Scottie Dog Facts You May Not Know
I have always loved vintage, and I have always loved Scottie dogs. They appear in everything from decor to glassware to fashion to literature made most popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, but not limited to those eras. I was thrilled when my husband suggested we get a Scottie dog for our family dog.
Now, not only is my vintage collection growing (everyone loves to give us Scottie presents), but my love for this iconic dog knows no bounds. In honor of our dear Maisie Maclennane Francis’s first birthday, I have researched and put together many Scottie Dog facts you may not know. And look how many of your favorite classic movie stars and icons from the 30s and 40s have owned and loved Scotties!
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If you have a fact to share or want to tell me about your Scottie, please comment below!
• Scottish Terriers are also called Aberdeen Terrier falling under the Skye Terrier umbrella in a group of Highland breeds which include Dandie Dinmont, and West Highland White Terrier.
• The First Earl of Dumbarton nicknamed the breed “the diehard.”
• The modern breed is said to be able to trace its lineage back to a single female, named Splinter II.
• The first written records about a dog of similar description to the Scottish Terrier dates from 1436, when Don Leslie described them in his book: The History of Scotland 1436-1561.
• Recorded history and the initial development of the breed started in the late 1870s with the development of dog shows. The exhibition and judging of dogs required comparison to a breed standard and thus the appearance and temperament of the Scottie was written down for the first time.
• Scotties were exhibited for the first at Alexander Palace in England In 1879, the following year they began to be classified in a similar way they are today.
• Scotties were introduced to America in the early 1890s, but it was not until the years between World War I and World War II that the breed became popular.
• The Scottish Terrier Club of America (STCA) was formed in 1900 and a standard written in 1925. The Scottish Terrier was recognized by the United Kennel Club in 1934.
• By 1936, Scotties were the third most popular breed in the United States.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) was proud owner of Fala “most photographed dog in the world.”
• Scottish Terriers have won best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show more than any other breed (except for the Wire Fox Terrier, 13 times), a total of nine times.
• The Scottie is the only breed of dog that has lived in the White House more than three times. President Franklin D. Roosevelt with Fala, Duffy and Mr. Duffy. Eleanor Roosevelt with Meggie and President George W. Bush with Barney and Miss Beazley.
• The Scottie is also renowned for being featured in the popular board game, Monopoly, as a player token. When the game was first created in the 1930s, Scotties were one of the most popular pets in the United States.
• Scotties are born with floppy puppy ears. The ears stand up of their own accord, usually by the time they are about 10 weeks of age.
• You can always tell a Scottie’s mood by its very expressive ears!
• Angus is a Scottie fictionalized by Marjorie Flack
Famous people who have owned Scottie Dogs:
• Queen Victoria
• Eva Braun
• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
• Ed Whitfield
• Rudyard Kipling
• President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski
• Tatum O’Neal
• Bette Davis
• Humphrey Bogart
• E.B. White
• Dorothy Parker
• Shirley Temple
• Joan Crawford
• Vera Ellen
• Dorothy Lamour
• Julie Andrews
• Betty Hutton
• Lionel Barrymore
• John Barrymore
• Dustin Hoffman
• Charles Boyer
NEW!!! Vintage Bakelite-like Scottie Dog Wine Glass Charms now in my Etsy Store!
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Did I miss a Scottie Fact? Want to share something special You know about Scotties? Please post here!
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Tam Francis is a writer, blogger, swing dance teacher, avid vintage collector, and seamstress. She shares her love of this genre through her novels, blog, and short stories. She enjoys hearing from you, sharing ideas, forging friendships, and exchanging guest blogs. For all the Girl in the Jitterbug Dress news, give-aways, events, and excitement, make sure to join her list and like her FB page! Join my list ~ Facebook page
Tkd for info. I had 4 scotties and miss them all!!😢❤
They are characters. I think we’re going to get another one this summer.
The Door County Scottie Rally was started in 2001 as an annual event to celebrate the presence of this noble breed. Each May Scottish Terriers and their families travel from ACROSS North America to Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin to participate in an annual FUNdraising event which boasts the largest gathering of this fantastic breed! . Activities include a PARADE of Scots led by a pipe and drum band, Scottie dog races, abdominal screening ultrasounds, silent and LIVE auctions, short workshops & fellowship! Over $285,000 has been donated to Scottish Terrier health research and Scottie Rescue efforts. http://Www.doorcountyscottierally.com
Door County is one of the top tourist destinations in the Midwest and has 250 miles of shoreline.
WOW! I’ll tell my husband about this. Sounds like a fun vacation with our furbaby.
Hi have had Scotties for over 40 years in fact I breed and show them here in Australia. In respect to famous people who had Scotties David Bowie and General Eisenhower also had them and an Australian author May Gibbs who wrote Snugglepot and Cuddlepie an iconic Aussie book had them and also wrote a book called “A Scottie in Gumnut Land”
Wow! Thanks for the additional Scottie facts!
Edinburgh has a statue dedicated to Greyfriars Bobby. His story is a great read.
That is so cool. I just looked it up. Here’s a link about the famous Scottie! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby Thanks for commenting.
Hi there – i checked out your site looking for the Walkers retro icing tips fir shortbread s
Scotties. Hmmm…couldn’t find any. ???
