![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b20b3e715652503266b223a79cbab9c4.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nSo Scottish in origins they have a tartan named in their honour, a rare breed of bouffant-headed dogs will get their Edmonton moment in the sun on World Dandie Dinmont Day.<\/p>\n
Technically, they\u2019re rarer than Giant Pandas \u2014 and Edmonton\u2019s Mary Machum has three Dandie Dinmont terriers, or a tenth of a percent of the estimated 3,000 world population. Alberta\u2019s handful of the unusual pups will strut their stuff at Hawrelak Park on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m., led by a kilt-wearing bagpiper.<\/p>\n
Machum said there are believed to be fewer than 20 of the Dandie Dinmonts in the entire province.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful breed that people don\u2019t know about it, and this is why we\u2019re doing World Dandie Day,\u201d she told Postmedia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mary Machum has three Dandie Dinmount Terriers, considered the world\u2019s original terrier. It is an endangered breed of dog world-wide, but concerned owners are putting together events globally to acknowledge, appreciate and promote this beloved canine on June 6, 2026. Photos taken on Tuesday, May 26, 2026. Photos by Shaughn Butts \u2013 Postmedia<\/p>\n
Dandie origins<\/p>\n
The only breed of dog named after a literary character \u2014 so dubbed by Sir Walter Scott \u2014 the short-legged cuddle-bugs are loved for their people-loving nature and large, melting brown eyes.<\/p>\n
The 1815 Waverley novel Guy Mannering featured a memorable Scottish Borders farmer character named \u201cDandie Dinmont\u201d who had six of the round terriers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only breed of dog that is named after a fictional character in a book, and it\u2019s also the only breed of dog which has its own tartan. In 2015, which is the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Guy Mannering, the head of Clan Scott gave the Dandy Dinmont the black and white tartan,\u201d said Machum as a trio of terriers gazed soulfully up at her from ground level.<\/p>\n
The big-headed breed was favoured by a host of luminaries, from George Bernard Shaw and William Wordsworth to Karen Blixen and Agatha Christie. Queen Victoria owned and bred them.<\/p>\n
There has also been a train, a boat, a tobacco, and a whiskey named for the breed.<\/p>\n
Its roots are very old, and very local to the Scottish borders country \u2014 it had yet to be discovered when numbers dipped in wartime.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike other Scottish breeds, like Cairn Terriers and Scotties, the Dandies just stayed in a triangle of the border country of Scotland,\u201d Machum said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were problems during the wars where dogs were culled because they didn\u2019t have enough food for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
One major breeder euthanized her entire kennel, including 10 English champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the Dandies in the world today are just descended from a dog named Old Ginger. And we know the kennel that he was born in, and it\u2019s been restored in Selkirk, Scotland,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
These days, about 250 Dandie Dinmont puppies are born each year, world-wide.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t just rescue a dog, rescue an entire breed,\u201d Machum said.<\/p>\n
Dandie characteristics<\/p>\n
Frequently snagging dog show honours, the Dandie Dinmont breed characteristics include tasseled ears placed quite far down on the side of their head, sweet Ewok faces, and a big, soft \u201ctop knot\u201d mop of fur.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a long, curved torso, a \u201cscimitar\u201d tail, and fluffy, short legs (shorter in front). \u201cThese dogs were bred for badgering and going down holes after vermin. The little front legs perfect for digging out animal dens,\u201d Machum said<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can really dig, and if they\u2019re going down into the badger, and if it\u2019s defending itself, it\u2019s going to grab hair first.\u201d<\/p>\n
They can live to be 14 or more.<\/p>\n
Machum\u2019s Callum is at the bigger end of the breed, standing 11 inches at the shoulder, and weighing 27 pounds. Most run between 20-24 pounds, girls running smaller.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other thing that\u2019s really funny is that they are dogs that love to be carried, like babies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
Bookmark our website and support our journalism:\u00a0Don\u2019t miss the news you need to know \u2014 add EdmontonJournal.com<\/a>\u00a0and EdmontonSun.com<\/a>\u00a0to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal<\/a>\u00a0| The Edmonton Sun<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So Scottish in origins they have a tartan named in their honour, a rare breed of bouffant-headed dogs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[256093,49,48,256089,256091,23752,256094,256090,206865,256092],"class_list":["post-704208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-breed-of-dog","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dandie-dinmont","tag-dandie-dinmount-terriers","tag-edmonton","tag-guy-mannering","tag-mary-machum","tag-shaughn-butts","tag-world-population"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}