Twelve Thousand Fox Terriers ! 105 



grown and appears likely to turn out good enough to keep ; 

 so I judge that a fair average to take will be, say, one in 

 four born comes to be named and entered at the Kennel 

 Club. There are usually about 180 fox terriers registered 

 monthly at the Kennel Club, making the extraordinary 

 number of something like 2160 annually, and, as I have 

 suggested, that one in four born would probably be entered, 

 we have a grand total of 9000 fox terriers bred each year. 

 This number is, however, quite a minimum, for very many 

 more are reared by individuals who are not exhibitors — who 

 breed dogs for hunting and other purposes — and who are in 

 happy ignorance as to dog shows, registration, and Kennel 

 officials. Taking such into consideration, I should say that 

 12,000 fox terriers are bred in the United Kingdom each 

 year ; and it seems more than passing strange that so few 

 good ones and no perfect specimens are ever produced 

 amidst such a number. 



Surely there never was so popular a dog, and he, 

 unlike his noble master, does not appear to have become 

 spoiled by flattery and by the adulations of the wealthy. 

 In manner he remains the same as he always was ; his 

 eyes brighten and he springs up to ■' attention " when 

 he hears the cry "Rats!" now, when he is worth 400/., 

 just as he did when he was a comparative " street dog" and 

 worth less than a five-pound note. If in manners he has 

 not changed, he has altered somewhat in appearance, for 

 now he is too often a leggy, flat-ribbed dog, and frequently 

 •deficient in expression and character compared with what 

 he was in his early days. Still, our leading kennels keep 

 introducing some terrier-like dogs — Mr. R. Vicary's, Mr. 

 Tinne's, Mr. Redmond's, Mr. Powell's, and Mr. A. H. 

 Clarke's, to wit, and no more terrier-like animals in character 



