The Smooth Fox Beagle is a designer or boutique dog, the
intentional mixing of two breeds, the Smooth Fox Terrier, a terrier used to
chase foxes out of their dens and bolt holes for English hunters, and the
Beagle, an exceptional rabbit tracking dog, also developed in England. Although
the Smooth and Wire Fox Terriers were both registered and shown together in the
United States for over a century, most experts are in agreement that the two were
developed from very different ancestries. Prevailing theories indicate that the
Wire Fox Terrier was descended from Broken
or Rough coated Black and Tan Terriers from Derbyshire, Durham, and Wales, but
that the Smooth Fox Terrier was a blend of several dogs, possibly including Beagles,
Bull Terriers, Greyhounds, and the Smooth Coated Black and Tan Terrier. It should
be noted, however, that since their inception in the 1700s, these two dogs were
often interbred. This means that you will find Smooth Fox Terriers in the
ancestry of most Wire Fox Terriers, and you will also typically find that Wire
Fox Terriers can be found in the ancestry of most Smooth Fox Terriers. The Beagle
was also an English hunting dog, one that specialized in the tracking of rabbits,
although they have gone through several changes in size and structure since their
inception in the 1400s, with some breeders even popularizing a tiny variety of
Beagle known as a “Pocket Beagle” for a time. Conclusive breed standards for
the Beagle were finally set in the late 1800s, and both England and the United States
formed National Beagle Clubs. Today, the Beagle is the 5th most
popular breed in the United States and has retained that status for several
years.
