Page 292 - ShowSight - September 2019

The Terrier’s Temperament BY RICHARD REYNOLDS continued
Rat hunting can be a free for all amongst the terrier pack. It’s hard to share quarry and rodent stretching is a frequent pastime. This is dog vs quarry and not dog vs dog. No growls, no aggression, just good genes hard at work.
Almost every discussion of Terriers of every breed or description includes the sug- gestion they were bred to hunt “vermin.” Cool! But there is no concise definition of species of vermin and one person’s concept of a pest may be another’s idea of a pet. At one time Red Fox and Badger were consid- ered vermin. Coyotes too here in America and Dingos in Australia. Today in Slo- vakia Bedlingtons hunt underground in huge Badger earths. It is only recently in America that we’ve succeeded in making the Bedlington into a world class ratcatcher. They’re ideally suited for bigger game.
Let’s be crystal clear about this single truth. The words “hunting,” “killing,” and “aggression” are not synonymous. Not yesterday, not today and not anywhere. Only the naïve (or ignorant) would believe differently. Rhodesian Ridgebacks do not kill lions. They find them, trail them and hold them in one place for the hunter. Nor- wegian Elkhounds do not kill Moose. The field test for that breed is to hold a cow and her calf “at bay” in one place for 90 minutes. In America, foxhunts kill very few foxes. It’s about the hunt and the chase. It is no different with working Terriers where the
objective is to either bolt the quarry from the earth or hold it in one place until it can be dug and humanely dispatched. Most Terriers, by definition, were (and many still are) purposely bred to hunt and should be well equipped for the job, both physically and temperamentally. Except in ratting and rabbiting, few Terriers actually kill their quarry themselves.
Professional Huntsmen (those who hunt recognized foxhound packs 3 days a week) have long debated whether a hound hunts better if it is “blooded.” From my point of view I see no difference in performance between hounds that have killed a fox and those that haven’t. The drag hounds that follow a scented rag give equal sport as do the Bloodhounds that hunt the clean boot. A dog will learn to hunt long before it learns to kill.
Few Terriers (or hounds for that mat- ter) hunt alone. It’s a team effort and the lack of sufficient dogs has been the cause of many a blank day. Many foxhunt with 16 1⁄2 couple of hounds (33 of them) and need them all to cover the ground for scent. I like to hunt with eight Terriers for rats in the city and at least 4-6 dogs on bigger quarry
in the country. The cooperation and syn- ergy of a working pack develops naturally between the dogs. Given the need for that teamwork there is no room whatsoever for the slightest sign of aggression by any dog against its teammate or a human. In 30 plus years of hunting I have seen no hound fights (in the field) and less than half a dozen Ter- rier scuffles. With Terriers, we do see most of them “stand up” when they are on lead before hunting starts. (Hey? Wait a minute. Isn’t this the sparring that we reward in the breed ring?) The dogs have a sense of secu- rity provided by the lead and handler. Once released and set to work, they are family once again and willingly share the task of hunting and the quarry. Any Bedlington or other breed of Terrier that shows the least bit of aggression toward man or other dog has a very short life span indeed. In AKC Earthdog the penalty is disqualification, in real life hunting it is more severe.
A hunting background is not now and never has been a factor in aggres- sion, shyness or any other negative tem- perament issue. Hunting dogs are quick to learn to shift into and out of hunting mode. To the contrary, problematic dogs quickly
290 • ShowSight Magazine, SepteMber 2019