Fox terrier

History of origin

Not surprisingly, one of the most witty English books, “Three Men in a Boat, Not Counting the Dog,” did not do without a handsome fox terrier. Who does not remember the wonderful Montmarency – a cheerful hooligan with an angelic muzzle, a thunderstorm of cats and a favorite of elderly ladies, who contributed in the form of a dead rat to the famous Irish stew recipe. Brave hunters and faithful helpers, fox terriers have lived side by side with people for many centuries in the homeland of all terriers – the British Isles.

It is believed that the ancient “peat dogs” were the ancestors of the burrow terriers, according to another version, they appeared as a result of crossing terriers and Braccos – as hounds were previously called. As early as the XNUMXth century, there are descriptions of hunting foxes and badgers with the help of burrow terriers, which only in the XNUMXth century received their current name – the fox terrier, that is, a special terrier for hunting foxes. By this time, fox hunting is becoming incredibly popular in Britain, it is even called a “country sport”, and not only aristocrats, but also any wealthy Britons and even farmers who have land and are able to keep horses and dog packs can do it: foxgrounds – hounds that drive foxes, and fox terriers – dogs that drive foxes out of their holes. By this time, certain external features of the fox terriers are also taking shape – these are no longer just small-sized dogs with a vicious and courageous disposition, but dogs of certain articles, color and type of coat.

Several well-known enthusiastic breeders are beginning to purposefully breed Fox Terriers, focusing primarily on their working qualities as hunters, but without forgetting about their appearance. Particular attention is paid to the correct tricolor color of dogs of this breed – it is necessary so that hunters do not confuse dogs with foxes, which they pull out of their holes. At the same time, fox terriers were divided into two varieties: smooth-haired and wire-haired, which still exist to this day, however, at that time they did not distinguish between these varieties and often crossed fox terriers with different coats among themselves.

By the beginning of the 1859th century, dozens of large fox terrier kennels already existed in Britain, and the breed was becoming incredibly popular – many members of the royal family had fox terriers. In the first dog show, held in Britain in XNUMX, fox terriers also took part. But not only the British were in love with their little brave friends – dogs of this breed began to be actively exported to Germany, where in a short time fox terriers became a very popular breed, and local kennels that bred magnificent dogs began to compete with the British. It was in Germany that the method of training fox terriers in an artificial hole and assessing their working qualities was invented, by the way, this is how dogs are trained and their skills are tested at training stations today.

hunters did not remain indifferent to fox terriers – by the end of the XNUMXth century, fox terriers were imported and bred in Our Country. Despite the fact that there are no differences in hunting qualities between smooth-haired and wire-haired fox terriers, gradually the wire-haired representatives of the breed turned mainly into companion dogs, while their smooth-haired counterparts remain today just working dogs and still participate in night hunting.

Breed description

The Fox Terrier is a small, perfectly balanced, active and strong dog. The skull is slightly sloping, gradually tapering towards the eyes, its upper line is almost flat, and the transition from the forehead to the muzzle is almost imperceptible. The muzzle should not be lowered or upturned, it gradually tapers from the eyes to the nose. The nose is black. Jaws with a complete scissor bite, strong, chewing muscles are not very pronounced. The eyes are small, round in shape, not protruding, dark in color. The ears are of moderate thickness and v-shaped, pointing forward and hanging with a clear bend above the level of the skull. Neck with a graceful curve, without dewlap, strong and muscular, widening towards the shoulders. The back is straight, short and strong. The loin is short, muscular, slightly arched. The chest is deep. The strong and rather long tail is set high, the tail can be docked. The forelegs are straight, strong along the entire length, the shoulder blades are well drawn back, the elbows are perpendicular to the body. The hindquarters are muscular, with long and powerful thighs, knees well angulated, hocks set low. The paws are round in shape with dense pads and moderately arched paws.

Wire-haired fox terriers have a dense, very coarse coat with hair that resembles a wire in shape. On the back and limbs, the hair is coarser than on the sides. The length of the coat is 4 cm, on the shoulders – 2 cm. The smooth-haired fox terrier has a thick, dense, smooth and abundant coat. The color should be dominated by white with black, black and red or only red spots.

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Character

“The Fox Terrier is a puppy until old age, a very temperamental, active, cheerful dog,” says Elena Churikova, owner of the Fox terrier kennel “Fox major”. – If you are going to lie on the couch most of your free time, then the fox terrier is not the dog for you. Fox Terrier is games, walks, any active activity in which dogs of this breed will enthusiastically take part. Children are an ideal company for fox terriers, he will become a companion for all their fun and outdoor games. Before getting a fox terrier, you need to honestly tell the breeder what kind of dog you want to have in character. Despite common weather traits, all fox terriers differ in character, which is transmitted through the maternal line. The breeder will be able to pick up a puppy from more calm parents or, conversely, a very active and temperamental dog.

Smooth-haired and wire-haired fox terriers are dogs of the same breed, but still they have differences in character.

“Smooth-haired fox terriers are more fussy, more talkative dogs, wire-haired ones are calmer and more reasonable, not so talkative,” explains Elena Churikova. – But all dogs of the Fox Terrier breed should not be aggressive towards people, although they have zoo-aggression, especially towards cats, rodents, because for many centuries they were excellent hunters, and many remain so to this day.

Care and maintenance

If you decide to become the owner of a Wirehaired Fox Terrier, get ready for the fact that you will have to turn to professional groomers to care for his coat.

