Showsight September 2018

The Jagdterrier: A Working Terrier with the Heart of a Hunter INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD REYNOLDS continued

“Lovaki Terrier” and “Terrier de Chasse Allemand” are the names by which the breed is known. WHEN AND WHERE WAS THE BREED DEVELOPED? Like most breeds, the initial origin and humble beginnings of the Jagdter- rier are long forgotten. Perhaps the ear- liest beginnings were with Walter Zan- genberg in the early 1920s who came into possession of four Terrier puppies. Some say these were black and tan Wire Fox Terriers, but I’m a bit skeptical of that. There were several others in Ger- many breeding along the same lines as early as 1911. Between the two World Wars, there was a movement in Germany to eradi- cate non-native game species and rein- force native breeds. Lutz Heck was a zoo keeper and dog fancier who took up that challenge and, along with his broth- er Heinz, bred a lot of German Hunt Ter- riers. The Hecks were acquainted with Adolph Hitler and Hermann Göring and Göring took up the challenge of breed- ing Jagdterriers. At one time during the war, Göring was reputed to have 700 dogs in his kennel. A few left to go to hunters, but for the most part the ken- nel served as a facility to improve and solidify the temperament and confor- mation of the breed. While this sort of thing may be objectionable to some, it is the same concept that has been applied by organized foxhunts. The hounds pro- duced by the hunts have evolved over centuries whilst Jagdterriers became a distinct breed in a couple of decades. The Nazis don’t get all the credit for the breed’s development. There were and are dedicated breeders—nearly all of them hunters—working through the Deutscher Jagdterrier-Club which is similar to a US parent club, but on steroids. For all of this widely spaced effort, the breed remains remarkably From what has been written, the original intent was to breed a German Terrier for use in hunting badger and fox in the earth; a true working Terrier. The smaller size and smaller girth of the original dogs lend credence to this initial goal as does the current FCI stan- dard. (The standard places an upper height limit of 16'' at the withers.) The simple fact is that there is no real bound- ary to the breed’s talents. It wasn’t long before it was adopted by hunters of consistent, unique and stable. WHAT IS THE BREED’S INTENDED PURPOSE?

wild boar, deer and even bear. As the breed slowly spread throughout Europe its job description diversified to hunting all types of game as well as blood trail- ing. In the US, the breed found imme- diate favor when they were brought here between 1951 and 1954. The Jagd’s diverse hunting (and retrieving) skills made it a quick favorite with hunters of boar in Texas, Florida and Louisiana. This superior ability to hunt pigs has proved to be both boon and bane to the Jagdterrier. While the breed was developed for earthwork, even the Germans quickly recognized its ability on boar. The 16'' height limit quickly gave way to the larger, faster, stronger dogs that could more easily handle the larger quarry. In the US, fully 80% of the Jagds are entered to boar, while the remainder are entered to raccoon, fox or nutria. A very few of us hunt rats and woodchuck. (“Entered” means simply that a hound or Terrier has been trained to hunt and has successfully hunted a certain type of quarry. In foxhunting, young hounds are “unentered” for their first year with the pack. There are unen- tered classes at hound shows. It’s less formal in Terriers.) IN WHAT WAY IS THE BREED SIMILAR TO BRITISH AND IRISH TERRIERS? TO GERMAN BREEDS? One has only to look at a Jagdterrier to see the evident similarities to many of the British Terriers, particularly the older strains of Patterdale, Lakeland, and Fell Terriers. There is a lot of resem- blance to the old English Red Terrier as well. Each of these dogs was purpose- bred and their similarity of purpose would necessarily require similar con- formation. But a visual comparison may be misleading. The tan point mark- ings of many Jagdterriers (resembling the Dobe, Rottie or even some Dachs- hunds) give rise to the suspicion that one of these German favorites might be hidden somewhere in the mix. Today’s breed experts deny that theory. The most telling similarity to all Ter- riers though, is the typical prey drive and affinity for earthwork and hunting that is the cornerstone of all the Terrier breeds. In the Jagd, these qualities have been bred to the highest level and are instantly recognizable. The coat, the straight shoulder, the moderate stop and strong tail all speak to the Terrier breeds. There is none of the dignity, restraint or biddability of the German working breeds.

The Jagdterrier resembles older strains such as the Patterdale and Fell Terriers. Photo by Trude Granhus

The devil-may-care Jagd has a look of sheer evil. Photo by Trude Granhus

122 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2018

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