The Glen of Imaal Terrier’s Place in Ireland

We have friend of the pod Theresa Nesbitt back and you guys know how much I harp on the current dogs are living history, right? Like this is my jam. And that purebred dogs represent a specific place and a specific people in a specific time. Well, Theresa has taken that for the Glen of Imaal Terrier and done this huge deep dive on it. And her information and her stories are so fascinating. You know, in the green room off air we were talking about. How cool it is for kids for adults to learn history using purebred dogs.

In Ireland, the national cultural heritage status of native breeds is protected by the government.

“What they're protecting is yes, the dogs,” Theresa said, “but actually the dog-human connection and where they came from relate to so many parts of Irish history and heritage. And there's only 9 native breeds there so I love getting into it because I felt like it was manageable.

“I think for preservation, it's really about the past and the present and the future. So we have to look at what came from the past. Right now, breeders, right now, we're working very hard with breed standards and we're saying, so how do we move forward into the future?

“Breeders can find their purpose for what they need to do today to make sure that those dogs of the future are still able to reach back through time and touch those things. So it's a hard job for us, but we have to do it.”

Theresa’s description of the physical location that is the Glen of Imaal is absolutely fascinating and why it tends to indicate to her the breed would have been unlikely to actually have worked as turnspit dogs.

“What is really important about it being the Glen of Imaal is the antique features and the unrefined to this day. And because (the area) was so hard to get to, the dogs stayed the way the dogs used to be.”

Listen back to the episodes referenced in today’s conversation HERE and HERE.