The power of the dog/The Fox Terrier

by Arthur Croxton Smith

"Shun, shun the bowl, that fatal facile drink,
--------
There may be silver in the blue-black, all
I know of is the iron and the gall."
Rudyard Kipling.

FOX TERRIER PUPPY

THE FOX TERRIER

For huntin' the varmin reet clever was he,
And the house frer a' robbers his bark wad keep free,
Could baith fetch and carry; could sit on a stool,
Or, when frisky, wad hunt water rats in a pool.
Weel-bred Cappy, famous an'd Cappy,
Cappy's the dog. Talli-ho! Talli-ho!

 

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.

Talk about terriers takes us back many centuries. The worthy Dr. Caius, founder of the college at Cambridge, tells us about them, and a few years later we have old Turbervile's dissertation in his "Book of Hunting." The worst of it is, we do not know how much is Turbervile, how much Du Fouillot, whom he translated, and how much still earlier writers from whom the Frenchman borrowed. What we do know is that our ancestors dug the fox and "badgerd" after the manner in which we dig them now-a-days, and that they used terriers in the sport. We have also evidence that terriers of various kinds existed, Turbervile writing "You must understand that there are sundrie sortes of terriers, whereof wee hold opinion that one sorte came out of Flaunders or the low Countries, as Artoys and thereabouts, and they have crooked legges, and are short beared moste commonly. Another sorte there is which are shagged and streight legged; those with the crooked legges will take earth better than the other, and are better for the Badgerd, bycause they will lye longer at a vermine; but the others with streyght legges do serve for twoo purposes, for they wyll Hunte above the grounde as well as other houndes, and they enter the earthe with more furie than the others: but they will not abide so long, bycause they are too eagre in right, and therefore are constrayned to come out to take the ayre: there are both good and badde of bothe sortes."

True, good sir, even unto this day there are good and bad of both sorts; and there are good and bad sportsmen also, but I doubt if our modern Nimrods are sufficiently luxury-loving to take with them air cushions when they go badger digging. Turbervile's "Lords or Gentlemen which will follow this pastime" were admonished to have halt a dozen mats upon which to lie as a protection against the damp earth, and "some used to carrie a windbed whiche is made of leather strongly sowed on all the foure sides, and having a Pype at one of the corners to blowe it as you would blowe a Baggepype."

It was probably somewhere about the beginning of the last century that the fox terrier blossomed from the nondescript stage, into definite shape. When Peter Beckford, cousin of the author of "Vathek," published his classic work on hunting a hundred and thirty years ago, there were at least black, white, and red terriers, and doubtless also variants on these colours, as little trouble seems to have been taken over the breeding, so long as the dogs were staunch, and capable of doing the work for which they were required. The present day aristocrat of the show bench has in him the blood of a long line of ancestors who have done yeoman service in their time, and, though he may differ in details, the general conformation remains much the same. Of course, he is better looking, the signs of race being more apparent, but whether or no he is any the worse adapted to fulfil his duties is a subject of endless controversy into which I need not enter in this place. The chief point to consider in this connection is the family rather than the individual. The owner of a dog worth some £500 is not particularly keen about letting him run any risk of injury, but if his collaterals and progeny are worthy knights of the held, we should not worry about that. The main thing is to see that the points which the exhibitor strives to produce are not incompatible with working qualities. The aim of these gentlemen is to breed a symmetrical dog which shall be built much upon the lines of a hunter, and it is necessary that he should have a hard coat fitting him for duties in all weathers. The markings, mere externals, are immaterial, although it is a common thing to hear a novice enlarge upon the beauties of his terrier because he happens to have some nice even black and tan upon his head. Such considerations as this should be left to the "fancier" pure and simple. In a toy it is perfectly legitimate to lay stress upon colour and marking, for his main object in life is to please the eye, but in a working dog conformation and stamina should have precedence over everything else. Fire and courage are essentials, without which a fox terrier, or a terrier of any kind, is but a sorry impostor, suitable only to adorn a cushion by the fireside. There may be individuals who prefer this kind of creature, but happily few are to be found in the ranks of terrier breeders.