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CAN PEDIGREE TERRIERS SURVIVE?
By David Hancock

Here, in Britain, we are running out of activities for our sporting terrier breeds. In rural France they have still have their centuries-old ratting contests, mainly involving our Fox Terrier. In America, Airedale Terriers have their own specific hunting trials; can we really not do so here? I live near dog owners who get upset when their terriers are combative and feisty but are unconcerned when their dogs bark all day, every day. Terrier spirit is part of every sporting terrier's make-up, it comes with the dog and is not difficult to redirect.

There was a disturbing article in The Times of the 25th of June 2019 under the headline: “Fashionable breeds are hounding out terriers”. It was pointed out that British breeds intended for hunting or a hard day on a farm are increasingly falling out of favour, suggesting that owners find them too hyperactive for city life. Whilst there may be some truth in that, the greater danger is when such dogs lack instinctive skills such as ratting and hunting, preferring the hearth rug and the nearest sofa. The Scottish Terrier is the latest terrier breed to go on to the KC’s “at watch” list due to falling numbers. Irish and Welsh Terriers also appear on the list of breeds with fewer than 450 registrations a year. Eleven breeds of terrier now have ‘vulnerable status’ after falling below 300. The Norwich Terrier fell from 172 in 2010 to only 81 last year. Only 4 Manchester Terriers were registered in the first quarter of 2019. In 2008 the Border, Staffordshire Bull and West Highland White Terriers were among Britain’s most popular breeds; all three have since dropped out of the top ten. Rats are an enormous threat to both crowded cities and agricultural industries; poisoning them is not without risk to human health – terriers kill them quickly and ensure their numbers are controlled. We need rat-hunting terriers!

No sporting dog can triumph in the field without the physique needed for the sport concerned; as country sports are curtailed the challenge is to retain the working model not the prettiest one. The best dog show judges retain a concept of a breed's purpose in the ring; their critiques sometimes make disturbing reading. One recent critique, from a Lakeland Terrier show judge, made the scornful comment that it should be the fox that runs away from the Lakeland, not the other way round! The Glen of Imaal judge at Crufts in 2003 found..."quite a few weak jaws and that would never do in my view for what they were originally bred for." At Crufts in 2001, the Irish Setter judge reported: "Narrow fronts, lack of bone, upright shoulders, narrow chests with no heart or lung room, weak backends, poor movement. I would be very surprised if many of these could work as a gundog, the job for which they are bred." At the same show the Bedlington Terrier judge stated ..."some lacked the bone and substance required in a working terrier." It is worrying that our top show should reveal such flaws in sporting dogs.

For a nation which has given the world a score of distinguished sporting breeds, many of them preferred to the local breeds on sheer merit, we must now work to ensure that all the dedicated work of our forefathers is not thrown away. A survey of just one native breed, our Fox Terrier, indicates the peril, both in type as well as numbers, the new century poses for the breed. In 1910, over 1,500 smooths and 1,300 wires were registered; in 2018 these numbers had fallen to 126 and 576 respectively. The snipey jaw, the upright front, the fluffy coat in the wires and the loss of physical stature, as well as terrier-spirit demonstrates the threats to the breed’s survival as a sporting dog. Breeding them for show ring success has not just altered their type but undermined their ability, perhaps their eagerness to hunt. That may suit the pet market but it’s no good for the breed as a vermin-controller or wildlife protector! Such a decline reflects the whole sporting dog scene as a whole and it’s deeply worrying.