CHAPTER XXIX 

 THE WHITE ENGLISH TERRIER 



THIS dog, one would think, ought, by the dignified title which 

 he bears, to be considered a representative national terrier, 

 forming a fourth in the distinctively British quartette whose 

 other members are the Scottish, the Irish, and the Welsh 

 Terriers. Possibly in the early days when Pearson and Roo- 

 croft bred him to perfection it was hoped and intended that 

 he should become a breed typical of England. He is still the 

 only terrier who owns the national name, but he has long ago 

 yielded pride of place to the Fox-terrier, and it is the case that 

 the best specimens of his race are bred north of the border, 

 while, instead of being the most popular dog in the land, he is 

 actually one of the most neglected and the most seldom seen. 

 At the Kennel Club Show of 1909 there was not a single 

 specimen of the breed on view, nor was one to be found at 

 the recent shows at Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, 

 or Islington, nor at the National Terrier Show at Westminster. 

 It is a pity that so smart and beautiful a dog should be suffered 

 to fall into such absolute neglect. One wonders what the 

 reason of it can be. Possibly it is that the belief still prevails 

 that he is of delicate constitution, and is not gifted with a 

 great amount of intelligence or sagacity ; there is no doubt, 

 however, that a potent factor in hastening the decline is to be 

 found in the edict against cropping. Neither the White 

 Terrier nor the Manchester Terrier has since been anything 

 like so popular as they both were before April, 1898, when the 

 Kennel Club passed the law that dogs' ears must not be 

 cropped. 



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