There are many influences on a dog breeds popularity or lack of it. It is rather shocking to note that the news media reports today that Tintin’s pal Snowy, a wire fox terrier, is heading towards extinction as a dog breed and has been placed on the “at watch” list by The Kennel Club. Dog breeds in this list are monitored by The Kennel Club when there are 300-450 puppy births annually.
Registrations of the wire fox terrier reached their peak in 1947 when over 8,000 puppies were born in the UK.
In 2022, 359 puppies born in the UK were registered and this much reduced population size has declined further in 2023 with just 281 dogs of this breed registered which represents a 21% decline on the previous year.
Snowy was highly popular during the era of Tintin’s popularity. Perhaps the answer or at least part of the answer as to the declining popularity is there; Tintin’s popularity. The wire fox terrier gained widespread recognition when Snowy first appeared in the Tintin comics in 1929. The Adventures of Tintin was a comic series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé.
Celebrity endorsements of one kind or another can significantly boost a dog breed’s popularity. And I guess Tintin was a bit of a celebrity even though he was fictional. And of course, media exposure affects popularity. Nowadays this includes television shows and social media. The latter probably is the most important influence.
Albert Einstein and Lucille Ball were both known to be fans of the wire fox terrier. The Times tells me that King Edward VII and Queen Victoria owned on of these dogs.
Other influencing factors are accessibility and affordability. This would appear to be a downward spiral event because if a dog breed becomes less popular, there are less breeders and if there are less breeders there is less accessibility to a dog breed and because they are rarer, they might be more expensive.
Social trends and fads also dictate a dog breed’s popularity. They can become fashionable and trendy such as is the case with the French Bulldog recently. This is a very unhealthy dog breed but achieved huge popularity during Covid-19 because people like the cute, flattened face which is in line with the same baby-like face concept of the flat-face Persian in the cat world – also an unhealthy breed.
Another influencing factor would be purpose and function because dogs ultimately were created and bred to perform a function. This may be an important issue because foxhunting has declined tremendously in its public profile in the UK. It is seen as cruel and foxhunting with dogs is banned. The fox terrier was bred to be a mainstay of British foxhounds in days gone by. They were used to locate foxes when they went to ground.
RELATED: Children should be prevented from attending foxhunting activities as it grooms them.
The breed has been successful at dog shows winning the best in show organised by The Kennel Club on three occasions in 1962, 1975 and 1978. The breed has been in the running to take the best in show award on 12 other occasions including, ironically, this year, 2023.
Image of Tintin and Snowy credit: By Hergé – Own design (500x500px-white background) based on a downloaded image, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75087919
