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 An American Original, by the finest craftsmen.
It was the hunters, woodsmen, and farmers of America who
adopted the “runty” English Fox Terriers for a multitude of
practical purposes.
August Belmont, one of the first Fox Terrier breeders, said a terrier has “a
natural inclination to hunt and destroy vermin of any kind, pursuing
it to its refuge wherever it be within the Terrier’s power to reach
it; this trait being accompanied by a sprightly and tense nature, keen
sense of hearing, quick vision, a most unerring nose, and an
indomitable gameness.” That
quote could be the introduction to the Toy Fox Terrier Standard.
The landed gentry in America took the Fox Terrier to heart in the late
1800’s. They began to select the smaller dogs to carry along to rout out old Mr. Fox.
Many a time, the littlest Fox Terrier saved the day and the
hunt. When the hounds ran
the fox to ground, the little dogs were set loose because there was no
burrow too small, no fox hole too deep or too tight for the runty Fox
Terriers. The smaller ones fit perfectly into the Huntsman or Groom’s
jacket pocket, or simply slung over the saddle in a sack.
By the early 1900’s, the Smooth Fox Terrier was such a popular pet in
America that the RCA Victor Co. chose one for its logo.
Runts were kept (and cross bred) because they were so scrappy.
Sorry, but they had to be in order to survive amongst their
larger littermates. Those
who lacked “grit” and failed to hold their own simply didn’t
survive to reproduce. So
the littlest ones became a prize and through hard but natural
selection, the toughest of the runts survived to become the Toy Fox
Terrier.
 Fox hunting wasn’t
sport for the farmer. It
took him about a slippery second to figure out that the world champion
farm dog might be that runty little fox terrier the wealthy folks were
so proud of. The small
terrier worked all day ridding the place of rodents and then protected
the hen house at night. Well
yes, some were kept inside because the Missus liked them, but they
could hear a problem in the chicken yard even when sacked in with the
children!
Long
before the Great Depression, people of the Appalachians hunted not for
sport, but to put food on the table.
Too often it was no more than a squirrel to season the soup pot
but they could depend on the “fiest dog” to spot that squirrel and
by George, it could really “tree” a squirrel or coon!
Eliza
Hopkins describes a typical TFT rat hunt in the excellent OTR
Publication The Toy Fox Terrier, co-authored with Cathy
Flamholtz. “The
handlers would poke the rats from under the old log houses and the
little dogs would catch them. When
the day ended, the dogs had accounted for 74 rodents.”
During
those times of no television (!) there was the occasional barn dance,
church socials, traveling Medicine Show, and the “Dog and Pony
Show.” The Toy Fox
Terrier was an ideal choice for the traveling entertainer.
He was easy to carry along and feed, great on the ponies, agile
and smart enough to perform any trick, and an excellent watchdog in
lonely roadside camps. He
is a dog of many titles - the “trick dog” and later, “circus
dog” and Ameri-Toy, but to many admirers, he remains, a little fiest
dog.
In
1912 the United Kennel Club began to register Smooth Fox Terriers,
including the Toy size. TFT
Fanciers asked for their own classification in the mid-20’s but it
was 1936 before the U.K.C. granted official registration for the Toy
Fox Terrier.
Rural
families were justifiably proud of their little dogs, and not much
concerned with the struggles show people were experiencing. Frankly, the breedings that occurred in rural America insured
a strength and hardiness seldom seen in such small dogs.
Most Toy breeds have been sheltered and pampered for decades,
if not for centuries whereas the fiest dog just whelped and nursed her
pups under the porch or in a bale of hay.
The lustiest pups came toddling out in a few weeks.
The others did not. Some
learned to avoid the swift kick of the family milk cow.
Some didn’t. Some
proved tough and quick and had that unusual instinct to “look up”
for squirrel. They
learned to be death on varmints and to announce anyone coming up the
lane well before they arrived. Those
stayed. Others did not.
The best of them lived a long healthy productive life.
And therein lies the unique hardiness of the Toy Fox Terrier.
 It was (and is) a
challenge to keep them small enough to fit in a groom’s jacket - or
down a rat hole! An
article in the 1959 issue of U.K.C. Bloodlines stated it was
easy to go “…towards the Standard Size Fox Terrier … to go to
the small size takes years…” The U.K.C.
agreed and supported the efforts to keep them small and keep them
hardy as demonstrated in the photo (left) of Gr. Ch. PR Gorden's Madam
Butterfly. But as Eliza
Hopkins and other early breeders acknowledge, some show breeders took
shortcuts that haunt today’s breeders.
 There were various
outcrosses to Toy Manchesters and Chihuahuas in lazy efforts to reduce
size. Finally, in August
of 1960, the United Kennel Club closed the stud book and that was
that. Well, pretty much. We
still see signs of the apple head as on the dog (right), the smaller
eye and expression of the Manchester, or the overly large or
protruding eye of the Chihuhua. The
low tail set of rogue
breedings plagues today’s breeders but the dog at right has good
balance, topline, and “up there” tail set that speaks to her great
temperament.
But
by and large, the Toy Fox Terrier breeds exceedingly true today,
thanks to a meeting that occurred in 1949 in Ohio.
Thus was born the National Fox Terrier Assoc. and strong
commitment to responsible breeding, meaning preservation of both type
and the “functionality” (an unheard of term back then) in the Toy
Fox Terrier. And they
meant to keep him a terrier, which is still his U.K.C. classification.
It
is amazing how many people “remember” the Toy Fox Terrier or knew
someone who had them. Memories
are turning into active interest and support as the breed nears AKC
recognition. The American
Toy Fox Terrier Club was formed in 1994 and AKC approved the club’s
Constitution and Bylaws in 1999.
The first Toy Fox Terrier National Specialty “A” Match
is/was in Pleasanton, CA October 20, 2001.
Judges
are curious, breeders are looking, especially those in other Toy
breeds. The public
doesn’t care. Like
American families since the 1900’s, they just laugh at the antics of
their little fiest dog, they go rabbit and squirrel hunting with them,
they depend on them to “keep the place clean” and warn them of
anything out of the ordinary at night. The children of America hold them tightly, whisper secrets
into big ears that understand every childhood dream. And let’s admit it, somewhere right now, a Toy Fox Terrier
mom is curled up in an unused stall or under the house, nursing her
babies.>
 Self-sufficient
but absolutely and totally bonded to people.
"Terrier tough" but gentle, loving and full time lap dog.
Suspicious of any unknown sound or scent yet so trusting that
they are limp as a rag when picked up by their owner.
Dan Greenwald (Sethfield) once said to me about the Fox Terrier
“they sleep with one eye open.” And so they do.
We
are standing at the doorway of tomorrow with a little dog that has
lasted since the 15th Century because he is physically and
mentally sound, incredibly intelligent, happy in lap or field, useful,
practical, handy, and hardy. What
will the Toy Fox Terrier be in a ten years?
Or fifty? It
depends on you, the judge. What
you choose in the ring during the next five years will determine
whether or not the Toy
Fox Terrier retains his heritage and his place in the hearts of the
farmer, the family, and the fancy.
As
American as apple pie, The Toy Fox Terrier is an original, and he’s
“Made
In America”
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