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45-848: The name was invented and embraced in the early 1860s by a handful of breeders anxious to create a new breed from a prick-eared version of the small white working terriers that were later developed into the Fox Terrier , the Jack Russell Terrier , the Sealyham Terrier and later, in the United States, the Boston Terrier and the Rat Terrier . In the end, however, the Kennel Club hierarchy decided

90-465: A Fell Terrier, a "working Lakeland", or a " Patterdale Terrier ". A German variety of the Fell Terrier is called the " Jagdterrier ", but the standard for this dog is on the large size, and, as a consequence, it is most useful in large pipes, artificial earth, or when it has been bred down to a 12–13in size. From the southern part of England have come the white fox-working dogs, whose origins are

135-411: A dog takes up in a burrow, the more the airflow will be constricted. In addition, a small dog has better maneuverability and can more easily avoid being bitten. Because of this, small dogs often receive less injury underground than larger dogs, which are more likely to find themselves jammed in a den pipe, face-to-face with the prey, and unable to move forward or backward. Other important requirements of

180-466: A new home. In 1935 they settled in Paris where he had been known to her as "Benn", and their arrest in 1939. By August 1942 Albert Benjamin was being held at a labour camp at Chanac in central southern France. That was the month in which he managed to escape. The escape appeared timely because during the later summer of 1942 German and Polish Jews still held in southern France were being separated from

225-646: A pack of terriers when they are working. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the name " terrier " dates back to 1410 in the writings of Edward of Norwich, 2nd duke of York (1373 – 1415). The word terrier in Old French derives from the Latin " terra " , which means " earth ". The term terrier meaning " earth dog " or " dog of the earth " was used in the Middle Ages with

270-753: A range of reports on the working terrier. In 1994, Alan Williams , the Labour MP for Swansea West , proposed a private members bill , the Protection of Dogs Bill, seeking to ban the activity, but it was not banned in the UK until the passage of the Hunting Act 2004 . The Act outlaws terrier work unless it complies with a number of strict conditions designed for gamekeepers . Alfred Benjamin Alfred Benjamin (8 January 1911 – September 1942)

315-531: A really so-called pure English White Terrier up to 20 lbs, the maximum allowed by the club." Lee describes the English White Terrier as "the most fragile and delicate of all our terriers," noting that "he is not a sportsman's companion," but that he "makes a nice house dog" but "requires a considerable amount of cuddling and care." Lee notes that at some of the early dog shows "some of the specimens were shaped more like an Italian greyhound than as

360-444: A rounded skull, or so-called 'apple head," which so persists in making its appearance in lilliputian specimens of the dog – an effect of inbreeding." Though Lee included a club description of the dog claiming the dog could be found as heavy as 20 lbs in weight, Lee (a noted Kennel Club judge and Kennel Editor of The Field sport hunting magazine) took the trouble to note that "As a matter of fact, I do not ever remember seeing

405-440: A small-chested and game-working terrier, a good round point shovel , a digging bar , a brush hook to clear away hedges and brambles, fox nets, water for the dog and digger, a snare to remove the quarry, or a gun or blunt instrument to dispatch it. The only "modern" piece of equipment found in a terrier man's kit that would look foreign to a terrier man from the late 18th century is an electronic radio collar used to help locate

450-510: A sport that had arrived in the UK from France in the late 17th century. The first mounted fox hunts were described by Sir Walter Scott , who also described the first working terriers in the UK. The first true breed of working terrier that bears a resemblance to what we see in the field today is the Jack Russell Terrier . The Jack Russell Terrier is named after the Reverend John Russell , whose long life (1795–1883) encompasses

495-472: A terrier" and that the dog "is particularly subject to total or partial deafness." Though the dog still existed as a breed in 1894, Briggs could see the writing on the wall and did not bemoan the possible extinction of this show-ring failure: "While regretting extremely the decay of the White English Terrier, I am afraid they must bow to the inevitable, and give place to dogs better suited to

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540-566: A working terrier are essential gameness , a good nose, and the ability to problem-solve to avoid coming to harm underground. A wide variety of game is hunted below ground with terriers, including red foxes, groundhogs (also known as woodchucks), raccoons , opossums , nutria (also known as coypu), and European and American badgers . According to a 1994 survey by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation , 9% of foxes killed by UK gamekeepers were killed following

