Ten Working Terrier Questions


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1) Your dog enters an undiggable earth without a collar and begins barking. Should you:
a) Stand outside and try to call him out.
b) Move far back from the hole, sit down, and stay absolutely silent until it comes out, even if that takes many hours.
c) Send in another terrier with a locator collar on.
d) Call for earthmoving equipment and volunteer diggers.
e) Dig away as much of the hole as possible.


2) The average height of working terriers in the U.S. that work red fox is:
a) Just over 11 inches tall.
b) Just over 12 inches tall.
c) Just over 13 inches tall.
d) Just over 14 inches tall.
e) Just over 15 inches tall.


3) The Reverend Jack Russell's own dogs were:
a) 14 inches tall.
b) Short legged with smooth coats.
c) Long legged with rough coats.
d) Very uniform in appearance.
e) We know almost nothing about Russell's dogs.


4) Both your primary and secondary Deben box go on the fritz.  It could be because:
a) You are underneath overhead power lines.
b) You are digging next to an electrical fence.
c) There is water in the Deben collar cap.
d) You have another active locator collar in your pocket.
e) All of the above.


5) Barry Jones, professional terrierman, former Chairman and President of the Fell and Moorland Working Terrier Club, and the founding Chairman of the National Working Terrier Federation, once noted that he had spanned an average of 300 fox a year and had never found one that could not be spanned at:
a) 14 inches around the chest.
b) 15 inches around the chest.
c) 16 inches around the chest.
d) 17 inches around the chest.
e) 18 inches around the chest.


6) Of the five principle types of American working  terrier quarry (red fox, Gray fox, raccoon, groundhog and possum):
a) All are in numerical decline.
b) Red and Gray Fox are in decline, others on the increase.
c) All populations are stable.
d) Raccoons and possum are on the increase, others are stable.
e) All are on the increase.



7) You find the two pieces of scat, pictured above, on the edge of a field.  They are (in order, left to right):
a) Deer and fox.
b) Fox and raccoon.
c) Raccoon and fox.
d) Groundhog and raccoon.
e) Possum and fox.


8) A six foot dig:
a) Is about average for the U.S.
b) Requires a long-handled shovel.
c) Is about the same amount of work as three two-foot digs.
d) Requires a hole that is at least five feet on one side.
e) Should have sloping sides to prevent collapse.


9) David MacDonald, the world's foremost scientific authority on red fox, argues that:
a) Fox hunting should be abolished.
b) Fox hunting is an efficient method of fox control.
c) Fox predation of animals has no economic impact.
d) The primary economic impact of fox predation is on sheep.
e) Fox hunting has helped increase fox numbers while protecting the environment.


10) The most important thing a working terrier needs is:
a) Good movement.
b) A scissors bite.
c) A small flexible chest.
d) A harsh coat to repel severe weather
e) An owner that will take it hunting.



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