ICONS, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 110
Evelyn Silvernail – CrackDale Wire Fox Terriers
Many promising
Wire Fox Terrier
puppies of the
20th century
carried Evelyn
Silvernail’s CrackDale kennel
name.
For nearly three decades, Mrs. Paul M. Silvernail
bred Irish, Welsh, Smooth and Wire Fox Terriers
at her home in Madison, Conn. Established in
1928, her Crack-Dale Kennels is remembered
most for the many top-winning Wires it produced, including Ch. Country Squire of CrackDale and Ch. Spectacular of Crack-Dale. In
her 1961 homage to the breed, The Complete
Fox Terrier, Smooth and Wire, Mrs. Silvernail wrote, “I think I am most deeply indebted
to the little dog who made all this possible,
who taught me so much and who opened up a
whole new life for me — my first ‘Wire’ — Lady
Crack-Dale.” Her book is still highly regarded
a half century later for its collection of photographs and pedigrees that chronicle the popularity of both varieties in early to mid-20th
century America.
Although Smooths took an early lead
in the popularity of the Fox Terrier, Wires
would ultimately win the American Fox
Terrier Club Grand Challenge Cup 62 of 69
times it was offered up to 1937. Mrs. Silvernail got her start as a breeder during the
Wire’s early heyday and remained devoted
to the variety throughout her life. She became involved in
club activities and served on the AFTC Board. She helped
to found both the Kenilworth Kennel Club and the prestigious Wire Fox Terrier Club of the Central States. Mrs.
Silvernail shared her knowledge and experience by becoming a multi-Group judge and a writer. She contributed to
Popular Dogs magazine, among others, and was awarded
an Honorable Mention from the Dog Writers’ Association
of America for her article on the late show superintendent
George Foley that appeared in the Baltimore Sun.
On July 26, 1973, a New York Times article titled, “Breed112
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Mrs. Silvernail got her start as a
breeder during the Wire’s early
heyday and remained devoted to
the variety throughout her life.
ers Blamed as Fox Terriers Lose Their Allure,” allowed Mrs.
Silvernail an opportunity to speak frankly about the state of
Wires at the time. “Much of the trouble lies with the breeder
… who is forgetting the standard,” she says to sports writer
and dog man Walter Fletcher. “He’s trying to breed for the
long head. With it goes a long body. He should be trying,
instead, for a short-coupled body, with a well-balanced lean
head. The dogs today are entirely too large. The perfect Fox
Terrier should be square-cut, about 18 pounds and 151⁄2 inches at the withers.” Mrs. Silvernail goes on to suggest that
“every so often” a fancier should study the results of his or
her breeding program. “Perhaps it is time to go outside and
introduce new blood,” she says. “There are three rules —
breed to bloodlines, type and specimen.”
When asked which was her best Wire, Mrs. Silvernail
names Top Row of Wildoaks. “He had 14 Best in Shows and
when 11-months-old won the National Specialty,” she says.
“He was the only Wire to ever beat Ch. Nornay Saddler, the
great Smooth.” DIR