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Dog Articles
Past and Present: Terriers
The
Terriers, as their name suggests, go to the earth (la terre)
for their prey, they are dogs primarily intended to unearth foxes,
badgers, rabbits, rats, and other comparatively small animals which
seek refuge in burrows in the ground.
Though
dogs of this general character have been used perhaps for a thousand
years, little attention was given to classification until
comparatively recent times. For example, the modern Fox Terrier is a
very definite breed, but in the middle of last century almost any
dog of terrier size and build, with the strength and courage to go
into a burrow and pull out or ‘bolt’ a fox, was a Fox Terrier. Many
other dogs were as loosely defined.
Most of
the terrier breeds we see today have been developed within a hundred
years, and a good many of them within fifty. And this is not
surprising when we consider that the first dog show under modern
conditions was held in England only sixty years ago, that the first
trial of dogs in the field was held six years later, and that in
spite of the fact that dog shows at once became popular, it was not
until fourteen years after the first show that there was any
organization having authority to regulate such exhibitions.
With two
or three notable exceptions, terriers are rather small dogs, and
generally speaking are bright, active, vivacious little rascals,
full of fun and mischief and with courage out of all proportion to
their size.
Almost all
of them make good companions and are ready to ‘do their bit’ when
rats and other vermin begin to make themselves obnoxious.
They are
sometimes divided into three groups, as follows: (i) Smooth-coated:-
Black-and-Tan or Manchester Terrier, Bull Terrier, Boston Terrier,
Smooth Fox Terrier, Dobermann Pinscher; (2) broken-haired:-
Wire-haired Fox Terrier, Airedale, Bedlington, Irish, Welsh,
Scottish, West Highland White; (3) long-haired :- Skye and
Yorkshire. There are others, but these are the ones most commonly
seen in this country.
The white
English Terrier, one of the older breeds, has seldom been seen in
America and seems to have almost died out even in England. No doubt
it played its part in helping to establish some of the more modem
varieties.
The Bull
Terrier, formerly known as ‘Bull and Terrier’, is probably one of
these, the cross with the Bulldog giving the size, strength, and
courage necessary to make the great fighting dog developed by the
English gamesters in the early half of last century.
The old
Wire-haired Black-and-Tan Terrier also probably contributed to the
making of this dog, which as a canine fighting machine has never
been equaled. Literally, he would sooner fight than eat, and no
matter how brutal and degrading dogfighting may be, we cannot but
admire in a dog, as we do in a man, those qualities which enable
him to bear without whimpering the severest punishment and physical
pain, sometimes for hours, and finally die in the pit rather than
save himself by showing ‘the yellow streak’.
Fortunately the ‘sport’ has long been prohibited by law, and
practically died out in England fifty years ago. Though illegal in
this country, it still flourishes among certain classes and in
certain sections, and Pit Bull Terriers have been exhibited at a big
bench show in Ohio within a very few years.
Most of
these dogs were brindle and white in various proportions and had
much shorter faces than the now thoroughly respectable and
gentlemanly white Bull Terrier so well known to us all and so
skillfully depicted in Richard Harding Davis' The Bar Sinister
- one of the best dog stories ever written.
The Bull
Terrier is a very strong, active, tenacious dog, and some supporters
even claim great intelligence for him.
The
accepted type is pure white with a black nose. He is a very
symmetrical dog, splendidly muscled, with very straight legs and
sturdy sloping shoulders, rather short, compact body, and a long,
even muzzle, with heavy jaw muscles. He is built to fight other
dogs, and nothing has been sacrificed, as with the Bulldog, that
will help him in the combat. They fight without a sound, whatever
their punishment.
The small,
oblique, triangular eye, coupled with the pink showing through the
fine hair of face and muzzle, give even the best Bull Terrier a
somewhat piggy look. But aside from this he is a handsome, active,
and sturdy dog, free from nonsense, and with a good dependable
disposition, although his capable shoulder seems to carry an
invisible but easily dislodged chip on it. Other dogs, whatever
their size, have no terrors for him.
Source:
National Geographic 1919
Recommended Reading
Dog Training
Mastery - An Owners' Manual
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