Brittle – Setting the Benchmark for Wire Fox Terriers

By Amy Fernandez

Historic events and famous names have been woven into the fabric of this sport from the start. And that in itself rarely qualifies as an interesting storyline. But this one just might. This intersection of realities begins with the arrival of America’s first really good Wirehaired Fox Terrier. Breed historian Irving Ackerman can be thanked for documenting the consequent pileup of cultural benchmarks in his book The Wire-Haired Foxterrier. By the time it was published in 1928 the depth of quality in the breed was phenomenal, and the competition fierce, which made it easy to forget that there was a time when, over here, Wires were not all that.

“Brittle was the first good Wire Fox Terrier to arrive in America from Great Britain and he was one of the best and most impressive dogs of the generation in which good Wires were just beginning to make their appearance.” This fact quickly lost its significance in the ensuing stampede of celebrated imports that poured in by the thousands for decades to come. Brittle’s role in Wire history was over-shadowed pretty quickly. And maybe he wasn’t the best. But he was the first …back when Smooths ruled the town.

His owner, British journalist Reginald F. Mayhew, better known as Chappie, was, according to Ackerman “also a judge and critic of Fox Terriers almost without equal.” Both Mayhew and his wife made an indelible impression on the east coast dog scene as breeders, exhibitors, and primarily as one of the first internationally popular husband and wife judging teams. They judged every major Terrier specialty in addition to a combined total of 15 Westminster assignments over the years. (Mrs. Mayhew also deserves credit for discovering a clueless novice named Alva Rosenberg and taking him under her wing.)

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=150755

Posted by Alex on Sep 20 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.