make and shape
they are so oversized as to preclude the possibility of going to
ground in any average sized earth.

This question of size is one that must sooner or later be tackled
in some practical way by the Fox-terrier Club, unless we are to see
a race of giants in the next few generations. Their own standard gives
20 lb.--a very liberal maximum; but there are dogs several pounds
heavier constantly winning prizes at shows, and consequently being
bred from, with the result which we see. There are many little dogs,
and good ones, to be seen, but as long as the judges favour the big
ones these hold no chance, and as it is far easier to produce a good
big one than a good little one, breeders are encouraged to use sires
who would not be looked at if a hard-and-fast line were drawn over
which no dogs should win a prize. There are hundreds of Fox-terriers
about quite as capable of doing their work as their ancestors ever
were, and there is hardly a large kennel which has not from time to
time furnished our leading packs with one or more dogs, and with
gratifying results. It is, therefore, a great pity that our leading
exhibitors should often be the greatest delinquents in showing dogs
which they know in their hearts should be kept at home or drafted
altogether, and it is deplorable that some of our oldest judges should
by their awards encourage them.

Before concluding this chapter it may not be out of place to say a
few words as to the breeding and rearing of Fox terriers.

In the first place, _never_ breed from an animal whose pedigree is
not authenticated beyond a shadow of a doubt; and remember that while
like _may_ beget like, the inevitable tendency is to throw back to
former generations. The man who elects to breed Fox-terriers must
have the bumps of patience and hope very strongly developed, as if
the tyro imagines that he has only to mate his bitch to one of the
known prize-winning dogs of the day in order to produce a champion,
he had better try some other breed. Let him fix in his mind the ideal
dog, and set to work by patient effort and in the face of many
disappointments to produce it. It is not sufficient that, having
acquired a bitch good in all points save in head, that he breeds her
to the best-headed dog he can find. He must satisfy himself that the
head is not a chance one, but is an inherited one, handed down from
many generations, good in this particular, and consequently potent
to reproduce its li