585-490: A working terrier is a small chest size which facilitates navigation through narrow underground tunnels. The optimal chest size varies depending on the dimensions of the tunnel system; generally, smaller dogs are more effective as they can reach their quarry without the need for extensive digging and without significant fatigue. Larger dogs often face difficulties in maneuvering through tight bends in tunnels, requiring frequent intervention from handlers to continue, such as digging

630-754: Is largely illegal in Britain under the Hunting Act 2004 , unless conducted by strict conditions intended to protect game birds . Hunting with working terriers for rats is legal in the United Kingdom. Terrier work is legal in Australia , Canada , South Africa , the United States and much of continental Europe . The primary characteristic of a working terrier is its active employment by an owner or handler, rather than its breed alone determining its status. The most critical physical attribute for

675-429: Is no danger that a species can be wiped out over a large area and little chance that an adult will be terminated with an unseen young still in the den. Though inefficient, a team of terriers, when coupled with an enthusiastic digger, can control red foxes, raccoons, and groundhogs on small farms where their presence might be a problem for chickens , geese , wild bird populations, and crop production. Because terrier work

720-637: Is selective, animals can be dispatched, or else they can be moved and relocated to nearby farms, forests, or waste areas where they will do no harm. Terrier work as it is known today began with the rise of the Enclosure Movement in the late 18th century in England . With enclosure, people were moved off the land and into cities and towns, and sheep and other livestock were moved into newly walled, hedged, and fenced fields. Vast expanses of enclosed open spaces proved perfect for mounted fox hunting,

765-494: Is still as common as ever, presenting itself in a variety of coats (smooth, broken, and wire-coated or rough), sizes (10 inches to 15 inches tall, with most working dogs sized 10 to 13 inches tall), and coat colors (from pure white to 49% colored with tan and black markings). There is even a new type of working Jack Russell, the " Plummer Terrier ", first created by Brian Plummer in the 1970s. The tools used for terrier work have essentially remained unchanged for more than 400 years:

810-523: The (German language) Communist Party news-sheet "Frage und Antwort" ( "Questions and answers" ). In September 1939 both France and Britain declared war on Germany . It would be some months before it became clear what this would mean for Germany, but in the meantime, in both Paris and London , a large number of German political exiles who had emigrated to escape the Nazi government at home were identified as enemy aliens and arrested. Albert Benjamin

855-593: The German socialist Alfred Kayser, who had recently been sentenced to death. It was only with difficulty that Benjamin avoided deportation to Spain following this incident. He nevertheless remained in France, and in 1936 started producing the news-sheet "Trait d’Union" , which he used to inform French workers about the situation in Germany and the anti-Fascist resistance struggle. As well as this he worked as an editor for

900-738: The League Against Cruel Sports , the International Fund for Animal Welfare , and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals because it can lead to underground fighting between animals and cause serious injuries. The British National Working Terrier Federation denies that underground fighting is an issue, arguing that the terrier's role is to locate, bark, and flush out the hunted animals, not to attack them. Hunting below ground with terriers

945-644: The new government termed Protective custody ( "Schutzhaft" ) and interned in the "Ulmer Höhe" concentration camp , transferred later to the camp at Esterwegen , where he was held till October 1933. He was then detained in the Camp at Lichtenburg bei Torgau till December 1933 or December 1934 after which he was encouraged by the Gestapo to emigrate to Palestine . He initially rejected police requirements that he should emigrate and instead made contact with his comrades, to resume his political activities on behalf of

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990-645: The "English White Terrier" was a distinction without a difference, while the dog's genetic problems made it unpopular with the public. Within 30 years of appearing on the Kennel Club scene, the English White Terrier had slipped into extinction. However, in Britain it was crossbred with the Old English Bulldog to give rise to the Boston Terrier and Bull and Terriers . Small bred working terriers have existed in Great Britain since at least

1035-422: The 1860s and 1870s, a small group of dog show enthusiasts tried to claim that prick-eared versions of white working terriers were an entirely different breed from those same dogs with dropped ears. The problems with this claim were legion, however. For one thing, prick and drop-eared dogs were often found in the same litter, while entirely white dogs had a propensity for deafness and were therefore nearly useless in

