Again, Mr. Harding Cox, writing elsewhere, says in connection with the Fox-terrier that "narrow chests have been obtained at the expense of depth and strength of rib, and consequently power of loin and quarters. One nowadays seldom sees a well-ribbed, square-quartered Fox-terrier." That a great many of our Fox-terriers are weak behind and cow-hocked may be proved by impartially judging the material that any good show affords; and such weakness is particularly noticeable when the dog is moving.

There is yet another Fox-terrier enthusiast whose practical experience of a dog as a workman was, perhaps, second to none, the Rev. John Russell, the founder of a very notable strain of Wire-haired Fox-terriers. His dogs were, however, kept for a specific purpose - namely, as assistants to Hounds - and were entered only at fox. The author of the admirable memoir of the sporting parson describes them as being "as steady from riot as the staunchest of his Hounds, so that running together with them, and never passing over an earth without drawing it, they gave a fox, whether above ground or below it, but a poor chance of not being found by one or the other." Two things are fairly evident - that they excelled in the particular work which Russell required of them, and that, while being essentially workmen, they would not, judging from the descriptions furnished of them, have disgraced the show-bench even of the present day. Below is a word-picture of the famous bitch Trump, who laid the foundation of a strain whose doughty deeds in the hunting-field even Time is hardly likely to efface. Purchased of a milkman in the vicinity of Oxford, she was the parson's ideal of a Fox-terrier, and lived to bring him fame alike in this country and abroad. The writer has many times endeavoured to learn something as to the ancestors of this famous bitch, and has prosecuted enquiries in many directions. Though he has succeeded in tracing the name of the man from whom Russell purchased her, not even the oldest inhabitant seems to remember anything beyond the fact that he had a certain local renown for his dogs.

Fig. 95. - A Modern Champion Smooth-Haired Fox-Terrier, Mr. C. Houlker's Adam Bede.

Trump is described by the author of the book referred to as being 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 calculated to protect the body from wet and cold, but has no affinity with the long, rough jacket of a Scotch Terrier. The legs are as 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."

Fig. 96. - A Modern Champion Wire-Haired Fox-Terrier, Mr. W. Howard Swingler's Barkby Ben.

Russell lived to see what may be termed the canonisation of the Terrier he loved so well; but he apparently had little sympathy with the modern production as exemplified at dog shows. Indeed, when speaking to a friend, who was inspecting an exhibition of Fox-terriers for which 150 entries had been received, he said : "I seldom or ever see a real Fox-terrier nowadays. They have so intermingled strange blood with the real article that if he were not informed it would puzzle Professor Bell to discover to what race the so-called Fox-terrier himself belongs."

Except in the matter of coat, the two varieties of the Fox-terrier differ little, if at all, though the Smooth-haired (Fig. 95) is decidedly more popular than its Wire-haired relative (Fig. 96), at any rate as a show-dog and general companion. For sporting purposes the latter is usually preferred to the former. The partiality exhibited by some sportsmen for the Wire-haired is not, as is popularly supposed, due to the dog's superior stamina or pluck, but to the coat alonej indeed, the two varieties are sometimes judiciously blended by breeders for the purpose of improving jackets generally. Every one who has kept working Terriers, and is fairly observant, can hardly fail to be aware of the advantages that a good water- and cold-resisting coat possesses over one inferior in this respect, when the dogs are called upon to perform arduous duties under varying climatic conditions and exceptional circumstances. In the one case the dogs can work for hours exposed to wet or cold; in the other, be they ever so game by nature, they suffer considerably, as they can neither throw off the water nor are their coats thick enough to enable them to withstand the exposure to which, in pursuit of their game, they are subject. It may be simply as aids to the gunj or, on the other hand, it may be as assistants to Hounds in the hunting of fox or otter.

By nature our hardier Terriers have been provided with a jacket to suitably equip them for the duties they are from time to time called upon to perform. Man, in his wisdom, frequently endeavours to improve upon Nature in the matter of coat, in order to give, according to his ideas, a smarter appearance to this or that variety, and the result is that those which grow heavy coats are "stripped " of their jackets before they can be shown with any hope of success upon the exhibition bench. The Bedlington Terrier is a case in point. To be in so-called show condition this game terrier must be deprived of its natural coat, or a very large proportion of it. And so it is with many other breeds, including Fox-terriers.

In fact, trimming in the past has been very largely responsible for the inferior position the Wire-haired Terrier occupied as compared with the Smooth. The ruling of the Kennel Club in respect thereto, and the endeavours made by the Fancy to eliminate certain undesirable characteristics by breeding, have tended to restore some of the lost confidence of the dog-loving public in the breed. For all that, the work of the so-called "moulting room" is still too much in evidence, and the skilful hair-dresser is very largely responsible for the position in the prize list many dogs even at the present day occupy. Combined with trimming, there is the difficulty experienced in breeding really good specimens of the Wire-haired Terrier, and these together have worked against its popularity. Despite what has been said, the Wire-haired Fox-terrier is more popular to-day as a show dog than at any previous period in its career.

It must not be forgotten in estimating the degree of popularity attained by the two breeds that the Smooth-haired had a considerable start of the Wire-haired. The former was receiving a liberal classification at shows a decade before a similar privilege was accorded the latter, which was usually to be found, when exhibited at all, amongst a very miscellaneous collection. The stud books and old show reports unmistakably prove this; while, if further evidence is required as to the popularity of the two, this is furnished by the prices realised. The Smooth, even in the comparatively early days of shows, commanded good prices, while the Wire-haired scarcely realised more shillings than the other did pounds, and was even regarded by some as but a fitting companion for the itinerant rat-catcher. Having received the hall-mark of varietal rank, it was not even accurately located in the list of breeds, being classified as a non-sporting dog. From our own personal knowledge of the breed, and from what we have gleaned from old-time fanciers, it was a sporting dog, if nothing else! To-day the Wire-haired variety occupies a very different position, is quite as much esteemed by those best capable of forming an opinion of its merits, and equally as valuable as the Smooth. No better evidence of the latter can be cited than the purchase by an American fancier of the best two specimens of the breed known to fanciers of the present generation - Go Bang and Meersbrook Bristles - for the enormous sum of £500 each.