Many inquiries should be made of the seller, and the buyer should be very particular as to pedigree and any family defects. These of course should be made before and not after the purchase, as seems to be the general rule with novices. If the bitch comes from stock that throws progeny with notoriously heavy coats, or is inclined to be rickety (a veterinary surgeon could determine this), or if she has any other weakness likely to be transmissible to her offspring, she is best avoided.

To purchase from a breeder of repute will be found a far more satisfactory plan for a beginner to adopt than to be tempted with a "sure winner" at a ridiculously low sum. The prospective purchaser should never be deluded into thinking that a first-rate dog is to be obtained for the modest "fiver," or a "flyer" at double that figure. Sixty years ago such sums perhaps represented the market value of such animals; but different times different prices, and to-day - very occasionally, it is true - dogs may be picked up in remote districts where dog shows have not penetrated, or where dog clubs and the fanciers' press have yet to make their influence felt; but these are mere accidental purchases, and fall only to the cutest of the Fancy. For all this it is quite possible, even in these enlightened days, for an owner to possess an animal of quite exceptional merit, and yet not be aware of the fact, at any rate for a long time. A noteworthy instance of this occurred at the Manchester Show of 1896, when a ten-year-old Wire-haired Fox-terrier literally swept the board under such an efficient judge as Mr. Maxwell. The dog in question was Jackson, owned by Mr. S. Morgan, who was quite ignorant of the fact that he possessed such a prize until Mr. Tom Ashton enlightened him on the subject. The dog was all white, and was entered without any pedigree. Even at the advanced age given the dog was in an extraordinarily well-preserved state; he possessed an excellent front, good legs and feet, a capital coat, a nice head with level mouth and first-class teeth, and of course the much-prized Terrier character. This case is worthy of being recorded, as it is unique in the annals of dog-showing for a dog's light to be hidden under the proverbial bushel until ten years old, and then for him suddenly to leap into fame.

Trimming is more in vogue with the Wire-haired than the Smooth-haired variety, and by many is regarded as a legitimate form of show preparation; but by the Kennel Club it is constituted faking. However, the operation may be so deftly performed as to defy detection. Cutting and singeing of the coat would be readily discovered, as there are many tell-tale marks on a coat so treated, but not so trimming. In the case of dogs which are exhibited now and then, the operation only has to be conducted a sufficiently long time before the show for the coat to present but a normal appearance. Of course, all dogs do not require an equal amount of trimming: it differs with the individual. The novice should see such dogs "before" and "after"the moulting-room to thoroughly appreciate the difference in appearance. In the case of dogs that go the round of shows, and which grow an objectionable coat, these are constantly being touched up - almost every day, in fact - the trimming being on the little-and-often principle. To trim a Terrier of any kind is not easy. The operator requires an eye for symmetry, and a knowledge of what to leave alone. In front of the eye requires very special manipulation, as by removing too much hair the "devil-may-care" look that a typical Wire-haired Fox-terrier has would be wanting. The muzzle by over-trimming may be made to look snipy, which is certainly not desirable; whereas by having the short hair left there, and this combed the wrong way of the wool, the appearance of a dog with a tendency to snipiness would be vastly improved. It is, however, by breeding, and not by trimming and coat-hardening solutions, that the ideal coat should be produced, and until this fact is fully recognised the Fox-terrier as a variety is sure to suffer. Just as the open-coated Smooths have been improved by a judicious blend of the Wires, so have the latter by an equally judicious cross of the former, by mating, say, a sparsely clad dog of the one to a Smooth bitch that came of a stock excelling in coat.

Though these remarks on trimming have been principally directed against the Wire-haired Fox-terrier, yet it must not be inferred that the Smooth-haired is absolutely free from the stigma that attaches to its relative. Of late years a more weather-resisting jacket has been called for, as well as one sufficiently long to counteract the White English Terrier-like effect a short coat undoubtedly gives. To obtain this a cross with the Wire-haired dog has sometimes been employed, and though the texture and length of the jacket have been improved, there has frequently been too much of it. The trimmer knows how to get rid of it, and how to produce, by the date of the show, a jacket of the accepted type. If only a dozen fashionable Fox-terriers could be kept under strict supervision for three months, and only legitimate grooming (including, of course, the removal of dead hair) employed, what a revelation there would be! Although too much washing is not good for the Fox-terrier, be he Smooth-haired or Wire-haired, yet that some cleansing is necessary before shows will be generally acknowledged. All sorts of coat improvers have been introduced, from those that contain alum to the dry-cleansing ones that are little more than baked flour. As a matter of fact, nothing is better than washing with a suitable soap the night prior to the show, using a soap that contains as little alkali as possible.

There is no need to dilate upon the companionable qualities of a variety so universally known as the Fox-terrier, or to refer to the many ways in which he may be utilised as a "sporting " dog. Those who are desirous of knowing this will find the subject fully dealt with in the two works upon the variety referred to elsewhere.

To breed Fox-terriers (or indeed any other variety of first-class stock successfully) is by no means an easy task. The most successful, taken generally, are those who have thoroughly grasped the principles that underlie the science. It is not sufficient to own a first-class bitch and to mate her with a first-class dog excelling where she fails. Rather should she be mated to a dog that not only himself scores where she is deficient, but whose ancestors have also similarly been noted for such qualities. The laws of heredity and of prepotency must be considered by the intelligent breeder, and the man or the woman who attempts to set up a kennel of dogs on a mere rule of thumb principle is sure to come to grief.

There is no breed of dog that is so well looked after in the matter of clubs as the Fox-terrier, as there is no breed with which it is possible for an individual to win so much money in competitions. The beginner, if he be well advised, will join one or other of them. The parent society is, of course, the Fox-terrier Club, founded as long ago as 1876; but there are others in Scotland, Ireland, and elsewhere. They are the Fylde, the Isle of Wight and New Forest, the London, the Midland, the Scottish, the Irish, the North of England, and the Oxford. Moreover, it is the only breed that has a journal entirely devoted to its interests.