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CHAPTER XXXVII. 



THE FOX-TERRIER. 



IT is an indisputable fact that since the year 1875 the number of Fox-terriers exhibited at our 

 shows has steadily increased. The breed having much to recommend it in the way of 

 appearance, and not being of the impetuous disposition which is so characteristic of the modern 

 Bull-terrier, there is no wonder that it should have become fashionable, amongst the fair sex 

 especially. 



Unfortunately, at its first appearance, almost anything in the shape of a Terrier which was 

 hound-marked, and which had its tail removed, was received by the uninitiated as a Fox-terrier. 

 Dog shows have, however, taught people differently, and the worst class of dog which used to 

 be palmed off as a Fox-terrier has almost disappeared. It is nevertheless by no means to be 

 taken for granted that the breed has shaken down into one regular even type. There are at 

 least two principal schools of breeders, holding entirely antagonistic views concerning the class 

 of dog which they want to see produced, and these two schools are in their turn subdivided 

 into a number of smaller factions, who differ in certain details from the party to which they 

 claim to belong. 



Before proceeding to trace out the history of the modern Fox-terrier, and remark upon the 

 differences of opinion which exist between his main supporters, we propose giving the remarks 

 of several gentlemen who, being recognised authorities, have kindly given us the result of their 

 researches. Foremost is Mr. J. A. Doyle, of Crickhowell, whose kindness in supplying us with 

 so much valuable information requires our most cordial acknowledgment. 



The antiquity and the precise origin of the modern Fox-terrier are involved in considerable 

 obscurity, and I cannot pretend to do more than to point out a few scattered facts bearing 

 on the subject. But before I approach that question it would be well to brush away certain 

 fallacies on this matter which have, I believe, exercised a very deleterious effect on the breed of 

 Fox-terriers. We are often told that the Fox-terrier is not a pure breed at all, but a manu- 

 facture a compound of divers elements. Now, there is just enough of truth in this theory to 

 make it dangerous. It is true enough that a large proportion of the dogs whom we see on 

 the show benches, many of them more or less true Fox-terriers in outward appearance, are 

 produced by ingenious, or more often by lucky crosses. It is probably true that the very 

 best of them are not wholly free from alien crosses of Beagle and Bull-terrier. But I feel 

 sure that a careful analysis and investigation of pedigrees will prove that the best Fox- 

 terriers are those which for many generations have been bred from dogs of one definite type, 

 and in whose pedigrees there is as little alloy as possible. To work out this in full would 

 oblige me to anticipate what will come in more fittingly when I proceed to sketch the various 

 families into which Fox-terriers are divided. 



Whether the Fox-terrier was in his origin a cross-bred or made-up dog is another question, 

 and a far harder one to answer. But even if he be so, that fact does not take him out of the 



