There have been many tall tales told of working terriers, some of them along the lines of a fisherman holding his hands five feet apart and describing the fish he caught was, “this big!”
Evidence suggests, however, that few such anecdotes about Border Terriers are embellished. The Marchioness of Cambridge, Margaret Cambridge, once told of a game Border Terrier owned by Andrew Drummond, a farmer in Northumbria. On one occasion, the wee dog was underground for nearly five hours trying to bolt a fox (which he did). On another, a bystander watching and waiting for the dog to emerge sought to help the dog bolt a prickly badger by hauling the dog out by the tail. Imagine the surprise of everyone watching when at the other end of the dog’s tail was the badger attached to the dog’s nose. The terrier wasn’t having any of it. As soon as he was released by the badger, he had another go at him.
This most unassuming of terriers retains the working instincts which made the breed reign supreme among terrier men and women. One breed historian describes the Border’s working ability: “There is no wall he cannot get over or wire entanglement he cannot scramble through. Should the fox run to earth, he will bolt him every time, or stay the night in the earth until the matter is settled.”
From working class folk who needed their flocks protected from predators to gentry for whom fox hunting was a recreational diversion, Border Terriers were a popular option. Of the former, high value was placed on a dog of which writer, David Hancock wrote: “There is in the expression of a Border Terrier an implacable determination which is seen in no other breed.” Indeed, people went to great extents to rescue their dogs should they have become trapped, including dynamiting tons of rock to reach them. Of the latter, huntsmen felt the Border to be unbeatable for their use. Long legs ensured that the dogs had the endurance and speed needed to run behind horses through various terrain – sometimes up to 25 miles a day. An agreeable nature made these terriers get along with other dogs, and its size made it easy to set the dog in front of a rider on horseback, then set back down on the ground to bolt a fox. It’s been written, perhaps arguably, that Border Terrier just might be the only terrier breed left where champions are still very capable workers.
Image: “Hunting Day” by Daniele Trottier is available as fine art and in home decor and lifestyle items here.
We love our Border Terrier and although she is a spoiled house-dog she has an intense hunt-drive. She has her Junior and Senior Earthdog Titles from AkC. She might had gotten her Masters but she not prone to sharing and refused to “Honor”.
What a wonderfully vivid way you have describing the terrier temperament, Sue. We’re not sure that “working and playing well with others” is in the DNA of every terrier, but we love them anyway, and perhaps we love them *because* of it, lol
I have Border Terriers and I work them. They all grow up around horses and I let their prey drive develop. They all live an enchanted life on a farm with horses so there is plenty vermin training from the age of a pup. Then I start den training them for dark spaces. This they take to easily. When they mature they get trips to working trials on fox, wild boar. Naturally they get to hunt wild deer. They develop onto terrier natural earthdog where they get to hunt badger and fox. Digging dogs. They all dig from being pups. The most successful get to win awards in Slovakia such as the FCI CACIT Certificate Aptitude Conformity International Travail and if they win enough become CIT Champion International Travail. Their photos can be found on fb Earthdog Jrasamuyr Border Terriers. You have never owned a terrier until you have dropped it into a hole. Happy digging,
Great comment, and helpful!! Thanks, Charmaine!