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Smooth Fox Terrier breeders

The Smooth Fox Terrier is a small, short-coated breed in the Terrier group of The Royal Kennel Club (RKC), which describes it as the first variety of fox terrier to be recognised.

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Advertise your Smooth Fox Terrier puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Smooth Fox Terriers? caninebreeder.co.uk gives UK breeders a place to list their kennel, advertise Smooth Fox Terrier puppies for sale and promote a Smooth Fox Terrier stud dog to owners searching for the right mate. A free basic profile shows your kennel name, location, website, social links and breeds, and a Premium profile adds contact details, services and prices, a gallery and health certificates such as eye results. In a vulnerable native breed, every well-planned litter counts. List your kennel or see plans.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
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Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Smooth Fox Terrier

The Smooth Fox Terrier is a small, short-coated breed in the Terrier group of The Royal Kennel Club (RKC), which describes it as the first variety of fox terrier to be recognised. Hunts kept terriers to dig out foxes that had gone to ground, and the dogs either ran with the hounds or rode in the huntsmen's saddle panniers. Many early terriers were brown, or black and tan, so to make them easier to tell apart from the fox, breeders brought in the now-extinct Old English White Terrier, the Bull Terrier and the Beagle, producing a mainly white dog with small black and tan patches. Fox Terriers first had a show class at Islington in 1862, the Fox Terrier Club had drawn up a breed standard by 1876, and by the early 1900s the Fox Terrier was England's most popular breed.

Size and build. The standard describes an active, short-backed dog with plenty of bone and strength for its size. Dogs stand no more than 39 cm (15½ in) at the withers, bitches slightly less; dogs weigh 7.5-8 kg (16-18 lb) and bitches 7-7.5 kg (15-17 lb). The RKC gives a life expectancy of over 12 years.

Coat and grooming. The coat is straight, flat, hard and dense. White should predominate, either solid or marked with tan, black, or black and tan. The RKC suggests grooming once a week and notes that the breed sheds. The Fox Terrier Club suggests a rubber grooming mitt or firm brush twice a week.

Exercise and home. The RKC lists up to an hour of exercise a day and says the breed can suit a small house with a small to medium garden, in town or country. The Fox Terrier Club describes an energetic dog that does well at agility and flyball, recommends a fully fenced garden and advises keeping it on a lead near traffic because it tends to chase.

Temperament. The standard calls the breed friendly, forthcoming and fearless. The club describes an affectionate family dog and good watchdog that needs early socialisation with cats, other pets and other dogs.

How many are bred. The RKC lists it as a vulnerable native breed: registrations ranged from 45 to 151 a year between 2016 and 2025 (92 in 2025), well under its threshold of 300 a year. Find more vulnerable native breed breeders.

Smooth Fox Terrier health tests

The RKC's health standard for the Smooth Fox Terrier lists prioritising genetic diversity as Good Practice and eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme as Best Practice, and asks breeders aiming for Best Practice to complete both. The Eye Scheme's January 2026 list of breeds with known inherited eye disease, where the scheme is styled BVA/RKC/ISDS, includes the Smooth Fox Terrier for primary lens luxation (PLL). In PLL the fibres that hold the lens in place break down and the lens moves out of position; the RKC describes the condition as painful and blinding, and a lens that falls forward can quickly lead to glaucoma. At an eye examination, a BVA-appointed panellist records each listed condition as clinically affected or unaffected. Litter screening at 5 to 12 weeks looks for congenital conditions, but the RKC says complete lens luxation typically occurs at 3 to 8 years of age, so a clear litter screen does not rule PLL out.

The RKC has no breed-specific DNA testing package for the breed at present, though individual DNA tests are offered. With a small population, careful mate choice matters: aim for a COI no higher than the breed average, and check results on the RKC Health Test Results Finder.

  • RKC Good Practice: prioritising genetic diversity (compare the mating's COI with the breed average)
  • RKC Best Practice: eye examination under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme
  • Inherited eye disease listed for the breed by the Eye Scheme (January 2026): primary lens luxation (PLL)
  • RKC breed-specific DNA testing package: none currently offered
  • Breed Watch: Category 1 (no breed-specific points of concern identified for judges)

Choosing a Smooth Fox Terrier breeder

Smooth Fox Terriers are not widely bred, with fewer than 100 RKC registrations in each year from 2022 to 2025, so you may need to join a waiting list. The Fox Terrier Club advises seeing both parents, and the grandparents if possible, checking that the puppies are reared somewhere clean, asking about veterinary checks and any known health concerns in the bloodline, and choosing a breeder who would take the puppy back if needed. It also expects good breeders to quiz buyers, because placing each puppy in the right home matters.

A careful breeder should show you an eye examination certificate for each parent, explain the COI of the mating and be honest about the breed's energy, digging and urge to chase. In England, a licensed breeder may not sell a puppy under eight weeks old or show one to buyers without its mother, and a licence is needed by anyone who breeds three or more litters in 12 months and sells any of the puppies, or who runs a business breeding and advertising dogs. Puppies must be microchipped and registered by eight weeks.

  • Do both parents have a BVA/KC/ISDS eye certificate, and when was each last examined?
  • Has primary lens luxation appeared in either parent's family, and what screening has been done?
  • What is the COI of this mating, and how does it compare with the breed average?
  • How have the puppies been socialised with people, cats and other dogs?
  • Will you take the dog back or help rehome it at any age if my circumstances change?

Smooth Fox Terrier questions

How big does a Smooth Fox Terrier get?

The RKC breed standard gives a height of no more than 39 cm (15u00bd in) at the withers for dogs, with bitches slightly smaller. Dogs weigh 7.5-8 kg (16-18 lb) and bitches 7-7.5 kg (15-17 lb).

Is the Smooth Fox Terrier a vulnerable breed?

Yes. The RKC lists it as a vulnerable native breed, meaning a breed of British or Irish origin registering fewer than 300 dogs a year. RKC figures show 45 registrations in 2024 and 92 in 2025.

What health tests should Smooth Fox Terrier parents have?

The RKC lists prioritising genetic diversity as Good Practice and an eye examination under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme as Best Practice. The Eye Scheme lists primary lens luxation as a known inherited eye disease in the breed, so ask to see eye certificates for both parents and the COI of the mating.

What is the difference between a Smooth and a Wire Fox Terrier?

They are separate breeds on the RKC register with their own standards, but they share their early history and the Fox Terrier Club covers both. The Smooth has a short, flat, hard coat that the RKC suggests grooming once a week; the Wire has a medium-length coat that the RKC suggests grooming more than once a week, and the Fox Terrier Club says it needs hand stripping several times a year. The Smooth is on the RKC's vulnerable native breeds list, while the Wire is on its 'at watch' list.

More for Smooth Fox Terrier owners and breeders

Official sources