This group of dogs is fairly recent in it's development. The word "Terrier", which refers to the native inclination to dig into the ground, infers that most of the breeds grew up with domestication and industry.
They are large vermin hunters, which have little to do with the more ancient sports and have never needed to take upon the job as the working dogs such as the sheep herding dogs or the game hunters. The majority of Terriers originated in Britain, but they all have one thing in common, and that is, given the chance they will dig and dig and dig and go to ground after vermin. This is difficult for some of the breeds as they are too long in the leg for the purpose, for example, the Airedale. In 1677, the Terrier breeds were divided into two groups, the short-haired and the crook-legged type, which in their words "will take earth well and will lie very long at fox or badger". And the long legged shaggy sort, which will hunt above ground and will also enter the earth with much fury. But since 1677, a great deal of selective breeding has taken place and has produced dogs of differing types.
There were Terriers bred along fairly rigid lines in Ireland and also in the islands of the coast of Scotland which produced a different type of dog which were used for different puposes. The country sport of badger digging demanded a much stronger dog than the ordinary Terriers used for fox, and crosses with bull dogs were used, which produced formidable Terriers with fighting instincts. These were encouraged and produced another sport, that of dog fighting.
The smaller Terriers were used by working men for abit of weekend sport hunting, which generally was the rat and the fox. These were used around industrial buildings.
West Highland White Terrier
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The middle sized Terriers with rather longer legs such as the Fox Terrier and the Border Terrier were the favourite of the hunts and were used in conjunction with packs of hounds to drive the fox from his earth or hold him there until the huntsman could dig him out.
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