1080-582: The Communist Party in the Düsseldorf, targeting employees of the larger manufacturing businesses and distribution companies. He also founded a cabaret group called "Kolonne Stehkragen" , himself writing the lyrics for most of their songs. In 1932 he received a prison sentence for distributing leaflets. Two months after Germany's 1933 regime change , in March 1933 Alfred Benjamin was taken into what

1125-677: The Fox terrier, the Jack Russell terrier, the Parson Russell terrier, and the Sealyham terrier. In the rush to create and claim new breeds, competing groups of dog breeders sometimes came up with different names for the same dog, and it was common for entirely fictional breed histories to be cobbled up as part of a campaign to declare a new breed and create a bit of personal distinction for a dog's originator (to say nothing of sales). In

1170-540: The connection to the dog’s role of burrowing into the ground in pursuit of quarry, which eventually became the name of this group of hunting dogs. With the growth in popularity of fox hunting in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries, terriers were extensively bred to follow the red fox , as well as the Eurasian badger , into their burrows . This is referred to as "terrier work" or "going to ground". The purpose of

1215-503: The death of the fox. The League Against Cruel Sports states that distressing and prolonged deaths occur during the digging out or flushing out of foxes, and serious injuries can be sustained by dogs. The league notes that terriers and terrier men often accompany hunts which claim to be legally trail hunting , but are in actual fact hunting foxes. Organizations such as the League Against Cruel Sports have produced

1260-458: The dog out. Furthermore, If a dog digs to a point where the tunnel narrows significantly, it may need to move the excavated dirt behind itself to advance. This can lead to a condition where the dog is trapped by the accumulated soil, making it extremely challenging to escape the tunnel without assistance, particularly if it is unable to turn around. With two animals underground, a flow of air must be maintained to avoid asphyxiation . The more space

1305-406: The dog underground and speed the dig. Locator collars have greatly increased the safety of dogs when underground. Terrier work has come under criticism from animal welfare groups in the UK, particularly in connection with fox hunting , where terriers may be used to flush out a fox who has gone underground. This may lead to terriers attacking the foxes rather than flushing them out, thus prolonging

1350-465: The dogs were presented in two classes: "one being for dogs and bitches under six or seven pounds weight, as the case may be; the other for dogs and bitches over that standard." In 1894, about the time that English White Terriers finally disappeared from the Kennel Club scene (it was always a pet and show dog, and never a working dog), Lee noted that "The most recent London-bred specimens I have seen have been comparative toys, under 10lb. in weight, and with

1395-501: The entire early history of mounted fox hunts in the UK, and who is credited with breeding the first fox-working white-bodied terrier used in the field today. With the rise of the Enclosure Movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries came the control of sires and the rapid improvement in livestock herds. As breeds were improved, livestock shows were held to display these improvements. From these livestock shows grew

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1440-832: The field today. The " Fell Terrier " is the original non- pedigree -colored working dog of the north. From this diverse gene pool have sprung the Kennel Club Welsh Terrier , the Lakeland Terrier , and the Border Terrier . Today, only the Border Terrier is occasionally found in the field. This is not to say the working Fell Terrier has disappeared—it still exists by that name among working terrier enthusiasts. Today's working Fell Terrier may be brown, black, red, or black and tan, and may be smooth, wire, or broken-coated. The dog may be called

1485-467: The field. (Briggs, 1894) In 1894, Rawdon Briggs Lee wondered, in his book Modern Dogs , about the relatively recent origin of the "English White Terrier" and noted that, "It has been surmised that the original English White Terrier had been a fox terrier crossed with a white Italian greyhound " (i.e. a toy breed). Lee noted that at the London dog shows where the breed first appeared in 1863–1864,

1530-445: The first dog shows . The first dog show appeared in the UK in 1859, the same year that Charles Darwin 's Origin of Species was first published. Both Darwin's book and the first dog show drew much of their inspiration from the rapid " speciation " of new livestock breeds that had first begun with Robert Bakewell 's efforts to control sire selection. If livestock breeds could be rapidly "improved" through controlled breeding, clearly

