Thistle Ridge Sunny-Bonnie

13” Red Lakeland
Cuchullan’s Mick X Thistle Ridge CJ
5/22/05

      Where to begin this story is hard to say. I suppose it started about 3 years ago when a Red Lakeland Terrier by the name of Mick came into our lives. Brought over from Ireland, by Dessie Mackin for Wendy Palmer of Thistle Ridge, he somehow found his way here for a stead and he and I found ourselves in the ring together time after time from one end of the east coast to the other, with many championships to show for it. He was quite different from my Russells and yet the same, he was calmer and much easier going but still driven to the ends in the field. He was a quite well manner house dog, a gentleman in the ring and a true assassin in the field. But the problem was just that “he” we didn’t have room for another stud dog no matter how great they were and Thistle Ridge was missing it’s newest addition, so after a great run over nearly a year Mick went home to Texas and back to Wendy. Mick has sired some incredible puppies and when Wendy shot me a picture of his newest progeny I fell in love immediately “she” was just lovely and I begged Wendy to send her this way. Being the wonderful friend Wendy is she agreed and we fashioned a co-ownership of this lovely lady.

She is the result of a cross of 2 very similar strains of terriers; the mostly white bodied Jack Russell and the colored bodied Lakeland or Fell. These terriers are not a “breed’ so to speak but a strain of working terrier so bred to be a capable partner in the field. To put it simply, if Fells come from Lakelands and Russells find their roots in both them, then it’s fair to that the 3 are truly one in the same with only slight differences that make them each a strain of the other. For more on the history of theses strains of terriers, visit our Lakeland and Fell link.

Know as Sunny at Thistle Ridge and Bonnie here at Mach One we decided on both Sunny-Bonnie and so she came to find her place her and quickly excelled. Her first trip took her to Florida and the Fox Cry Trial which boasted a very large colored terrier turn out, she was well rewarded with a Reserve Colored Terrier Championship and we couldn’t have been prouder. Like her father she is a quite well manner terrier that is happy to spend her days asleep on the couch curled in your lap, but when it’s time to work she is every bit as deadly as her father. She has already worked coon and possum and laid waste to quite a few chipmunks in the yard, she should do well this summer controlling the ground-hog population.

Bonnie just turned 1 and is maturing slowly as any good terrier does. We have not decided who her first beaux will be but rest assured we will look high and low for a dog that can equal her so as not to dilute what strengths she possesses. She is truly a broken coat, which is nearly unheard of in any true Lakeland and has a tube for a chest which is also very hard to come by. These strengths are outdone only by her ability to cover ground, it’s awesome to watch her move and we thank her father for that strength. She truly got the best of each of her parents and is a lovely combination of these two types of terriers.