consistent, or hasn’t the breed been established long enough for that?
Sheryl: They’re all black and tan or liver and tan. They don’t look like Welsh corgis or Manchester Terriers anymore, and we do have a consistent looking breed. We do have some inconsistencies within the litters, and you might get some really tiny dogs, and we have some really big dogs. We have curly tails, and we have straight tails. At the end of the day, it’s about the breeders refining their breeding program as well. As can be expected, we have limited genetics here, but we do have some really good relationships with breeders overseas, and we’re importing dogs to expand our genetic profile.
Sheryl answered some more questions and gave us some more information, more than I could put into this article, but when I asked her what we could do to help, she made sure to remind be that people also need to be educated about the baggage that these dogs bring with themselves. They are barkers, strong chewers, and need work.
The USLHC needs members and passionate Lancashire Heeler owners that are willing to contribute to the conservation of the breed, so if anyone reading this is intrigued and would like to learn more, feel free to contact them by going to unitedstateslancashireheelerclub.com and filling out the contact form on the website.
If you wanted to sell your puppies on a listing marketplace, the process used to be simple. You needed a picture of the puppy, a generic description, and your phone number. Then you waited for calls and usually sold your puppies within a week or two.
My name is Hannah, and I grew up in Dornsife Pennsylvania. I have been involved in the dog breeding industry since 2016! The breeds I raise are AKC Miniature Poodles, AKC Miniature Schnauzers, and Cockapoos. As the owner of Fetch Photography, I offer general advertising and photography services specializing in puppies to areas in Northumberland, Dauphin, and Schuylkill County PA! I list puppies on all major puppy websites, including Greenfield Puppies, Lancaster Puppies, Infinity Pups, Puppies.com, and AKC Marketplace. Listing puppies for breeders outside my area is possible if breeders can provide their own photos. In 2020 I began offering canine genetic testing and genetic counseling for breeders in all areas even if you are located outside Pennsylvania! In 2022 I married my husband Scotty, and my name changed from Hannah Schaible to Hannah Day. If you have questions about this article or my services, feel free to contact me! Hannah Day: 570-809-3335 or [email protected]
My name is, Gail Mirabella, and been asked by The Dog Journal to share
with you, the readers, some of my “Adventures”
