Terriers - An Illustrated Guide (a Vintage Dog Books Breed Classic)

By Darley Matheson

Originally published in 1922 as "Terriers", this scarce early work on British terrier breeds is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS have now republished it, using the original text and photographs, as part of their CLASSIC BREED BOOKS series. The book's two hundred and thirteen pages discuss nineteen breeds of terriers originating within the British Isles. (with the possible exception of the Boston Terrier which although bred from a British Bulldog cross, can now rightfully claim to be an American breed). The first part of the book deals with the origins, history, description and standards of each of the nineteen breeds, and includes thirty one vintage photos of typical dogs: - The Fox Terrier. - The Sealyham Terrier. - The Welsh Terrier. - The Scottish Terrier. - The Cairn Terrier. - The West Highland White Terrier. - The Skye Terrier. - The Clydesdale Terrier. -The Dandie Dinmont. - The Border Terrier. - The Bedlington Terrier. - The Airedale Terrier. - The Irish Terrier(Dare-Devil). - The Kerry (Blue) Terrier. - The Bull Terrier. - The Boston Terrier. - The Black and Tan Terrier. - The English White Terrier. - The Yorkshire Terrier. Part two of the book contains chapters on - Feeding. - Washing, Grooming, and Exercise. - The Stud Dog. - The Brood Bitch and Her Management. - Some Terrier Ailments and Accidents. This is a fascinating read for any Terrier enthusiast or historian of the breeds, but also contains much information that is still useful and practical today. Many of the earliest dog breed books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vintage Dog Books
• Release date: Jan 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528769860

Book preview

PART I

THE FOX TERRIER

AMONGST all varieties of Terriers the Fox Terrier, either as a rough or smooth coated dog, occupies first place, and rightly so, as anyone with experience of this breed must know.

Its size, activity, docility, intelligence, varminty qualities, and good constitution are, along with other excellences, a composite part of the breed. None can deny these Terriers their birthright.

Those who have kept and bred Fox Terriers for years can never say a single word against these dogs. There may be a section of the dog-loving community who are not favourable to the breed, simply because so many people keep them, hence they are too plebeian to please. Let no mistake be made, the well-bred Fox Terrier is a gentleman, and knows how to behave as such, provided that he has received a proper upbringing.

For fifty years or close thereby, breeders have taken up these Terriers in real earnest, and the improvements that have been brought about, even within this last twenty years, constitute the best evidence as to what has been done for the welfare of the breed.

Certain other varieties of dogs rise and fall in popularity, but the Fox Terrier goes on and on, always holding the field against all comers, and why this is so, one word only will answer this question, and that is merit.

More Fox Terriers are bred and reared than all other Terriers combined, for there is a much greater demand than for any other variety, and as a commercial speculation better returns are to be had from Fox Terriers than from any other breeds. Being a hardy variety it commends itself to anyone contemplating starting dog-breeding, either for pleasure or for profit.

In every sense of the word it is the best sporting Terrier in existence, and it is just as much at home in the family circle as it is in the hedgerows and the rat-pit.

It is exceptional to find a Fox Terrier a fool, as in the case of many members of certain other breeds, and the intelligence of the former can only be measured by comparison with these, and it is certainly always favourable to the breed now under consideration.

Although the writer has not kept Fox Terriers for the show bench, he has owned many of them, and hundreds have passed through his hands, both in health and disease, always leaving the same impressions as to the splendid qualities of the breed.

There is one particular feature about the Fox Terrier, and that is the persistence of its inherent game qualities, in spite, it may be, of the absence of opportunities for displaying these qualifications.

The predominance of such qualities must rank as an invaluable asset. The Fox Terriers of the present day are vastly better dogs than their progenitors, as far as conformation goes, but it is a debatable point whether they are any better for work. Some authorities say yes, others answer in the negative. All things considered, the author thinks that the Fox Terriers of the present certainly are better dogs in every way than their ancestors, and anyone who has any practical knowledge of their working qualities will, he believes, support that view. The writer does not overlook the fact that a Fox Terrier’s duties are, and always were, primarily intended for bolting the fox, and the little Terriers of to-day most certainly can hold their own against the bigger and coarser dogs used as recently as, say, forty years since. Those who are interested in Terriers must have noticed, in the various doggy journals, contributions from time to time as to the decadence of the working Terriers, and the wonderful Terriers that existed in the good old days. Greater rubbish was, in all probability, never penned.

