444 BRITISH DOGS 



haired Terrier dogs of the present day that is just the right size lor 

 be it remembered that the Wire-haired Terrier has for a long time 

 been the companion of rabbit- and rat-catchers, so that his size has 

 been permitted to increase in a way to unfit him for his Iegitimat3 

 purpose. Mr. Colling, of Marske-by-the-Sea, is never without a 

 good dog or bitch of the sort, and from his Patch, who hailed from 

 the Hurworth Kennels, he bred Motley, a smooth dog, by Old 

 Jester, who won several prizes in a good company. Mr. A. H. 

 Easten has been very successful with several of his, of whom Tip, 

 by Old Venture, did great things in his day ; and we have the north 

 country further strengthened now by Mr. Petler, of York, having 

 purchased Gorse, who is without doubt the best show dog of the 

 day albeit, by no means perfect. 



The bitches, strangely enough, seem to be considerably in 

 advance of the dogs in show properties ; and probably no one has 

 brought out so many good ones as Mr. G. F. Richardson, who 

 carried all before him with Bramble, Birch, and Bristles the last 

 two being now the property of Mr. Shirley, who should be able to 

 breed something good from them with his well-known dog Spike. 



Mr. A. FitzRoy may be mentioned as one who has exhibited 

 Terriers of this breed with success, his Madge and Minx being very 

 good samples. Then, of course, there has always been something 

 out of the common hailing from Nottingham, either from Mr. 

 Wootton's, Mr. Terry's, or Mr. Hulse's kennels. The Rev. J. 

 Russell, who is certainly the father of Fox-terrier breeders, tells us 

 that he has bred his dogs since 1815, and their pedigree has been 

 kept quite pure, except that he once admitted an admixture of 

 Old Jock a high compliment to the old dog. 



The points of the Wire-haired Fox-terrier are precisely the 

 same as those of the Smooth one, with the exception of the coat, 

 which should be broken. The harder and more wiry the texture of 

 the coat is, the better. On no account should the dog look or feel 

 woolly, and there should be no silky hair about the poll or else- 

 where. The coat should not be too long, so as not to give the dog 

 a shaggy appearance, but, at the same time, it should show a marked 

 and distinct difference all over from the Smooth variety. This is 

 the Fox-terrier Club's description of the coat, and I have nothing 

 to add to it, except perhaps ' Stonehenge's ' remark about the 

 necessity for plenty of undercoat. The great thing is to get Wire- 

 haired Terriers small enough, for they offend more in this respect at 

 present than do the Smooth ones. We must remember, however, 

 that mere weight does not constitute size, and that show condition 

 means at least i|lb. more than working condition. It must also be 

 remembered that a somewhat oversized Terrier can oftentimes be 

 of service, while he is able to get along when the small one 

 must be led or carried. I have seen a dog running with the 



