The Wire-Haired Fox Terrier 437 



breed and the classes had much improved. Mr. Hunnewell had Oakleigh 

 Bruiser; Mr. Smith had Cribbage, Janet and Pattern; Mr. Mayhew had 

 Brittle; and Mr. Ritchie and the Hempstead Farm had some very good 

 American-bred dogs, mainly the get of Brittle and Suffold Trimmer, the 

 Hempstead Farm dogs being the ones Mr. Mortimer had bought and bred. 

 The great improvement in the breed came with the advent of the get 

 of that wonderful dog, Meersbrook Bristles, the first of whose progeny 

 to reach this country were Endcliffe Banker and Endcliffe Brisk. The 

 former won in the open dog class at New York in 1895 and Brisk won in the 

 dog puppy class. Banker was a very good dog, and, passing into the kennel 

 of Mr. Lynn, then of Port Huron, Mich., he quite made that kennel by the 

 excellence of his puppies. He then went to Toronto and sired, among 

 others, Bank Note, a great winner in his year. Considering the limited 

 opportunities Banker had he did great work as a sire, and it is no credit to 

 wire-haired breeders that a dog which showed himself such an excellent sire 

 was so completely ignored by all but his owners. 



Not only did Meersbrook Bristles change the type of the wire-haired 

 terrier, but he had quite an influence upon such breeds as the Irish and 

 even the Welsh terriers. Since the days of the Irish setter Elcho we have 

 known no dog to so thoroughly stamp type and quality on a breed as did 

 Meersbrook Bristles. They came with more length and better carried-out 

 muzzles and showed more than the ordinary cleanness in cheeks, giving 

 as a whole a long, moderately wide head, the skull showing only a slight 

 widening at the ears. Added to this was a keen, typical expression, and, 

 as there was a strong family resemblance, type was more thoroughly estab- 

 lished than at any time in either section of the fox terriers. 



How this dog's influence came to extend to other terriers was owing 

 to a very large amount of the all-round judging being done in England by 

 some three or four judges, all terrier men in the main. This Meersbrook 

 Bristles type of head was undoubtedly most taking, and it became the type 

 more or less for all terriers judged by these all-round judges. Some of 

 the Welsh terriers sent over a few years ago were an approach to the wire- 

 haired terrier, and the Irish terrier was in danger of being ruined by the 

 craze for a long, narrow head. Fortunately the customary ebb in dog fads 

 set in again and we are getting back to correct variety type. 



Thornfield Knockout was one of the early good ones of this line, and 

 was one of the first importations to Major Carnochan's very successful 