1575-587: The following measurements: Working terriers A working terrier is a type of terrier dog bred and trained to hunt vermin including a badger , fox , rat and other small mammals . This may require the working terrier pursuing the vermin into an underground warren . These working dog breeds are neither bred primarily for a dog show nor as a companion dog , rather they are valued for their ability to hunt, endurance and gameness . Working terriers provide utility on farms , for pest control and organized hunting activities. A terrierman leads

1620-449: The late 18th century. These dogs have always been variable in size and shape, with dogs ranging in size from 10 to 15 inches, and with both drop ears and prick ears, smooth, broken, and rough coats.(Burns, 2005) With the rise of dog shows in the 1860s, breed-fancy enthusiasts raced to name and "improve" every type of dog they could find, and terriers were at the very top of their list. From the long-extant white-bodied working terriers came

1665-587: The now illegal Communist Party. Threatened with further arrest, however, during or before Summer 1935, he was instructed by the party to emigrate to France where the German Communist Party had already established its exiled headquarters in Paris . In September 1935 he was arrested by the French police after he had made an appearance at a trades union meeting in order to call for solidarity with

1710-710: The same as those of the Jack Russell Terrier . Kennel Club breeds derived from these mainly white-coated dogs include the Smooth Fox Terrier , the Wire Fox Terrier, the Sealyham Terrier , and most recently, the Parson Russell Terrier and Russell Terrier . None of these Kennel Club breeds are commonly found working in the field today. The absence of white-bodied working dogs in the Kennel Club does not mean that white-fox-working dogs have disappeared. The working Jack Russell Terrier

1755-479: The same thing could be done with dogs. Between 1800 and 1865, the number of dog breeds in the UK climbed from 15 to over 50, and it significantly increased further with the creation of the Kennel Club in 1873. In the world of working terriers, there are but two roots: colored dogs from the north ( Scotland ) and white dogs from the south (England and Wales ). From these two roots spring a variety of Kennel Club dogs and every type of working terrier commonly found in

1800-424: The terrier is to locate the burrow of the prey animal, and then either intimidate it into leaving its burrow or hold the prey still so it can be killed or captured. Working terriers can be no wider than the animals they hunt (chest circumference or "span" less than 35cm) in order to fit into the burrows and still have room to maneuver. Terrier work has been condemned by British animal welfare organizations such as

1845-531: The use of terriers. Terrier work is not a very efficient way of hunting vermin , though in 2006, some 258 members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons argued that it is a comparatively humane way to reduce fox numbers and is quite selective. Because of these characteristics, terrier work is considered an ideal way to control certain nuisance wildlife in farm countries. The inefficiency of terrier work means that, unlike poisons and traps , there

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1890-499: The wants and conveniences of the present day than they unfortunately are." From Modern Dogs by Rawdon Briggs Lee (1894): point, and not carried higher than the back. Alfred Benjamin owned a male Old English terrier, named 'Silvio' (born 1876). It was well-shown and considered a prime specimen of the breed. In 1877, Silvio won conformation shows at Bath , Royal Agricultural Hall , Darlington , Alexandra Palace and in 1878 at Wolverhampton . Silvio weighed nineteen pounds with

1935-600: Was a German bank employee who became a Communist activist . He was obliged to emigrate and in 1935 was in France where after 1940 he joined the French Resistance . He died in an accident during the late summer of 1942 while attempting to escape from collaborationist France to Switzerland . Alfred Benjamin was born in Elberfeld , then a rapidly growing industrial town, today part of Wuppertal . His father

1980-750: Was an ironmonger . The family identified as Jewish . Benjamin trained for work as a bank clerk. As a young man he studied Marxist texts and became aligned with the Labour movement , and in 1930, by which time he lived in Düsseldorf , he joined the Communist Party and the Federation of Independent Employees ( Allgemeiner freier Angestelltenbund / AfA-Bund) . In the aftermath of the World Economic Crisis he lost his job. However, he took on responsibility for political communication on behalf of

2025-586: Was arrested and in October 1939 interned in the camp at Rieucros , close to the border with Spain. In February 1942 all the detainees who had been held at Riecros were transferred to a recently converted camp at Brens , near to Albi . By this time, on 22 February 1941, he had married Dora Davidsohn (following her second marriage known as Dora Schaul) . The two had met in 1934, probably in Amsterdam , as two of many Jewish German Communist exiles looking for

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