The Fox Terrier: Failure by the Numbers

David Hancock reviews the rise and collapse in popularity of the Fox Terrier as show breeders transformed it from a useful dog to a useless one:

In 1910, the Kennel Club registered over 1,500 smooth Fox Terriers and over 1,300 wire-haired Fox Terriers, against nearly 700 Cockers. Seventeen years later, over 10,000 Fox Terriers of both coats were registered against well over 4,000 Cockers; both breeds had arrived.

In 2009, over 22,000 Cockers were registered with the KC, against just 133 smooth and 604 wire-haired Fox Terriers. The Cockers had arrived and stayed, the Fox Terrier as a breed is under threat.

....  TM Fogg, writing in Compton’s The Twentieth Century Dog of 1904, gave the view: “In my opinion the present-day dog is much too large, and losing all terrier character; and, as a rule, the wires are very weak in their hindquarters, which is one of the most essential points of the working terrier…"

....  I have visited their rings at shows over fifty years and rarely been pleased with the entry. Upright shoulders, open coats in the wires, snipey muzzles and too short a back seem to be acceptable features. The breed standard however demands sloping shoulders, well laid back and, in the wires, a dense very wiry coat. Both are required to have short backs without the degree of brevity being stipulated. This is no feature for an earthdog breed; cobbiness may look smart 'on the flags' but it's a considerable handicap underground.

... Working terrier breeders understand why certain anatomical features are important; without wishing to sound too cynical, far too many show breeders rate physical features solely by their ability to appeal to a judge.