Requirements of the type of terrier needed

[Autumnbriar 0]

Cson, I believe that a dog with a 16" chest and under can find quarry to hunt, but to fit everywhere requires 15" and under.......

[PBurns 9]

The dogs are not a complex theory to be sorted out, and there's no shortage of land or quarry which are the ultimate "library" to answer any question.

 

If you are going to be digging anywhere, look at what the people who have dug more than 300 or 500 in your area are using. In the states of Maryland or Pennsylvania, this is not too short a list. More terriers and dachshunds have been dug to in Maryland and Pennsylvania than any other states in the union.

 

As for Ken James or Ken Chambers, you could not do better for advice (though KC is now dead) as both dug many, many hundreds (and quite a lot in Maryland too, for the record) and have forgotten more than most.

 

Ken James wrote an excellent little book with solid practical advice, and it is recommended reading for all U.S. diggers. For the record, the bulk of Ken's experience with terriers is digging groundhogs in dirt the same as everyone else. Yes it is true that he prefers to hunt gray fox in rock, but seasons being what they are, and his farm being under his feet, he has dug more groundhog than anything else. His strong preference for a small dog with a small chest is one shared by everyone I know who digs a lot in this country. I have said it before, and I will say it again: The more you dig, the more you value a small dog with a good nose and a good voice. Both Ken Chambers and Ken James certainly did and do.

 

Patrick