Poems from the United States of America
What is a Dandie
D is for determination, which he has plenty of,
A is for affection (he really is a love);
N is for a novelty, because he’s one of few;
D is for devotion (he always thinks of you);
I is for intelligence – you can see it in his face;
E is for his eyes (there are no finer any place).
D is for his devilment, we’ll confess this is a fact;
I is for his innocence – when you catch him in the act;
N is for nervous; he’s not at all, we’ll promise you;
M is for mustard-colour (they come in pepper, too!);
O is for obedient, they really can be trained;
N is for nutty – sometimes he acts insane;
T is for the top of his powder puff top knot;
Put this all together and what have you got?
You have a dandy of a dog.. DANDIE DINMONT
Copyright © 2005. All rights reserved by the Dandie Dinmont Terrier Club of America. (Permission granted).
From United Kingdom about 1948
Dandie Dinmont Terrier
Pepper or Mustard - - - - what’s the odds.
Valiant, varmint, lithe and low.
These were the hounds that the wise old gods
took to their hunting an aeon ago;
These when the wild boar stamped and stood,
these when the gaunt wolf snapped at bay,
grim and relentless, rash and rude,
went for the throat in the Dandie way.
Deep in the slope of that dome-like head,
under the topknot crimped and curled,
surely the fighting fire was fed.
Before the fires were cool in the world?
Syrely ‘twas these that the caveman kept
comrades in hunting, sport and war,
sharing the shelves where their masters slept,
tearing the bones that their masters tore!
No? well have it the way you please;
But I’ll wager it wasn’t a show ring fox,
Poodle or Pom or Pekinese,
that bayed the mammoth among the rocks;
But something tousled, and tough, and blue,
lined like a weasel - - - arch and dip,
coming up late, like the Dandies do,
and going right in with the border grip.
(The above was published in a Dandie Mag. in UK about 60 years ago)
About the dog
"THE POWER OF THE DOG"
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie -
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet' s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find - its your own affair -
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone - wherever it goes - for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve:
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
a short-time loan is as bad as a long -
so why in - Heaven (before we are there)
should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Rudyard Kipling