Fox Terriers have been, and still are, bred much too large, and the converse, to be of real service as earth dogs, and now that the happy medium has been struck between 16 and 18 lb., we have reached a maximum degree of efficiency in every sense of the word.

The author is perfectly aware that there are some splendid little Fox Terriers for work that do not exceed 13 or 14 lb., but these are weights which should not be too much encouraged if the Fox Terrier has to maintain its locus standi in the world of Terrierdom.

As bearing upon this matter I should like to refer the reader to a contribution which recently appeared, relating upon the weights of Fox Terriers.

The following letter is of interest in connection with Fox Terriers and the so-called Jack Russell Terriers. It is from the pen of Rosslyn Bruce, and appeared in the Dog World, from which journal the author has taken the liberty of reproducing it:

"The Rev. Jack Russell had countless numbers of Terriers, from his undergraduate days on, but probably his best, and certainly his best known, was Judy, who was dam of Moss, who was grand-dam of Frenzy, who was great-grand-dam of Avon May, whom Mr. Reeks bred, and sold to Mr. Redmond. This bitch was thus six generations direct from Judy, and proved a pillar in the breed; anyhow, here are a few who trace in the direct female line from her: ‘Ch. Dame Fortune,’ ‘Ch. Donna Fortuna,’ ‘Ch. Rodaford,’ ‘Ch. Avon Music,’ ‘Ch. Brunhir Buntie,’ ‘Burton Nellie’ (dam of ‘Ch. Defacer’), ‘Court Beauty’ (dam of ‘Ch. Dangler’), ‘Cherry B.’ (dam of ‘Ch. Capt. Double’). Well, that will do for a start. All of these are Parson Jack Russell Terriers, but I go further, and undertake to find in any pedigree of a pure-bred smooth Fox Terrier, which extends, say, ten complete generations, not one, but ten strains of Jack Russell’s blood. In most, I should find no more. Sir Julian, I notice, has twenty-three to this one bitch.

"It is true that the type which Parson Russell strove for has been improved beyond all knowing, but the length of leg, quality of skull, and thick, hard, dense, smooth coat (points that you refer to) were all as much joy to the old parson’s eye as they are to ours to-day. His model is our model, and I could find to-day a team of modern smooths that would make his dear old eyes twinkle again. I firmly believe that if someone were to choose as apple-headed, crooked-fronted, broad-chested, flat-sided, short-necked, bulgy-eyed a terrier as he could find in all the progeny, say, of our best Terriers, and call it a Parson Jack Terrier, which it certainly would be, for they all are, that he would find enough admirers of it to form a new Parson Jack Russell Terrier Club, and make a small fortune in stud fees and pups. It has been done before.

"It is curious how a once great name is used to bolster up a modern fad; and I often wonder when people say Parson Jack Russell Terriers were smaller than our smooth Fox Terriers what evidence they think they have; here at least is a fact for younger fanciers to note and hand on when Parson Bruce and even, perhaps, Parson Russell are forgotten. On 8th November 1879 Parson Russell said to a certain old sportsman: ‘An ideal Fox Terrier should be over 17 and under 20 lb., and a rough-haired Terrier is best the same size.’ There was a little boy hanging on every word, he said, who went home and added it to his ‘sayings of great men I have met.’ Probably a good Terrier can hardly be a bad size, mouse-hounds and mammoths being, however, specially excepted.

It is of interest that forty-two years ago (and Parson Russell was a very old man then, I remember) a Smooth was a ‘Fox Terrier,’ a Wire being merely a ‘rough-haired Terrier.’

Concerning the history of the breed of Fox Terriers, the following extract from the memoir of the Rev. John Russell is interesting, and the author has taken the liberty of reproducing it (see pages 52–56 of Memoirs, by E. W. Davies, M.A.):

"It was on a glorious afternoon towards the end of May, when strolling round Magdalen meadow with Horace in hand but Beckford in his head, he emerged from the classic shade of Addison’s walk, crossed the Cherwell in a punt, and passed over in the direction of Marston, hoping to devote an hour or two to study in the quiet meads of that hamlet, near the charming slopes of Elsfield, or in the deeper and more secluded haunts of Shot-over Wood. But before he had reached Marston a milkman met him with a Terrier—such an animal as Russell had as yet only seen in his dreams; he halted, as Actæon might have done when he caught sight of Diana disporting in her bath; but, unlike that ill-fated hunter, he never budged from the spot till he had won the prize and secured it for his own. She was called Trump, and became the progenitress of that famous race of Terriers which, from that day to the present, have been associated with Russell’s name at home and abroad—his able and keen coadjutors in the hunting-field. An oil-painting of Trump is still in existence and is, I believe, possessed by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales; but as a copy executed by a fair and talented artist is now in my possession, and was acknowledged by Russell to be not only an admirable likeness of the original but equally good as a type of the race in general, I will try, however imperfectly, to describe the portrait as it now lies before me.

