In
the history of the Toy Fox Terrier it is often stated that the origins
of the breed were in America, were small fox terriers, crossed liberally
with toy Manchester Terriers and with Chihuahuas. I feel this is in
error.
The error is in the definition of a small fox terrier.
When we consider where, how,
and by whom the TFT was bred we can easily understand the confusion.
It is mainly in the farm population of mostly the Midwest that the breed
was born.
On every farm in the Midwest, where I was born, there is a farm terrier,
generically called a fox terrier. These are a far cry from what we show
people call a smooth fox terrier.
I
believe the Fox Terrier that really referred to was a generic farm terrier, which we
now know as a rat terrier. Aside from size,
this dog is virtually indisquingishable from the toy fox terrier (TFT) as we see it today.
The up ears, the tail length, the general make and shape. Very different
from the smooth fox terrier (SFT) shown above.
Now take a quick look at the TFT:
Can you see the similarities? There were not huge numbers of Fox
Terriers as we know them today available in the
midsection of the US that the owners could use for crossbreeding. Sure
there were FT in the US, but they were mainly on the East and West Coasts, in the
hands of show breeders and dedicated fanciers.
Where did the tail length
come from? It certainly isn’t the same dock that we see in the FT. It is
the same however as the Rat Terrier. The erect ear exists in the FT but not to the extent
that it exists in the RT.
Therefore I feel the evidence is clear the Fox Terrier that the TFT
breed historians are talking about is not the same FT that we think of
as a smooth fox today, it really was what we now think of as a Rat Terrier.
It was called a fox
terrier by many owners because they didn't know the difference.
Perhaps the smooth fox terrier
devolved into two charming breeds of today, the rat terrier, aptly
named, and with a little judicious (and indiscriminate) outcrossing, a
smaller version known as the toy fox terrier.
In
the history of the Toy Fox Terrier it is often stated that the origins
of the breed were in America, were small fox terriers, crossed liberally
with toy Manchester Terriers and with Chihuahuas. I feel this is in
error.
When we consider where, how,
and by whom the TFT was bred we can easily understand the confusion.
It is mainly in the farm population of mostly the Midwest that the breed
was born.
On every farm in the Midwest, where I was born, there is a farm terrier,
generically called a fox terrier. These are a far cry from what we show
people call a smooth fox terrier.
Can you see the similarities? There were not huge numbers of Fox
Terriers as we know them today available in the
midsection of the US that the owners could use for crossbreeding. Sure
there were FT in the US, but they were mainly on the East and West Coasts, in the
hands of show breeders and dedicated fanciers.
