English White Terrier
Old English White Terrier by Alfred de Prades
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| Other names | White English Terrier Old English Terrier British White Terrier |
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| Origin | Britain |
| Breed status | Extinct |
| Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) | |
The English white terrier (also known as the White english terrier or Old english terrier) is an extinct breed of dog. The English White terrier is the failed show ring name of a pricked-ear version of the white fox-working terriers that have existed in Great Britain since the late 18th Century.
The name "English white terrier" 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 America – the Boston Terrier and the Rat terrier. In the end, however, the Kennel Club hierarchy decided 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. It was, however, crossbred with the Old English Bulldog giving rise to the Boston terrier and Bull terrier.
Small bred working terriers have existed in Great Britain since at least the late 18th Century. These dogs have always been quite variable in terms of 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-extent white-bodied working terriers came 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 very 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).
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