In the first place, the colour is white with just a patch of dark tan over each eye and ear, while a similar dot, not larger than a penny piece, marks the root of the tail. The coat, which is thick, close, and a trifle wiry, is well calculated to protect the body from wet and cold, but has no affinity with the long rough jacket of the Scotch Terrier. The legs are straight as arrows, the feet perfect; the loins and conformation of the whole frame indicative of hardihood and endurance, while the size and height of the animal may be compared to that of a full-grown vixen fox.

I seldom or ever see a real Fox Terrier nowadays, said Russell recently to a friend who was inspecting a dog show containing a hundred and fifty entries under that denomination; they have so intermingled strange blood with the real article that, if he were not informed, it would puzzle Professor Bell himself to discover what race the so-called Fox Terrier belongs to.

And, pray, how is it managed? inquired a friend, eager to profit by Russell’s long experience in such matters. I can well remember Rubie’s and Tom French’s Dartmoor Terriers, and have myself owned some of that sort worth their weight in gold. True Terriers they were, but certainly differing as much from the present show dogs as the wild eglantine differs from a garden rose.

The process, replied Russell, is simply as follows: they begin with a smooth bitch Terrier; then, to obtain a finer skin, an Italian Greyhound is selected for her mate. But as the ears of the produce are an eyesore to the connoisseur, a Beagle is resorted to, and then little is seen of that unsightly defect in the next generation. Lastly, to complete the mixture the Bulldog is now called on to give the necessary courage; and the composite animals thus elaborated become, after due selection, the sires and dams of the modern Fox Terriers. This version of their origin, continued he, I received from a man well qualified to speak on the subject.

The Bulldog blood thus infused imparts courage, it is true, to the so-called Terrier; he is matchless at killing any number of rats in a given time; will fight any dog of his weight in a Westminster pit; draw a badger heavier than himself out of his long box; and turn up a tom-cat possessed even of ten lives, before poor pussy can utter a wail. But the ferocity of that blood is in reality ill-suited—nay, is fatal—to fox-hunting purposes; for a Terrier that goes to ground and fastens on his fox, as one so bred will do, is far more likely to spoil sport than promote it; he goes in to kill, not to bolt, the object of his attack.

Besides such animals, if more than one slip into a fox-earth, are too apt to forget the game and fight each other, the death of one being occasionally the result of such encounters. Hence, Russell may well have been proud of the pure pedigree he had so long possessed and so carefully watched over. Tartars they were, and ever have been, beyond all doubt, going up to their fox in any earth, facing him alternately with hard words and harder nips, until at length he is forced to quit his stronghold and trust to the open for better security.

A fox thus bolted is rarely a pin the worse for the skirmish; he has had fair play given him, and, instead of being half strangled, is fit to flee for his life. The hounds, too, have their chance, and the field are not baulked of their expected run.

The remarkable interest taken by fanciers and sportsmen in Fox Terriers has done wonders in the improvement of the breed, whilst the various Fox Terrier clubs and shows have been more than contributory towards this breed.

It is not more than sixty years since the real foundation-stone of the present type of Fox Terrier was laid. Prior to 1862 the type of dog to be modelled was subject to great variation, and what one sportsman regarded as being correct was not adhered to by another.

There is little doubt that the Fox Terrier has, at some remote period in its history, been crossed with the hound, and its markings support this view. Time after time reference has been made to some of the early writers on matter appertaining to dogs.

Dr. Caius (pronounced Keys) wrote a book on Englishe Dogges, which was published as early as 1557, and refers therein to a dogge called Terrar used for hunting the fox and badger by creeping into the ground after the fashion of ferrets.

Dame Juliana Berners in the Book of St. Albans (1486) makes a brief reference to the Terrier. Various French writers (De Fouilloux, Liebault, and Stevens), likewise early English authors, mention these dogs at or about the same period as