76 The Fox Terrier. 



at him the better he suited, his great fault being one 

 common to all much-shown dogs — a general listlessness in 

 the ring. When " rats " were astir Rattler was all over 

 the place, and, although he had many detractors — for the 

 most part defeated opponents — the name of the " dreaded" 

 will for long remain one of the foremost in the annals of 

 fox terrier history. Had Rattler been shown and knocked 

 about as a puppy, would he have worn so well and looked 

 so fresh as he did when last on the bench ? is a question I 

 would put to those who, nowadays, so persistently advocate 

 and support puppy classes. 



About the time of Rattler's death, aspersions were cast 

 as to his breeding, so Mr. W. Hulse, a well known 

 Nottingham fancier, took up the cudgels in the old 

 champion's defence, and wrote as follows : — " I saw Rattler 

 when a puppy three weeks old, suckling with his fellow 

 pups at Mr. Sam. Turner's house, Chesterfield-street, 

 Nottingham. The pups were marked ; two black and tan 

 marked dogs, two pups — Rattler and Ripple — nearly all 

 white, and one all white bitch puppy. They were by my 

 dog Fox, a very rich-coloured dog, rather heavily marked, 

 out of a bitch all a terrier, but with a cherry coloured nose, 

 and with a small liver coloured ear ; otherwise a grand show 

 bitch. Rattler was sold when five weeks old, to a fellow 

 workman of Mr. Turner's, for 5.?. and a canary, and was 

 well reared, and had every appearance of making a big dog. 

 I had the chance of buying him, but I really thought he 

 would make a 251b. dog, so I declined him. When about 

 a year old, Charlie Ingleby bought him for a sovereign, and 

 never in my life did I see a dog grow into so much quality, 

 into such a good dog, than when Ingleby showed him at 

 Belle Vue, Manchester, and o-ot v.h.c. with him ; and then 



