KENAI
Smooth Fox Terrier

The breeds · terrier

AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier

Smooth Fox Terrier.

AKC: should stand like a cleverly made hunter, covering a lot of ground with a short back; 'if a dog can gallop and stay, and follow his fox up a drain, it matters little what his weight is to a pound or so'; modeled on the symmetry of the Foxhound; bone and strength in a small compass. UKC: a muscular but agile, active, small-to-medium hunting terrier with enough leg to run with the foxhounds in a hunt and built to go to ground after fox; although seldom used for hunting now, it keeps a strong prey drive and will dig tirelessly after underground vermin; the body is square. FCI 12: utilization 'terrier'; classed Group 3, Section 1 (large and medium sized terriers), working trial optional; always ready to deal with rats, rabbits and, of course, foxes. RKC: terriers were kept by the hunts as earth dogs, to dig out when the fox went to ground; they ran with the hounds or were carried in saddle panniers by the huntsmen; the early dogs were often brown or black and tan, and white was bred in so the terrier could be told from the fox. No source read prints a chest-span test for this breed; the standards describe a deep, not broad chest and a short back. Wikipedia: the Smooth Fox Terrier's historic profession is fox bolting; it accompanied a pack of foxhounds and bolted foxes from their hiding places into the line of sight of the hounds and mounted field; white coats were prized because they were less likely to be mistaken for the fox..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
15–19LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 18 lb (16.5 to 19); breed bitches 16 lb (15 to 17).
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC (Fox Terrier, Smooth): up to 1 hour per day. AKC page: energy level 4 of 5 and mental stimulation needs 3 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: retains a strong prey drive and will dig tirelessly after underground vermin.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 15.5 in · bitches 15.5 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2002

No source prints a female figure; the high is the male ceiling that females sit under.

Weight

dogs 18 lb (16.5 to 19) · bitches 16 lb (15 to 17)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2002

Center from the AKC's 'some two pounds less' than 18 lb; low and high from AKC (16 plus or minus 1), the AKC page and FCI.

Coat

AKC: smooth, flat, hard, dense and abundant, covering belly and thighs. UKC: short, close-lying, hard, dense and abundant. FCI 12: straight, flat, smooth, hard, dense and abundant. Color: white predominates (AKC, UKC, FCI); FCI allows all white or white with tan, black and tan or black markings; brindle, red or liver markings are highly undesirable (FCI); brindle, red, liver or slaty blue are serious faults (UKC). AKC page: coat grooming 2, shedding 3.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2002

Standards agree.

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

4 of 5 · UKC: coat short and close-lying but hard, dense and abundant, covering belly and the inside of thighs. FCI 12: straight, flat, smooth, hard, dense and abundant; belly and underside of thighs not bare. AKC: smooth, flat, hard, dense, abundant.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club

Derived from the standards' coat (short, dense, hard coat = 4). No measured data.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC (Fox Terrier, Smooth): up to 1 hour per day. AKC page: energy level 4 of 5 and mental stimulation needs 3 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped). UKC: retains a strong prey drive and will dig tirelessly after underground vermin.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · RKC: grooming once a week; short coat; sheds. AKC page: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 3 of 5 (AKC bands, not mapped).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

AKC: should stand like a cleverly made hunter, covering a lot of ground with a short back; 'if a dog can gallop and stay, and follow his fox up a drain, it matters little what his weight is to a pound or so'; modeled on the symmetry of the Foxhound; bone and strength in a small compass. UKC: a muscular but agile, active, small-to-medium hunting terrier with enough leg to run with the foxhounds in a hunt and built to go to ground after fox; although seldom used for hunting now, it keeps a strong prey drive and will dig tirelessly after underground vermin; the body is square. FCI 12: utilization 'terrier'; classed Group 3, Section 1 (large and medium sized terriers), working trial optional; always ready to deal with rats, rabbits and, of course, foxes. RKC: terriers were kept by the hunts as earth dogs, to dig out when the fox went to ground; they ran with the hounds or were carried in saddle panniers by the huntsmen; the early dogs were often brown or black and tan, and white was bred in so the terrier could be told from the fox. No source read prints a chest-span test for this breed; the standards describe a deep, not broad chest and a short back. Wikipedia: the Smooth Fox Terrier's historic profession is fox bolting; it accompanied a pack of foxhounds and bolted foxes from their hiding places into the line of sight of the hounds and mounted field; white coats were prized because they were less likely to be mistaken for the fox.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2002

AKC, UKC, FCI and RKC wording; Wikipedia is editorial. The AKC standard text is the 2002 text, which keeps the hunter's drain-work wording.

