Fox terrier

“ I like the hound, but give me a well trained fox terrier as his companion, and I will get most every fox. They have no trouble to hole in less than six hours, there is where the terrier shines and puts in his work. He will enter the hole and that is the end of Mr. Fox. Sometimes he will bring him out of the hole to kill him, but more often he will kill him, then bring him out. There are times when he kills one that he cannot get out, owing to a short bend or other obstruction in the hole. ”

“ The Fox Terrier — Useful in Many Ways.
The dozens of types of this interesting, though generally impracticable terrier family we pass over, permitting us to give wider attention to the one or two types that have earned recognition. The ugly, little Irish terrier is sometimes used to good advantage for crossing, where heedless, reckless pluck is sought. These dogs are very game, yet remarkably good tempered with man. But they dearly love a fight, and have earned their commonly used nick-name "Dare-devils." ”

“ A DOG that's fit for anything, badger or fox, rats or rabbits, the Fox Terrier is of universal distribution. We meet him on the show bench, spruce and well groomed, exchanging wordy warfare with his neighbour; running with the hounds, ready for any work that may chance, or at his master's feet in the smoking room when the doings of the day are recounted---no matter where he may be, he will make himself at home, in cottage or in hall, so long as there is sport afoot in the daytime, and a dry bed to lie upon at nights. ”

“ But the hunter who traps the fox for its own sake, and not as an uncalculated extra to the mink-hunt or the beaver total, must go to the Far North, to the land of winter night and midnight sun, to obtain the best fox-skins.
It matters not to the trapper that the little kit fox or swift at run among the hills between the Missouri and Saskatchewan is the most shapely of all the fox kind, with as finely pointed a nose as a spitz dog, ears alert as a terrier's and a brush, more like a lady's gray feather boa than fur, curled round his dainty toes. ”

“ But it must be genuine affectation. The hauteur of a fox terrier lady with a stranger cad-dog is made infinitely more precious by the certainty that when the Parent’s eye is removed, it will immediately become transmuted into the most unbridled familiarity.
I recall a sunny summer morning when, on the lawn tennis ground at Drishane, Martin and I received a visit from the then parson of the parish, and from his large black retriever. Candy and Sheila, my fox terriers, ladies both, received it also, but in their case, with a dignity that we could not hope to emulate. ”

“ A biggish terrier is decidedly useful in places where he can work up to his fox, but in the majority of Lakeland borrans or earths, a smaller dog is to be preferred. A fox always takes good care to choose his defensive position underground, and a terrier has to attack him from below, and is thus at a disadvantage. ”

“ As soon as the hounds are thrown into covert, the terrier becomes the busiest in the field when endeavouring to find the fox; whenever the game is started, and the hounds running breast high, and at their utmost speed, this active little animal is seldom far behind, and is sure to be up at the first check. It is when the fox is supposed to have earthed, that the services of the terrier are most essentially required; he enters with the utmost eagerness, and soon informs the ear of the sportsman whether or not he is in, and at what distance from the mouth, when he is speedily dug out. ”

“ In my youth, when following the hounds, I have been delighted in witnessing the energy of a brace of terriers, who were sure to make their appearance at the slightest check, running with an ardour quite extraordinary, and incessant in their exertions to be with the busiest of the pack in their endeavours to find. If the fox takes to earth, the little brave terrier eagerly follows, and shows by his baying whether the fox lays deep or not, so that those who are employed in digging it out can act accordingly. ”

“ Color.—White should predominate; brindle, red, or liver markings are objectionable.
Symmetry, Size, and Character.—The dog must present a generally gay, lively, and active appearance. Bone and strength in a small compass, but this does not mean that a fox-terrier should be cloggy or in any way coarse. Speed and endurance must be looked to as well as power, and the symmetry of the foxhound taken as a model. The terrier must on no account be leggy, nor must it be too short in leg. It should stand like a cleverly made hunter, covering a lot of ground, yet with a short back. ”

