CHAPTER XXXVIII 

 THE FOXTERRIER 



IF the Fox-terrier is not the most popular of all breeds, at any rate 

 he occupies a very exalted position in the hearts of the dog-loving 

 public ; while equally certain is it that he embodies most of those 

 qualities that go to make up an ideal Terrier. There are, however, 

 individuals who, in their over-zealousness for the breed whose cause 

 they have espoused, would go, and do go, a step farther, and assert 

 that he is the only true Terrier. Still other admirers are there who, 

 while they are ready to recognise that there may be other breeds 

 with some slight claim to the name and qualities of a Terrier, to 

 compare any one of them with the Fox-terrier is absurd. This 

 breed-worship is by no means confined to the Fox-terrier fancier, 

 but applies with almost equal force to the enthusiastic section of 

 every variety of dog. 



There is scarcely any breed whose evolution has been more 

 hotly discussed than that of the Fox-terrier. Some writers are 

 inclined to take the whole of the credit for the perfected form of 

 the dog for the modern fancier ; but the majority appear to think 

 that half a century or more ago as good dogs were to be found. 



Mr. T. H. Scott, who contributed the article on the Fox-terrier 

 to the First Edition of " British Dogs," and whose opinions are 

 entitled to great respect, wrote thus in connection with the early 

 history of the breed : " Among all those who have written on Fox- 

 terriers of late years, none appears to have been inclined to go to 

 the root of the matter, and tell us anything of the origin and early 

 history of this breed. A general idea seems to prevail that Fox- 

 terriers are a production of modern times, and this idea has, no 

 doubt, been fostered by the way in which spurious imitations of 

 them have been from time to time manufactured, and by the 

 ignorance of judges who have permitted various and very opposite 

 types to find favour. The Fox-terrier proper is not a modern 

 breed, and perhaps there were as good dogs fifty years ago as there 

 are now." 



Mr. J. A. Doyle, in his contribution to Vero Shaw's " Book of 