Primary game

UKC: fox, built to go to ground after fox and bolt the quarry (history: hunters needed a dog that could go to ground and bolt the quarry, and bred a long-legged, mostly white terrier to run with foxhounds). FCI 12: rats, rabbits and, of course, foxes. AKC: fox, followed up a drain. RKC terrier-group text: fox, badger, rat and otter.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Registry statements; the RKC badger and otter line is for the terrier group, not this breed alone.

Also used on

FCI 12: rats and rabbits in addition to fox. UKC: underground vermin, dug after tirelessly. RKC terrier-group text: badger and otter above and below ground. Wikipedia lists no further game.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 12, 2026

FCI and UKC wording; no source read ties the breed to badger or otter specifically.

Range

Runs with the hounds above ground: UKC says enough length of leg to run with the foxhounds in a hunt; AKC says speed and endurance, covering a lot of ground. Goes to ground singly. No source prints a range band.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Editorial reading of UKC and AKC wording; no source prints a close, medium or big range.

Search pattern

UKC: built to go to ground after fox and bolt it; hunters wanted a terrier that could run with a pack of foxhounds, so these terriers ran with the hounds and went in when the fox went to ground; a strong prey drive and tireless digging after underground vermin. RKC: ran with the hounds or were carried in saddle panniers, to dig out when the fox went to ground. No source read for this breed states whether it bays or is silent at the quarry (AKC Earthdog general text: small terriers were bred to bark at the quarry in the den and to bolt or draw it).

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Breed-specific voice is not stated by AKC, UKC, FCI or RKC. The Earthdog sentence is about small terriers and Dachshunds as a group.

Field trial standard

AKC Earthdog eligible-breeds page lists Smooth Fox Terrier. AKC Earthdog (non-competitive den tests for small terriers and Dachshunds): Introduction to Quarry (10 ft tunnel, one right angle, caged rats behind bars; handler may encourage), Junior Earthdog (30 ft den, three right angles, 30 s to reach the rats, 60 s working them, title after two passes under two judges), then Senior Earthdog (30 ft den, three right angles, false unscented exit and unscented bedding, 90 s work, recall from the den) and Master Earthdog (hunt to the den with a bracemate over 100 to 300 yd, mark the entrance, work the quarry through a 6 in narrowing). The AKC page says the tests were built for dogs bred to track game above and below ground, bark at the quarry in the den, and bolt or draw it for the hunter. FCI 12 classifies the breed Group 3, Section 1 (large and medium sized terriers), working trial optional.

Breed clubAKC

AKC Earthdog about and eligible-breeds pages and the FCI classification; the Earthdog rulebook was not read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

13.7% · 724 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 13.7% dysplastic (mild 9.4, moderate 3.0, severe 1.2), 85.9% normal

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented. Rank 94. Name trap: Toy Fox Terrier rows are a different breed and are not used here.

Elbow dysplasia

0.7% · 147 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 0.7% abnormal, 99.3% normal

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented. Rank 151; the small n limits the figure. Name trap: Toy Fox Terrier rows are a different breed and are not used here.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia: deafness, luxating patellas, eye disorders (lens luxation, distichiasis, cataracts); Legg-Calve-Perthes disease and shoulder dislocations; myasthenia gravis, idiopathic epilepsy and goiter reported; a hereditary ataxia, with the KCNJ10 mutation found in the Jack Russell and Parson also found in this breed. RKC: eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme is listed; no breed-specific DNA test package is offered.

EditorialWikipedia

Wikipedia is editorial and secondary. No VetCompass or breed-club survey read.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 3; Barking Level 5; Watchdog/Protective Nature 5; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 8 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Smooth Fox Terrier, Smooth Fox, Foxie, Fox Terrier (Smooth)

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