Vol. LVII. No. 2501. 
THE FOX TERRIER DOG 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 1, 1898. 
PER YEAR. 
A WERR-BRF.D FARM HAND. 
What He Does How He Does It 
That nine-tenths of the dogs now in the rural dis¬ 
tricts are worthless, I readily admit, hut that one good 
dog on a farm is of great value, no one, except he he 
covered all over with prejudice, can deny. When we 
breed from a sire and dam that have a long line of an¬ 
cestors bred and trained for a certain purpose, we 
know that the offspring will be like them, with very 
rare exceptions, and then most likely on account of 
some accident or mishap to the dam. The dog is no 
exception to this rule. We have no more idea what a 
mongrel pup will make than we have which way the 
wind will blow, this time next year. A dog one- 
fourth hound, one-fourth bull, and one-half shepherd 
has all three natures pulling against one another. 
His shepherd instinct says, “ I will drive the sheep,” 
and the bull nature says, “I will kill them”, and he 
does. 
Having a cultivated dislike for all cross-bred stock 
and poultry, and wanting a good dog, I tried several 
pure breeds and 
all proved true 
to their nat¬ 
ures, if kept un- 
d e r complete 
control. Some 
w o u 1 d g u a r d 
and do nothing 
else; some, for 
want of the ex¬ 
ercise of their 
true nature, 
would bring the 
cows up, at in¬ 
tervals, all 
through the 
day, and soon 
have the flow 
of milk cease. I 
decided to try 
a Fox terrier. 
Dogs of this 
breed were then 
scarce and 
high-priced. I 
paid a round 
price for a pup, 
hut did not tell 
my farm neigh- 
hors what I 
paid. I found in this pup two apparently distinct 
natures: The first impelled him to work for all ani¬ 
mals that burrow in the ground, from a Ground mouse 
to a Red fox. For this, they need no training or any 
example ; they take to it as naturally as a Fox hound 
takes to a fox trail. They will fight to death or vic¬ 
tory anything of this kind, whether under or above 
ground. They are comparatively as long-winded in a 
fight as a Fox hound is in a chase. A 16-pound Fox 
terrier will kill an animal, such as a coon, fox or wood¬ 
chuck, of much more than his own weight, outwind- 
ing his enemy, by just taking hold of the throat and 
staying like a steel trap until it is all over. The other 
nature referred to, is that they learn by observation. 
One Fox terrier is all that any farmer needs out on 
the farm with him. If he has more than one, he 
should leave all in the kennel but one, except when 
working for vermin or game. Two will imitate each 
other and become useless as farm dogs, and the old 
saying, that one boy is a boy, two boys a half of a 
boy, and three boys are no boy at all, well applies to 
Fox terriers on a farm. One will try to imitate every 
thing his master does, even to taking hold of the plow 
handles. If the farmer keeps his various stock in cer¬ 
tain stalls and fields, the dog will, in a very short 
time, learn where each belongs, and help to put and 
keep them there, and will give warning- if any get out 
of place. 
Last spring, my wife took a pup that had been 
stunted, by being crowded out while with its dam, 
and petted it and kept it with her. It would go in 
the garden with her, when she got vegetables for the 
table. But one day, it went with me to the potato 
patch, and when I looked for bugs on the potato vines, 
it as good as said, “ You just do not know anything at 
all.” It jumped around and wanted to tell me how to 
do, and then pulled off a potato vine and threw it 
down before me, and then another, and then looked 
me straight in the face as if to say, “ That is the way 
my mistress does.” Four years ago last spring, May 
and June were quite showery. On pleasant mornings 
and evenings, we went out into the pasture in which 
the cow stables were, and milked the cows outside, 
just where they happened to be standing ; but when 
raining, we set the milk vessels down by the barn, 
and stabled the cows. A six-months-old dog that had 
been going with us all the time, saw that, when the 
bucket was set down by the barn, the cows were to 
be stabled, and without any training, and without 
our even thinking of his learning it, he would proceed 
to stable the cows. Otherwise, he paid no attention 
to them. 
The weight of a Fox terrier is usually from 16 to 20 
pounds, and no other animal with which I have ever 
come in contact, has so much strength to the pound. 
Seventeen pounds is my favorite weight for males, and 
16 for females, when in working order. He can do 
anything that a dog should do on a farm stocked with 
the different kinds of farm stock and poultry. I never 
knew of any one trying to train Fox terriers to herd 
sheep, but I do not think they would do that as does 
the shepherd, which has been trained for that special 
purpose for generations ; I know that they would not, 
if they should strike a woodchuck, mink or any such 
animal. They would have him, and let the sheep go. 
But it is to the general farmer and stock raiser that 
they are especially valuable. One can hold a 200- 
pound hog so nearly still that a man can put a rope 
around the hog’s leg. Or one will catch a cow by the 
nose and hang and jerk until he throws her, by tan¬ 
gling her in her gait. But if we bring any new stock 
on the farm, the dogs must have a friendly introduc¬ 
tion to it, or there will be trouble. They will pet 
what their master pets, and fight what he fights. 
Females are usually preferred as pet dogs, as they are 
more cleanly in their habits, and not so likely to 
ramble. If one do not wish to breed from them, they 
have to be shut up only twice a year, and are in no 
danger at any other time. 
But the Fox terrier’s greatest value is as a companion 
for children. There is truth in the saying that it is 
unhealthful for a child to play with a cat, and health¬ 
ful for it to play with a dog. Play with the cat is 
mostly in the house, play with a dog is mostly out of 
doors. As the sun and breeze give health, color and 
vigor to the plant, so they do to the child. But that is 
not all that is to be gained by a child’s companion¬ 
ship with a Fox terrier. These principles we wish to 
incorporate into the character of our children—love, 
truth, fidelity, humbleness, obedience and fearless¬ 
ness. Having these characteristics instilled into the 
child, we have the foundation for the best citizen this 
earth can afford. The Fox terrier obeys always in a 
good humor ; he is as humble at the feet of his master. 
as the Turk is 
at the feet of 
the Sultan. 
When at work 
for vermin that 
he knows will 
fight him hard, 
he has the ex¬ 
pression of vic¬ 
tory or death 
stamped on his 
looks ; but let 
his master 
speak kindly 
to him, that 
expression 
changes quick 
as a flash. 
I would not 
advise a farmer 
to buy for farm 
use, a Fox ter¬ 
rier which is 
over six months 
old, and two to 
three months 
old is the best 
age. Let him 
grow up to 
know just the 
one family and the one farm and its surroundings, and 
then he will always be satisfied and think that there 
are no other people for him to be in the service of. I 
know that there is a blind prejudice among some 
farmers against the dog. They have once owned “ a 
dog- ” that cost nothing and was worth nothing, and 
they measure all dogs by that one. Let me put this 
little hint in your ear : Whether you love a dog or not, 
you love a dollar. Every young man of fashion in the 
city has to have a Fox terrier. They are gentlemen 
and good pay. Cannot we raise the dogs cheaper on 
our farms, than they can be raised in the city, where 
land is worth from hundreds to thousands of dollars 
per front foot ? In the last few years, that trade has 
been worth thousands of dollars to me, and I have at 
the same time carried on the usual branches of farm¬ 
ing and fruit-growing. Enoch parr. 
R. N.-Y.—At Fig. 1, is reproduced a photograph 
of a group of babies that will be likely to appeal to 
lovers of young stock. At Fig. 2, is a picture of a 
fine specimen of a Fox terrier. This dog cost $1,000 
in England as a two-year-old, and has, probably, 
earned a larger dividend than $1,000 invested in most 
horses or cattle. 
