Wire Fox Terrier
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| Fox Terrier (Wire) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
 A Wire Fox Terrier (Ginger) |
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| Other names | Wire Fox Terrier Wire-Haired Fox Terrier Fox Terrier |
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| Country of origin | England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nicknames | Foxie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Wire Fox Terrier is a breed of dog, one of many terrier breeds. It is an instantly recognizable fox terrier breed. Although it bears a resemblance to the Smooth Fox Terrier, they are believed to have been developed separately. Two of their faults are their enormous amount of energy and the fact that they easily get bored, but they can be very loving and fun if they get the proper attention. Additionally, it takes an extreme amount of training to get them to come when called, but it is not impossible.
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[edit] Appearance
The wire fox terrier is a sturdy, balanced dog weighing between 15 and 21 pounds. Its rough, broken coat is distinctive. Coat color consists of a predominant white base with brown markings of the face and ears, and usually a black saddle or large splotch of color; there may be other black or brown markings on the body. The wire in the photo at left sports the traditional white, black and buff tri-color coat. The wire in the right hand photo appears to be a ginger, a wire without black markings.
[edit] History
The wire fox terrier was developed in England by fox hunting enthusiasts and is believed descended from a now-extinct rough-coated, black-and-tan working terrier of Wales, Derbyshire, and Durham. The breed was also believed to have been bred to chase foxes into their burrows underground, and their short, strong, usually docked, tails were used as handles by the hunter to pull them back out.
Although it is said Queen Victoria owned one, and her son and heir, King Edward VII of Great Britain did own the wire fox terrier, Caesar, the wire fox terrier was not popular as a family pet until the 1930s, when The Thin Man series of feature films was created. Asta, the canine member of the Charles family, was a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier, and the popularity of the breed soared. Milou (Snowy) from The Adventures of Tintin comic strip is also a Wire Fox Terrier.
In the late 20th century, the popularity of the breed declined again, most likely due to changing living conditions in the Western world and the difficulty of keeping hunting terriers in cities due to their strong instincts. Among the less desirable traits of all fox terriers are their energy, digging, stalking and chasing of other animals, and yelping bark.
The wire fox terrier has the distinction of having received more Best in Show titles at major conformation shows than any other breed.[citation needed] Wire fox terriers kept as pets show the loyalty, intelligence, independence, playfulness and breeding befitting such a storied breed.
[edit] Famous Wire Fox Terriers
- Archie, owned by Gill Raddings Stunt Dogs starred in ITV's Catwalk Dogs.
- Austin, who is owned by WWE personality Ken Anderson also known as Mr. Kennedy.
- Asta, from The Thin Man film adaptation (the novel's breed was a Schnauzer)
- Bob, from the Hercule Poirot episode Dumb Witness
- Bunny, from Hudson Hawk
- Caesar, the dog of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom
- George, from Bringing Up Baby
- Ike Larue, from the book "Dear Mrs. Larue"
- Loki, from his blog No hay peor ciego que el que no quiere oir
- Moll, from the book "Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man"
- Mr. Smith, from The Awful Truth
- Nigel and Gimlet and Sammy, from their blog Mr.Doodles Dog First blog entry: June 14, 2003
- Polly, a white rough terrier companion to Charles Darwin
- Skippy, from Topper Takes A Trip
- Snowy (French: Milou), companion of Tintin
- "The dog," from the Selchow and Righter board game "Mr. Doodle's Dog"
- Willy, from Ask the Dust
- Wuffles, the Patrician's dog in the Discworld Series
- Zephyr, who inspired a temple dedicated to wire fox terriers in Dunedin, Florida
Asta, George, Mr. Smith and Skippy were all played by the same dog.
[edit] See also
- Fox Terrier, for additional details on history, genetics, coat color, and so on.
- Hyracotherium, for the infamous creeping comparison
[edit] External links
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