Mad Max: Smooth Fox Terrier

Max is a dog on a mission. Like a 20-pound steel spring, he bounces repeatedly in front of the hamster cage. He is totally focused on the cage, teeth gleaming, tongue lolling, eyes slightly crazed. Boing! Boing! Boing! Max wants the hamster, needs the hamster. Nothing else exists except the wire cage and the warm, furry body inside. Max is going to get the hamster, and he will not, cannot stop.

Hi, welcome to my blog about Smooth Fox Terriers. My name is Court, and I live on Maryland's Eastern Shore with my family and a Fox Terrier named Max, a.k.a. Mad Max, Mini and Rat Dog. I started this blog because I couldn't find one about Smooth Fox Terriers, and I want to share my experiences and hear from others who are enjoying the breed.

To begin, I've always been a big-dog person. I've had Golden Retrievers, Yellow Labs, Standards Poodles and mutts, none of them smaller than 40 pounds. I used to look down on small, yappy breeds.

That changed this past June when Fred, my sweet Yellow Lab, died of cancer. We've always been a two-dog family, and we didn't want our mutt Ginger to be lonely, so we piled into the car and headed for the SPCA.

We walked up and down the aisles and looked at a variety of breeds and no-breeds. As we came to the end of one row, we spotted a huge nose attached to a small black and white dog. We didn't know what it was, but we were fascinated: how could that tiny body support that big nose?

We took Max home and the adventure began. We didn't know anything about Smooth Fox Terriers but soon found out they are nothing like the easygoing, obedient Labs we were used to.

Max is "on" 24 hours a day, always ready to play or start trouble. He has to wear a special head collar on walks or he lunges the whole way. He has no concept of personal space, and his big nose is always in your face. Sleeping under the bed covers is an inalienable right, and trash cans are meant to be excavated. He eats leftovers standing on the kitchen table. He is sweet and affectionate. He likes to curl up on your lap and enjoys a good tummy rub. He has no interest in house training. "Sit" and "stay" are for losers. He picks fights with all strange dogs, no matter how big they are, and he will kill any small animal he can catch. The score so far: two chickens and six rats.

At first, we thought we had gotten a defective dog, but we read up on the breed and found out Max is a typical Smooth Fox Terrier: happy, smart, energetic, fun loving, affectionate, disobedient, stubborn and obsessive. So much personality packed into such small dog.

We weren't sure we could handle Max, and for a time we listed him with a rescue service. But he is such a sweet little guy that we finally decided we would keep him, psychoses and all.

Max is always getting into something, so I will post Max stories from time to time. And I'd like to hear from other Smooth Fox Terrier owners. We can have a few laughs, and maybe learn from each other. If you've had luck with house training, I'd really like to know.