Hello and welcome to the Granddach website. We are Calum and Mairi Grant - We have 5 children aged, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12yrs. We live near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Calum is a Self Employed Painter and Decorator and Mairi is a Clinical Counsellor and previously worked at Ladysbridge Hospital for Special Needs and studied Clinical, Pastoral and CBT Counselling and Criminal Psychology and continues to study but at the moment stays at home with the children and dogs. Calum and Mairi both are undertaking training in Canine Behaviour and Psychology with 'Compass'- (the college of Canine studies and Animal Behaviour) and are working towards their KCAI accreditation with the Kennel Club. Calum and Mairi are also UK Kennel Club Affiliates as well as members of the Scottish Kennel Club and many breed clubs.

We enjoy showing and training our dogs and have the occasional litter from which we select our next prospects after which we may have pups available to selected homes.

We hope you find the site useful and informative and hope you can feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. In case you were wondering, GRANDDACH means GRANT'S in Scottish Gaelic. We love Scotland and in particular the west coast and islands - hence the choice of kennel affix - and most of our dogs are given a pedigree name which is connected to Scotland.

My love of terriers began in childhood (Mairi) when we went on a family holiday to a caravan park in Inverness when I was about 11 years old. An Airedale terrier seemed to appear from nowhere on the park and took a shine to my father and decided to become his best buddy, with the result that everywhere my dad went for the entire holiday the dog appeared - even to the toilet and IN THE SHOWER!!! We have no idea where he came from or who he belonged to but we thought it was hilarious, except for dad!! It walked for miles behind us and all the way back, and from that point on my life's mission was to one day have Terriers.

In 1998 Calum and I got married, had a couple of kids and thought we would have a dog to complete our family - or so we thought (5 kids later !!!)

And so it all began, (aside from our rescue Miniature Pinscher bitch) we bought our first Airedale dog and later added a bitch, we had spent a lot of time learning breed specific information on Terriers and began showing our dogs, A few years later we had our first litter of these stunning terriers and are very proud of our offspring. Our foundation Airedales are sadly no longer with us and we do not have any Airedales at present. We have a great fondness and love for the Wire Haired Fox Terrier, and our interest in them was a very natural progression from Airedales. We have had Fox Terriers for many years, they too have given us and our kids a tremendous experience and many happy comedy filled years, we have very hopeful show prospects and have had a great overall experience, we now have our own Granndach Fox Terrier home bred generations and hope to breed our very own Granddach Champion. We currently only have 1show Fox Terrier "Oscar" (pictured on our website) . We currently have a few home bred Granddach Fox Terriers showing around the UK.

For many years we fancied the Miniature Bull Terrier but our circumstances were not suitable to have them until recently when we added our 2 Miniature Bull Terrier show bitches " Dayzee" and "Panzee." Responsible breeding and paying attention to health issues and temperament is the only way forward for this wonderful rarely seen breed of dog. They are much adored pets which we love dearly and we are enjoying getting to know a new breed, and indeed one which is very wrongly misunderstood and judged, they are our little clowns and they never fail to make us smile, even on a bad day! We are very excited about our future in this breed. They certainly have won our hearts with their loving nature and silly antics!! we are happy to answer questions about this breed to any enquirers. We hope to have a Miniature Bull Terrier litter in 2012, once our 2 ladies have undergone all the necessary health testing and test clear we will look seriously at this possibility.

We also have 2 Miniature Pinschers - Chyna and Coco, this is a breed we have a lot of experience of as we had a rescue Min Pin bitch 'Lacey' years ago, we also owned a male Min Pin named 'Boris'. This breed is the children's first choice for Junior Handling and they love working with this breed and Ben in particular shows great potential with the Miniature Pinscher (one of his favourite breeds) Chyna has been a very successful young bitch and already has 2 reserve CC's although she is now just a family pet, Coco has just begun showing and so far is proving to be a natural, we have high hopes for her, we adore the breed, love their energy and affection. They are quite unique and very comical.

Finally another breed we have had experience of in the past and one which will always be a favourite of ours is the Kerry blue Terrier, we recently added "Peggy" a Kerry Blue Terrier bitch pup to our kennel and she is truly wonderful, she will begin showing in February 2012 at 6 months old so we will see how she gets on in the show ring and consider our future in this breed depending on how she grows and shows.

