THE Queen’s favourite breed of dog, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and the Old English Sheepdog have experienced a surge in popularity in 2015 and are no longer considered to be at risk of dying out, according to Kennel Club breed registration statistics.
The native British breeds were once at risk of disappearing from streets and parks around the UK after numbers fell so low that they were put on the Kennel Club’s ‘Vulnerable Native Breeds’ and ‘At Watch’ lists.
The latest figures have been released ahead of Crufts, which showcases Britain’s vulnerable native breeds, and gives dog lovers the chance to meet the breeds to find out why they are worth saving.
In 2014, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi was considered vulnerable, for the first time in the breed’s history, with only 274 puppy registrations.
The breed has since had a 34 per cent increase in registrations from 2014 to 2015 and has moved from the Vulnerable Native Breed list to the At Watch list.
The Old English Sheepdog, which was popularised by the television adverts for Dulux paint, has also seen a boost in numbers, up by 22 per cent from 405 puppy registrations in 2014 to 495 in 2015, meaning that it is no longer included in the At Watch list.
Whilst these two breeds are experiencing a revival, things are not looking good for the Bedlington Terrier, the English Setter and Irish Terrier, all now officially on the Kennel Club Vulnerable Native Breeds list, which includes those native dog breeds with fewer than 300 puppy registrations annually.
In total there are 29 breeds on the Vulnerable Native Breeds list, including the Skye Terrier, Kerry Blue Terrier, Sussex Spaniel and Field Spaniel. The Otterhound has the lowest registrations with only 34 in 2015
To put the registration figures for these breeds into perspective, the most popular breed in the UK, the Labrador Retriever, had 32,507 puppies registered in 2015.