The Kerry Blue Terrier is a breed of dog. In Ireland it is often called the Irish Blue Terrier. Originally bred to control "vermin" including rats, rabbits, badgers, foxes, otters and hares, over time the Kerry became a general working dog used for a variety of jobs including herding cattle and sheep, and as a guard dog. Today the Kerry has spread around the world as a companion and working dog. Despite winning Crufts (the most important UK dog show) in 2000, it remains an unfashionable breed, still distinctly uncommon, but not as threatened as some of the other terrier breeds such as Skye Terrier, Sealyham Terrier, and Dandie Dinmont Terrier.
Famous quotes containing the words kerry and/or blue:
“He’d gone to great expense
Keeping all the Kerry men
Out of that crazy fight;
That he might be there himself
Had travelled half the night.
How goes the weather?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“This side of the truth,
You may not see, my son,
King of your blue eyes
In the blinding country of youth,
That all is undone,
Under the unminding skies....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)