“ On those greenswards were cats innumerable, and never a tree for cats to climb. There were rabbits and hares, and the hares were of a special kind that a good, hard-working fox-terrier could run down. On some days, for the sake of variety, there were sunny glades, swarming with rats, and afterwards there were many bones and no biscuits, and a soft rug before a blazing fire. The young fox-terrier (his name was Peter) determined to be very good. ”

“ It is an exceedingly useful animal; but not so indispensable an accompaniment to a pack of fox-hounds as it used to be accounted. Foxes are not so often unearthed as they formerly were, yet many a day's sport would be lost without the terrier. Some sportsmen used to have two terriers accompanying in the pack, one being smaller than the other. This was a very proper provision; a large terrier might be incapable of penetrating into the earth, and a small one might permit the escape of the prey. ”

“ Theoretically, one would naturally imagine that the Scottish terrier, the subject of this sketch, the West Highlander, the Skye, the Dandie Dinmont, and the Cairn, would be better adapted for entering narrow earths than the fox terrier, but men of experience hold that it is not so much the length of leg which determines a dog's capacity for going to ground as his general shape, and a good fox terrier proves in a practical manner, to the refutation of logicians, that he is equal to the task. ”

“ Such being the case, I lost no time in dressing and in calling my companion; and before another day had fairly begun, we were passing through the fresh clear air on our way to the hill, accompanied by two couple of fox-hounds, while an irrepressible terrier who would not be denied found its way to its owner's heels before we had gone many hundred yards.
Foxes in the Highlands are held in very different estimation from the same animal farther south. Death, meted out with all weapons and under all circumstances, is their lot whenever found ”

“ In the bunch is little Bob, the fox terrier, who tries hard but is not always able to keep up with the hounds in a race. He is active and gets over the ground lively for a small dog, but in a long chase is completely distanced and outclassed to his apparent disgust. ”

“ Upon entering the earth, discovery is soon made of the certainty of his retreat, by the terrier's "laying well at him," provided the fox has not turned in the earth: if he has so done, and they are face to face, they are both baying, or keeping each other at bay, till the controversy ends in digging out the fox, and letting in the hounds for their share of the entertainment, with the additional acquisition of blood for the advantage of the pack. ”

“ Some of these earths go a long way underground, and are composed of masses of rock and huge boulders, amongst which it is always difficult, and often dangerous, to work, in an attempt to unearth a fox which has gone to ground. Where a fox can go a small terrier can generally follow, but at times the dog is unable to return, and many a good terrier has lost his life in some underground retreat from which it was impossible to extricate him. ”

“ Terriers of the Sealyham type, short-legged, and broad-chested, whilst able to work in big badger earths, or wide drains, fail when it comes to negotiating narrow cracks and crevices in the rocks, such as foxes are so fond of taking refuge in, on the fells. It matters not how a terrier is bred, or what sort of a mongrel he is, so long as he is a worker, game and courageous to go up to his fox, bolt him, or make an end of him. “Handsome is as handsome does” is the motto on the fells, where nothing but real hard workers are tolerated for a moment. ”

“ Sometimes when a Fox is found in the earth, or is hunted in, the method is to dig him out immediately, after the following manner; take a good terrier, that is kept for that purpose, one that will lie at a Fox, then you must listen and sound him as the warreners do their line ferrets; dig a trench across the angle, and, when you have got to the angle, perhaps he will fly back, as they frequently do, then sink another trench near him, and when you have dug down to him, take care he does not bite you, as he is a fierce animal, when drove to desperation, and bites very hard ”

“ In fox-hunting, when the fox is supposed to have gone to earth, the fact can only be ascertained in many cases by the excellence of the terrier attending the pack, who has in general strength and speed sufficient to keep him from being far behind. ”