When you have to have a pack consisting of 5 bitches and 1 dog and have them all get along with each other, it is hard work and training is a must, however we are very fortunate in that our pack is a very peaceful one but only because firm training was in place right from the start. We have time to entertain/stimulate/train them daily otherwise we would not recommend owning 4 breeds. We would like to be in a position where we would have a litter from our bitches (none of which we bred so far) in the future so to have a continued generation of our own breeding in the show ring. That way we know exactly the temperament, nature and character of the dogs we own which for us is very important, if you breed your own litters then you know for sure what you are dealing with and that they will be suitable around our children and home. This is our main motivation for breeding our own dogs rather than buying in other peoples dogs.Our oldest 3 children are very interested in Junior Handling and are members of the Young Kennel Club and the Junior Handling Association, Ben has been consistently placed at dog shows since 2009 and have had a very good start, hopefully all 3 will be showing frequently in 2011. Even the smallest 2 children are showing lots of interest in learning to handle dogs which at times causes much hilarity, I think even the dogs laugh!We are glad the children have shown such an interest in working with the dogs as it is important for them to realise the amount of work , money and time involved in raising a litter, keeping dogs in general and also training, grooming and preparing for show, they can learn animal husbandry from a young age so that when they grow up and have pets of their own they will be capable of caring for them properly and responsibly. It will hopefully give them a good hobby to take them through their teenage years as we know how easy it is for our teenagers to be led astray these days so we hope this is something they will remain interested in and get involved in to keep them busy. We have a very busy year ahead as we will have a Wire Fox Terrier dog, 2 Miniature Bull Terrier bitches, 2 Miniature Pinschers and a Kerry Blue Terrier showing as well as helping prepare Granddach pups owned elsewhere for the show ring, it will be a good challenge for us and the kids to be so busy showing and preparing.In total at home we have 6 dogs (including 2 youngsters and a male) therefore we are not a large kennel which is great for us as our dogs are very much our family pets as much as they are show dogs or otherwise, we have the time to exercise our dogs daily, although we have an acre of garden ground and surrounding countryside we like to take them out and about into town and public places each day and have them socialise with other dogs and people, we also attend ringcraft classes and puppy training as well as planning to eventually run our own puppy training classes.We usually only have a couple litters at most each year, many years we have no litters at all. Our dogs are carefully chosen to be fantastic companions for children and adults alike. They are wonderful additions to family life and we are excited at the prospect of seeing more of these around as they are becoming a rare sight these days.

As I write this in January 2012 we will have no Fox Terrier litters at Granddach for at least 2 years due to us focusing on showing however Oscar will continue to provide stud services so there will be Granddach related pups born in carefully selected responsible homes to carefully selected healthy and true to type bitches. These will be advertised on our website and enquiries are welcome.

We may however have a litter of Miniature Bull Terriers from Dayzee in 2012 but at this stage nothing definite planned.

We breed infrequently and only when we want to keep something from the litter for ourselves for showing, some of our surplus babies have gone to show/pet homes and are a great addition to these families. Most important to us however is the temperament and health of our dogs/pups above all else. We are blessed with very good dogs which have a great nature and our desire is to see others enjoy the same pleasure, we have young children who obviously come first, we therefore have to have dogs which we can trust to be around them all day So much of our focus is in breeding only from this temperament and true to type dogs and in socialising the pups and as you can imagine with 5 youngsters on the go they get played with lots. We spend a lot of time in early training to get the pups off on the right track , we have dogs that are very much within breed standard and expect our offspring to also be of this quality therefore we do encourage new owners to consider showing as there is always a possibility of a future champion. We are introducing more dogs into the showring in the hope of making up a Granddach champion, we enjoy the fun and the challenge as do the dogs and we plan to do more showing in the near future although this is by no means the most important aspect of what we do. and at no point will be to the detriment of our dogs and their happiness or wellbeing, they are part of our family first and foremost and whatever else happens is a bonus.We qualified for Crufts with dogs every year since 2008 but with a young family we were not able to actually be there however in 2011 our Fox Terrier Oscar attended and won a 2nd at Crufts at his first ever big show so he is off to a very good start, in the month after Crufts he had several terrier class wins and terrier group wins at both Open and Championship shows. We have high hopes for him and think he has great potential. We currently have 4 dogs qualified for Crufts 2012 as well as other Granddach pups we have bred living elsewhere. Oscar automatically qualified for Crufts 2012 and also Chyna owing to her 2 reserve CC's has a lifetime qualification for Crufts.

Our breeds are becoming endangered and only by breeding responsibly and carefully and ethically will we ensure these lovely dogs continue being seen in years to come. All our litters are very carefully planned and all our surplus pups have good homes before they are born. All of our adult dogs have any neccesary health screening and testing and we have had no health issues arise in any of our dogs at Granddach. Seeing all our pups arriving into the world and watching them grow up and go to great homes is such a pleasure, although we miss each and every one when they go. We are very particular as to where our surplus pups go and have a waiting list which affords us the ability to choose the most suitable forever homes. We are 'KC Assured Breeders' and therefore strictly follow the necessary requirements of the scheme which in turn ensures the pups are off to the best start possible, it ensures we never become complacent and our new puppy owners can be confident of this also. Our adult dogs have undergone any necessary health checks required by the Kennel Club and individual breed clubs and we had a Kennel Club Assured breeder scheme inspection late in 2011 which went very well and we have a copy of the report available if anyone wishes to see it.