I found a link, but it doesn’t give a tutorial. It would be GREAT to know what kind of icing. I’ll do some more research and see what I can dig up. If I find something, I’ll add it to my FREEBIES page :) Thanks!
I’ve had Scotties since 1980 – best breed in the world :) Currently, we have Moose (5) and just adopted Shay (2) in August. One correction to your list of famous people who have been owned by Scotties – it’s Vera Ellen, not Allen. She starred (along with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye & Rosemary Clooney) in White Christmas, which happens to be my favorite movie of all time!
Thanks Denise, I’ll make that correction. I’m so inspired by my Scottie, I’m thinking of writing a series of Murder Mysteries with a detective Scottie ala Asta in the Thin Man series. I can’t imagine owning another breed. I’m sure we’ll have Scotties for the rest of our lives. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your Scottie love!
I love Mysteries and my scotties. That would be awesome. I have Monty and Willow. We all watch the Thin Man series every Christmas.
Hi! My name is Kelly & my Scottie’s name is Kadie! She is a full bred AKC Scottie, but her Mom was fully black and her Dad was a reddish wheaten color (very rare). Kadie is beautiful and has remarkable markings! Also, she just beat liver cancer (cancer is VERY common in Scotties!) and we are celebrating with a trip to see the ocean for the first time together this fall! We would love to have you all join us on our journey as we spread the word about Canine cancer and Comparative Oncology. 💜. http://www.kadieandkelly.blogspot.com
Thank you for a wonderful blog!!
Kelly, thank you for the link and your work with canine cancer. Our Scottie Maisie had a large tumor removed, than goodness, not cancerous, but very scary and might have turned into cancer if we’d ignored it. We keep a close eye on our girl. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your blog with us! http://www.kadieandkelly.blogspot.com
Tam
As a wheaten colored Scottie owner, I read that true scotties only come in 3 colors black, brindle, and wheaten.
You are correct about the three colors. However, the wheaten color can vary from an almost white-blond to a deep red. Our Andy has a mix of all these shades in his coat; but, if one sees him from a distance he appears to be a so,I’d wheaten color. Does this help to explain the color variances?
Ah yes, I see what you’re saying. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and stopping by!
Hi there I have a beautiful Scotty princess called Madeline. We in Cape Town South Africa and there are quite a number (and growing) of Scotties around the country. Every month we hold a Scotty Walk at different venues around Cape Town and then everybody brings something to give to our chosen animal rescue group for the month. Our highest turnout of Scotties at one walk was 64. I am sure any Scotty owner can imagine the noise and action that accompanied that!
What a great idea to have a Scottie walk :-) I love it. If other were more scotties in my town I would organize something similar. Thanks for stopping by.
tam
Thanks for sharing all the interesting scottie facts – Angus & the Ducks was one of my favorite books when I was little. My family has had scotties when I grew up – their names were Buttons and Angus. Now that I am grown up, I have carried on the tradition – Sprocket (8 year old Wheaten scottie) and Spott ( 3 year old black scottie) are our boys right now. Spike, Sparky and Speck were my first three. I post about our adventures and my scottie collectibles on my blog – here is a link to the scottie posts: http://bricolage-julier.blogspot.com/search/label/scottish%20terriers
I’m amazed at difference in their personalities. I have 2 scotties. ..Elwood is very stand-offish with strangers and anything new coming into the house. He has to bark at everything and everyone while hiding behind the dining room table. Jake, on the other hand, loves everyone and wants to be the center of attention. He also is my naughty boy who very happily is constantly getting into trouble with no regrets. They are a fun pair!
I LOVE your Scottie names, Elwood and Jake. How funny about Jake being such a ham. LOL And although I only have the one Scottie, she’s so different than any other dog I’ve owned. Oodles of personality. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your Scotties with me!
http://www.indyandlucy.com and FB: The Adventures of Indy and Lucy..please visit
What a GREAT blog! Thanks for sharing. Scottie fans. Check out her blog!
My second Scottie, MacTavish, loved to climb the ladder to our (above ground) pool deck, then step out onto the pool edge. He’d walk the circumference of the pool that way over and over, especially when my husband was cleaning the pool. When I went in the pool, he’d step out onto one of the old fashioned blow-up channel floats and make it move around the pool by pumping the headrest with his feet.
WOW! That is so cool. Our Scottie hates the water. Just today she tried to side-step puddles to go for a ride in the car. Thanks for sharing your story and stopping by the site!
Tam
I decided to display most of my Scottie collection in one room…the guest bathroom. The last party we had a gang of folks checking out the floor to ceiling scottie pictures and the two shelves of scottie statues…my Scottie, MacBeth, was very proud!
That sounds awesome. Do you have pix posted somewhere. I’m just starting my scottie collection and have little bit around each room. I love the idea of having them all gathered together! Brilliant. Thanks for sharing and stopping by to comment!
How wonderful to know about all this! My Scottie is 6 years old and a 6 years my passion. His name is Pimenta and we live in Rio, Brazil. He loves going out but he suffers with our hot weather. At home he´s in air conditioned ambiente.
Our little scottie has a hard time in the heat, too. We try to take her swimming, but she doesn’t like it. We even got her a little life vest so she can float. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Nice to meet you and your Pimenta!