Varieties of the Dog. 41 



vermin. He is faithful and tractable, and, under proper 

 care and training, is rarely surpassed. 



The entering and breaking of the fox terrier as a vermin 

 killer is not a process of great difficulty. His innate 

 intelligence rapidly leads him to look upon rats, mice, 

 etc., as his mortal foes, and himself as their especial 

 exterminator. When he is to be used with ferrets, he 

 must be broken to leave them alone, as they are apt to 

 make their appearance suddenly at one hole, from which 

 they pass to another. In order to accomplish this, the 

 ferret and the terrier should be allowed to be in the com- 

 pany of each other within a yard, stable, etc., when the 

 terrier must be carefully watched and cautioned not to 

 molest his companion. After a few such lessons, both 

 animals grow friendly, or at least the terrier learns not to 

 molest the ferret. Some terriers, owing to their breeding, 

 prove to be great cowards, and will not bear the bites of 

 their foes, which renders them perfectly useless as vermin 

 destroyers, to say nothing of the more formidable opera- 

 tion of unearthing the fox. To complete their necessary 

 courage, some breeders contend they should have the evi- 

 dent cross of the bull-dog. But sometimes young dogs of 

 this cross may prove rather timid at first, when they 

 should be encouraged by first trying their skill on young 

 rats, singly. They will thus gain confidence, and rapidly 

 increase in needful courage. This precaution, however, 

 is scarcely called for with respect to well-bred terriers ; 

 as with the opportunity for practice in the exercise of 

 the allotted vocation, they rapidly acquire the proficiency 

 for which the breed is remarkable. 



There has been a good deal of controversy among those 

 interested in this breed on the subject of the bull cross, 

 but the preponderance of evidence is certainly against it. 

 The chief argument is that this cross makes the dog lie 

 too close to his game, and punish him too much if he can 

 reach him, often absolutely preventing his bolting by hang- 

 ing on to him. In any case it is admitted that the strain 

 should not be made visible in the mouth, and that the 

 teeth should be therefore quite level. What is really 

 wanted is a dog small enough to enter any drain or earth 

 which will admit a fox, and consequently not above 16 lbs. 