On the rare occasion we have a litter our new puppy owners leave with a KC registration paper, Microchip, Vaccinations, 5 generation pedigree paper, KC Assured Breeders puppy sales wallet with all the information needed regarding their new baby, a breed book, a crate and bedding, lead and collar, a few weeks supply of food and an after-sales service where they can feel free to contact us for advice or grooming and indeed just to catch up and discuss how they are getting on.. Our pups are raised in the family home and love being part of everyday life. They are taken in the car to get them used to travelling and have also been known to sit on command before they leave us. They are extensively socialised and we begin paper training and have them wear collars and walk on the lead.If you have any questions in regards to our breeds, our showing, our litters or indeed general canine enquiries we would be more than happy to answer any questions and discuss our dogs with you. The breeds we have are by no means renowned to be easy dogs to have, the terriers are stubborn and challenging and can be dominant with other dogs on one hand requiring a firm but fair and consistent training and therefore may not be the breed for everyone, the Toy breeds have no idea of their size and can be just as challenging as larger breeds on the other hand they are among the most patient, friendly, fun loving and robust dogs, great with children and people, not too demanding and in the right hands an absolute pleasure but in the wrong hands - as with any breed - they can be a potential nightmare. Our experience with all the breeds we have has always been a very positive one and bearing in mind we have 5 young children we have to make very responsible choices because naturally our childrens safety comes first as does the safety of prospective owners and their families, the temperament of our dogs is wonderful and they are fantastic with children but a dog is a dog! so with this in mind we ask that only very serious knowledgeable people who have done their breed specific homework approach us with puppy enquiries as we have the care and welfare of our dogs and puppies as priority in all we do here at Granddach.Thanks for taking the time to read about us and our dogs.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE CONSIDERING A PUPPY

Do You have the time to devote to a dog's needs?

Do you have the finances to supply all your dog's needs?

Are you able to exercise and provide stimulation for the dog according to its needs?

Are you equipped to train the dog and socialise it?

Will you still be willing to groom/exercise/provide for your dog each day in 5 years time and 10 years time?

Have you got adequate knowledge of dogs and your breed in particular?

"Your dog may be living with humans in a human world, but his instincts remain pure dog."

"The secret of successful training is to learn how to communicate with your dog in a way he understands."

"It is easier to blame problem behaviour on a dog's character than to look at how the environment we have created may be affecting it."

Dogs unfortunately get the blame for being badly behaved in many instances, ie Rottweilers have a reputation for being nasty when in actual fact statisitically thay are among the most steady breeds with fewest attacks, it is only that when they do attack it tends to be more serious than a Yorkshire Terrier for example which stastically is more likely to bite, the smaller breeds are by far more likely to be a handful if not raised properly and it has EVERYTHING to do with how the dog is raised and socialised and very little to do with the breed of dog, if any breed is purchased from a responsible, caring breeder and raised in the right way it will be very unlikely to ever pose a problem or a risk however to buy a dog from an unknown breeder or backstreet breeder and not raise it properly can lead to serious consequences. A toy poodle is as capable of attack as a Doberman or other breed wrongly deemed dangerous if it is not treated as it ought to be, so with this in mind we only would have our pups go to those we consider responsible and knowledgeable of our breeds and dogs in general. There have been many temperement tests done in dogs and we are happy to say that all our breeds are among the most steady and safe dogs to have around people and in particular children, based on various temperament tests our breeds score well into the 90% and above range for safety and reliability but we cannot become complacent as we have stated before, any dog as soon as it is born has potential to harm if not raised correctly.

People have a tendency to humanise dogs and we forget they are dogs. The do not like to be pampered like humans, they definitely do not understand the English language(or any other for that matter) but yet we have conversations with them??? We dont like it when a puppy comes home and goes poo poo everywhere, we expect them to know our feelings and words and to comply to our lifestyle and this is not the case, they have minds of their own, they enjoy being dogs and feel more secure if treated with respect as a dog and not a human, many behaviour problems are born out of anthropomorphism and our inability to seperate canine from human, research shows that dog psychology is very dissimilar to human psychology and when we cross the line and humanise dogs we see jealousy, bites, attacks, nervous behaviours and many more unattractive traits, we would strongly recommend any potential owners read some material on dog behaviour, ie 'Cesar Millan', 'Victoria Stillwell' etc as well as breed specific books so that they are properly prepared for their important task of raising a well balanced well mannered companion which can go on to keep our breed characteristics and reputation good so that generations of these terriers in the future can be just as sound as those which have gone before.