Hazel Bradford
The wire fox terrier first came to my attention when I was around ten years old. My maternal grandfather gave me an old hardbacked diary because it contained pictures of dogs. One of those pictures was titled `A Wire Haired Terrier`. The picture was in sepia and the dog was heavily tick-marked.He wore a studded collar which in my mind was red. It was not until I was leaving school that the fox terrier entered my life.I had always known I would work with animals.Brought up on a croft in the north east of Scotland with a history of working and show horses behind me and contact with all types of livestock, I was spoilt for choice.In the end the lure of a career in dogs and with wire fox terriers was too good to miss and I went to work for Wally Prizeman and his daughter Christine at his Arklow Boarding Kennels.It had been his sign of a life size wire at the end of his property that had caught my eye as I travelled to an fro on the bus. It was, I decided, fate.There was that dog again. Wally didn`t actually need any more staff when I wrote to him but he took me on anyway and my employment there must have suited us all because I stayed there for 15 years.Whilst there I learnt all about the stresses and rewards of looking after other people's dogs and cats. I also learnt to groom and learnt all aspects of breeding, trimming and showing the wires.Amongst the frequent visitors to Arklow were Mrs Whitworth (Whitwyre) Elsie `Penda` Williams and Albert Langley. After Wally died I set up my grooming business from home taking with me the remaining Arklow wires which became the foundation stock for the Flyntwyres.Somewhere along the way I was persuaded to start judging and give C.C.`s in both wires and smooths.I have been very fortunate to have gained judging experience on the continent in France and Germany. My proudest achievement however must be that of being President of our own Wire Fox Terrier Association.