“ A big dog-fox bred on the fells, is no mean antagonist for a terrier; in fact, if the latter is a small one, it may on occasion meet death at the white fangs of the fox. Reynard is no coward; when forced to fight he can put up a terrific battle. ”

“ When this happens, the dog often gets badly marked, until another terrier can get behind the fox and force him to change his ground. When run to ground even in a big earth, a hunted fox sometimes elects to bolt very quickly. I remember on one occasion watching a fox enter a very strong earth, and before hounds could get to the spot, it bolted, went to ground again a few yards further on, and finally bolted and made straight away, to afford a good hunt. ”

“ However that may be, the breed was only recognized by the English Kennel Club in 1886, and catalogued under title of “Welsh or English wire-haired black-and-tan terriers.”
Uses.—Essentially a vermin-dog, “dead game.”
* Scale of Points, Etc.
Head.—Skull flat, rather wider between ears than the wire-haired fox-terrier. Jaws powerful, clean cut, rather deeper and more punishing—giving head a more masculine appearance than that [118] usually seen on a fox-terrier. Stop not too defined; fair length from stop to end of nose. Nose black. ”

“ There are fashions in dogs, the same as in other things, and I can remember a great many "crazes" for different breeds of dog. Fox Terriers, which are smart, lively, game little fellows, well able to adapt themselves to almost any circumstances, have had a long term of favour, and are still largely kept, perhaps as largely as any breed of their size; another element in their favour, is their not having much coat, and so not bringing in much mud upon them, even in dirty weather, if kept in the house. ”

“ My visit afterwards bore fruit in Vanity Fair, for I represented him as I saw him, nearly bursting through his light grey tweed suit with a kingly headgear of black velvet enriched with gold braid and a golden tassel attached.
On leaving this country I was told that his chief ambition was to take back with him some good specimens of our best sporting dogs. Well-bred fox terriers were procured, therefore, but when shown to him he feared they would not be strong enough, for it was for hunting he required them, "for hunting the man," so I believe bloodhounds filled their place. ”

“ Every one who has owned fox terriers knows how they will crouch in the open grass and remain motionless, with quivering expectation for the other playfellow to arrive, and when the one in ambush [Pg 38] sees the other coming he springs toward him, as though he were going to destroy him! ”

“ His bushy tail is the envied trophy of the huntsman, who calls it a brush. His colours are white, black, red, yellow, bluish, or variegated; and in cold climates he always turns white in winter. The father takes no care of his children; but the mother performs her duty with the most exemplary devotion for four months.
The fox is generally a solitary, suspicious animal; even when as much tamed as he can be, he seems to think he is going to be deceived and ill-treated: perhaps he judges of others by himself. ”

“ Be careful how you breed your hounds. In forming a pack you will have to be dependent, in a great measure, on sires from other packs. But do not be tempted to run after a hound because he has won at Peterborough, or is very good-looking, or is even said to be very good in his work, if he comes of a strain that you do not like, or if his pedigree contains a lot of soft blood, or if his ancestors come from a kennel that you cannot trust. A chance-bred foxhound is like a chance-bred racehorse: he may be very good at his work, but he is worthless for breeding. ”

“ While hunting for food, they are mute, but when in captivity or irritated, they utter a short growl, like that of a young puppy. It is a singular fact that their bark is so undulated as to give an idea that the animal is at a distance, although at the very moment he lies at your feet. Although the rage of a newly-caught Fox is quite ungovernable, yet it very rarely happened that on two being put together they quarrelled. ”

“ One of the most notable features of the fox is his large and massive tail. Seen running on the snow at a distance, his tail is quite as conspicuous as his body; and, so far from appearing a burden, seems to contribute to his lightness and buoyancy. It softens the outline of his movements, and repeats or continues to the eye the ease and poise of his carriage. But, pursued by the hound on a wet, thawy day, it often becomes so heavy and bedraggled as to prove a serious inconvenience, and compels him to take refuge in his den. ”