We got a Welsh Terrier about 18 months ago after many, many months of research and thinking about what we could physically manage. I used to have sighthounds (Afghans and Salukis) and hubby had Weimaraners and German Shorthaired Pointers, but we are senior citizens now and needed something smaller. We are not big fans of little dogs–especially froo-froo dogs like Yorkies, Maltese, Bichons, Shih-Tzus, etc.–so after a lot of deliberation, we finally settled on a Welsh Terrier.
Welshies are generally about 15" at the shoulder and weigh around 20-22 lbs when mature. They are billed as being calmer than most terriers–which was a big plus–and although she definitely sparks at other dogs at times, she is rather reserved in her demeanor (as compared to a Jack Russell, Wire Fox Terrier, Scottish Terrier, etc.). Of course it helped that she is older (a retired show dog), so her activity level doesn’t drive us nuts, and my husband doesn’t mind taking her for walks because she looks like a “man’s dog” despite her small size. Another plus is that while she is just leggy enough to manage all the stairs in our house with no problem, she is small enough for us to easily pick up. And she is fairly quiet–doesn’t do much barking, and her bark is not loud or sharp or shrill like most small dogs (more like “arf-arf”).
If you like to do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, a downside is that because of their dense wooly undercoat, Welshies don’t tolerate heat and humidity very well (especially here in the south). But they do tolerate cold and rain much better than most small dogs (I bought her a doggy coat at Dover when we got her, thinking she might need it when we went walking in the winter, but she has never worn it—even when walking in a snowstorm!)
Welshies require a bit of grooming from time to time to keep them from looking like street urchins. Their undercoat will shed, but it tends to stay trapped in the coat so they don’t leave fur on everything. I usually run over her with a wire brush and comb once or twice a week, and she goes for a full groom (bath and clipping and nail dremel) every 4-6 weeks or so. They can certainly go much longer between grooms but she sleeps in bed with us and I don’t like stinky dogs–LOL. The downside of clipping is that the top coat loses its wiry texture and becomes very soft, but it is virtually impossible to find a groomer outside of the dog show circuit that knows how to hand strip a terrier!
They aren’t the brightest bulbs in the chandelier but since we used to have sighthounds and sporting dogs, we are used to dogs that sometimes need more “positive reinforcement” to do the right thing. We don’t trust her off the leash unless we are in an enclosed area, but again, we were used to that (especially with the sighthounds). She did pick up on housebreaking pretty quickly for a dog that had never been a house pet and she is getting better at recall although is quite hound-like in that she has this “maybe-maybe not” attitude. An obedience candidate, she is not.
We were apprehensive about getting a terrier—had some concerns about the temperament—but she has turned out to be a fun little dog and we are enjoying her immensely.