– The fur coat of wire-haired fox terriers requires some care – once every 8-10 weeks it needs trimming – forced plucking of hairs that cannot fall out on their own, – says Elena Churikova. – Some try to carry out this procedure at home, but if you have not completed specialized courses, then it is better to turn to professionals. Yes, it will cost money, but your dog will be properly cared for, the coat after it will begin to grow well and remain of the right quality. But at home there is no hair – cleanliness and order, which cannot be said about smooth-haired fox terriers. They do not require trimming, but throughout the year they actively lose their hair, during periods of molting it sheds quite abundantly and the owners need to constantly clean the apartment.

Cynologists recommend combing the hair of wire-haired fox terriers twice a week, smooth-haired fox terriers less often – once a week, washing dogs is often not recommended, besides, their hair is able to repel dirt. But the paws need to be washed or wiped with a damp cloth after each walk.

“The fox terrier loves to walk, he is able to run and jump for at least five hours in a row,” says Elena Churikova. – It’s one thing when a dog lives outside the city and can spend a lot of time in the yard, but not every owner in the city is able to spend so much time walking a pet. But if you occupy the brains of the fox terrier with the execution of various commands, tasks, start fetching games, then you can kill the dog so much that it will get tired in half an hour and will sleep at home for half a day. Therefore, here the choice is up to the owner: either simple physical activity without intellectual costs for two or three hours, or completing tasks in half an hour or an hour.

If the fox terrier lives in the city, then walking a dog of this breed is possible only on a leash.

“Imagine a grave mound, flowers, and only then let your fox terrier run without a leash, because, most likely, such walks will sooner or later end with the death of the dog,” says Elena Churikova. – Fox terriers with their hunting instinct will definitely rush for some purpose, and there is a track with cars … Without a leash in the city, walking a fox terrier is possible only in fenced dog areas. Another thing is if at least once a week you go out of town with your dog – there he will be able to run in safety.

Fox Terriers are not prone to allergies, so they can be fed both natural food and dry industrial food without fear of unwanted reactions.

“Fox terriers are very unpretentious in food, and it’s absolutely not worth pampering them,” Elena Churikova explains. – Otherwise, they will quickly start sorting out grubs and demanding a buffet: I ate this yesterday, today I want something else. On a monotonous feed, they grow and develop beautifully, without causing additional trouble to the owners.

Education and training

Before you buy a fox terrier, whether smooth-haired or wire-haired, you must definitely find out what his parents and grandparents were doing. There are kennels that exclusively breed companion fox terriers for many generations. And there are nurseries specializing in breeding fox terriers of hunting lines. These are dogs of different working qualities and character.

— In my kennel I breed companion fox terriers – they have not seen a natural hole, they have not been trained to hunt at baiting stations, they do not have hunting diplomas. These are human friends, dogs intended for living together in a family of people, – says Elena Churikova. “But there are dogs of working breeding, created for hunting, whose psyche differs from their fellow companions – they are more angry, more furious, with pronounced zoo-aggression, with a more mobile psyche, adapted specifically for hunting a burrowing animal. Such fox terriers, deprived of hunting, will be more problematic in keeping in apartments and houses as an exclusively pet. With them, you need to deal with burrowing, go to the beast, so that the instincts laid down in them by generations manifest themselves in hunting, and not in destroying the apartment.

But companion fox terriers also require proper upbringing from early childhood.

– Raising fox terriers is like raising a child – if you don’t want an adult dog to do it, then you can’t allow a puppy to do it – this is the main principle of raising a pet. And you need to stand your ground firmly, not allowing any concessions, – says Elena Churikova. – With proper cultivation, very well-mannered dogs grow out of fox terriers, but for this they need to devote a lot of time: to teach commands, rules of behavior, it is desirable to build the whole process in the form of a game where the dog will receive praise and treats for a correctly completed task. It is even better to take your fox terrier to classes, for example, to the “City Dog” course or to the initial training course. I especially advise professional courses to those who have a fox terrier – the first dog. On courses, cynologists teach not only dogs, owners also receive knowledge on how to “use” a dog. And the sooner you start such training, the better – the puppy’s incubation period is over, that’s it, you can sign up for training courses with him. And when the fox terrier has mastered all the behavioral skills, you can do various dog sports with him – agility, dancing with dogs, frisbee.

Health and disease

“Fox terriers are a strong breed and, fortunately, not very commercial, therefore “breeders” are not interested in it – those who deal with dogs only for profit, therefore our lines of fox terriers remain healthy for now,” says Elena Churikova. – Fox terriers have excellent genetics, so they don’t get tested for genetic diseases and you don’t need to ask the breeder before buying a puppy.

The biggest problem for fox terriers is limb injuries, especially in childhood.

“Fox terriers love to jump — they jump high, but they don’t know how to land correctly,” explains Elena Churikova. – Therefore, paws, joints, ligaments are often injured. Do not let puppies, teenagers and even adult dogs bounce high, make sure that your fox terrier does not get involved in games and fuss with large dogs. Like all dogs, fox terriers can have problems with liver function if they are fed the wrong food – fatty foods, salty, smoked meats, you need to follow a normal dog diet – and fox terriers will remain in good health until old age, do not lose cheerfulness and activity.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about the content of fox terriers with zoo engineer, veterinarian Anastasia Kalinina.