Passing from the necessarily brief account of the history of the variety, we come to the consideration of the dog as we find him at the present day. And in doing so we take in the standard which the Fox-terrier Club has laid down. Such standards are, of course, excellent guides, but they must not be taken too literally. The fact is, in every case they are more or less idealised, and the fancier who expects to find a dog agreeing absolutely in every detail is certain to be disappointed. Approximately, of course, all standards are reached, but perfection has yet to be attained by any breed. Considerable care has been taken from time to time by the Fox-terrier Club in respect of its standard, to render it free from what may be termed technicalities and the jargon of the kennel. There are, however, one or two points which to novices may require further explanation than can be expected in a standard proper, and these we propose to notice as we proceed.

Head

The skull should be flat and moderately narrow; broader between the ears, and gradually decreasing in width to the eyes. Not much "stop" should be apparent; but there should be more dip in the profile, between the forehead and top jaw, than is seen in the case of a Greyhound. The ears should be V-shaped, and rather small; of moderate thickness, and dropping forward closely to the cheek, not hanging by the side of the head, like a Foxhound's. The jaw should be strong and muscular, but not too full in the cheek; it should be of fair punishing length, but not so as in any way to resemble the Greyhound's or modern English Terrier's. There should not be much falling away below the eyes; this part of the head should, however, be moderately chiselled out, so as not to go down in a straight slope like a wedge. The nose, towards which the muzzle must slightly taper, should be black. The eyes should be dark-rimmed, small, and rather deep set; full of fire and life. The teeth should be level and strong.

Length of head is esteemed so highly in the Fox-terrier that some may wonder that no mention of it is made by the Club in dealing with the head. The reason is pretty obvious to the fancier. The point must not be considered alone; it is, or should be, a relative one. It would not do for the Club to set down an arbitrary length of head for the fancier to breed to. Such would only lead him astray; for in his endeavours to produce the extra long head he would most certainly produce an unsymmetrical whole, or maybe a head altogether lacking in shapeliness. Nevertheless, there is a tendency on the part of faddist judges to favour an extra long head, at the expense of more desirable all-round qualities. The craze for a long head, however, is no modern innovation, but dates back at least to the days of Old Trap.

Next as to "stop." This is one of those technical terms that may be found puzzling to the beginner, and may therefore be briefly explained for his benefit. It is a perfectly legitimate zoological expression, and is in reference to the depression or indentation (found in many breeds, but most pronounced in Bulldogs, Pugs, and Toy Spaniels) between the skull and the bones of the nose. As the description suggests, in the case of the Fox-terrier it should be slight, yet it is astonishing what a difference to the appearance of a dog even the amount of "stop" allowed makes. To fully realise this one has but to mentally compare a dog with the regulation amount of stop with one having a practically level head. The much-coveted expression in the case of the latter is lost.

Ears are now and again found which are highly suggestive of the Beagle cross resorted to in order to stamp certain characters in the dog. The novice must therefore be on his guard against heavy and badly carried ears. They should be disposed with the tips pointing to the eyes, and not "hanging by the side of the head, like a Foxhound's." Again, it must be borne in mind that tulip, prick, or rose ears absolutely disqualify. That Fox-terriers do occasionally crop up with prick ears is not to be wondered at, however, when the ear-carriage of their remote ancestors is considered. While ears must not be heavy and thick, the other extreme must be guarded against, and the happy medium, if possible, struck. Here it may be well to state that in estimating the chances of puppies of good lineage at an early age, too much attention must not be paid to ear-carriage. Young puppies when teething frequently carry their ears irregularly, and until that process is complete, a slightly unorthodox carriage need not detract from a puppy's merits. Teething, it must be remembered, causes considerable systemic disturbance.

The Fox-terrier Club recognises, and with reason, only a black nose. For all that, one should not too hastily discard a puppy with such a defect, if otherwise typical, as such may be regarded as purely accidental and not inherent. More than one cherry-nosed specimen has been used for breeding, and their blood permeates the veins of some of the fashionable Fox-terriers of the present day.

As will be seen by referring to the Fox-terrier Club's description, some considerable stress is laid upon the eyes being dark-rimmed, small, and deeply set. With regard to the first two it may be said that red-rimmed, small-eyed Fox-terriers have an objectionable Bull-terrier cast even when they otherwise very closely approach the standard. Now and again such specimens are seen upon the show-bench and amongst the prize winners. A few years ago a fashionable dog (for which a large sum had been paid by a lady fancier) was sadly handicapped for his extremely small eyes. Light eyes are, of course, very objectionable; the colour to be desired is a dark hazel. In addition to the eyes being deeply set, it might also be suggested that they be not too widely apart, and of an almond shape. A dog with eyes such as the combination suggested above could give would undoubtedly possess a great deal of that expressiveness somewhat difficult to define, but which it is the aim of every Fox-terrier breeder to produce.