Irish Working Kerries - 40 Years Ago

by Paul and Valerie McCloskey, Blueberry Kennel Reg'd., Riverview, N.B. Canada <pjm@nb.sympatico.ca>

Yesterday Valerie had an Irish doctor assisting in her operating room who immediately recognized the pictures of our dogs as Kerries. He told her all about growing up in Northern Ireland on his fathers' farm where they raised Kerry cattle.

A pair of Kerries at Muckross House, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland.

Apparently Kerry cattle were wonderful as milkers and beef cattle but very difficult to contain. He told her that they were a particularly hearty breed with a mind of their own. If the Kerry herd wanted out of the barn they would simply knock down doors or walls, the same also applied to fences.

He remembered how his father would go to other farms or into town to get experts in badger control to come out to the farm and rid it of the badgers. He said they tried many, many different breeds of dogs and found that they would "Worry they hell out of them", but outside of a lot of barking and jumping around nothing really happened. One day a man appeared at his door and told him that he and his dog would gladly take care of the badgers. His father looked at his dog and told him he wouldn't be responsible for any injuries the dog may receive as he wasn't that big a dog, was all alone and the badger is quite a ferocious animal. The man just laughed and introduced him to his Kerry Blue Terrier. The Kerry was the first dog they had ever seen that went to ground after a badger, and came out with the badger by the throat.

From that day onward his father used the services of the Kerry Blues to keep the badgers under control. The doctor says he can't remember a Kerry ever being injured or ever failing to bring out the badger. He also remembers his father keeping the younger children away from the scene when the Kerries went to work because what remained of the badgers was a gruesome sight.

Valerie was fascinated to meet someone who not only knew our breed, but has also seen them doing what they were meant to do.

Last Update: 11/08/07, 10:35:36  Terms of Use and Disclaimer.