There are not many wire fox terriers alive today which do not have the blood of Champion Talavera Simon or his son, Romulus, in their pedigree.

The prefix TALAVERA was adopted when the English owner and breeder, Colonel HR Phipps, joined the Wire Fox Terrier Association in 1923. Due to the quality of the stock he produced, the prefix will forever have a place in the history of the breed.

The following is reproduced with kind permission of the WFTA. It was written by Eugene A. Bray and featured in the WFTA 1946 yearbook:

“A litter of wires was whelped on May 1st 1924, in A. J Foster’s kennels at Kettering. It was sired by Ch. Fountain Crusader, and the dam of the litter was a biggish, rather heavily-marked bitch, Kingsthorp Donah. She herself was royally-bred, being by Ch. Barrington Bridegroom out of Ch. Indecision. In this litter was the future king of sires – the one and only Talavera Simon.

Today, just over 20 years after this event, I am trying to summarise its meaning. One cannot say too much about this wonderful little dog. Simon was, unfortunately, short-docked and this did not help him in the show ring. He had a long tan head with very powerful forface, rather big but very well-carried ears, real terrier eyes which could have been darker, good neck and shoulders, very short back, good front, bone and legs but his feet were a bit open. He had a very hard coat, good set-on of tail and grand quarters; a very good body with great spring of ribs. He was a perfect showman and full of terrier fire.

As a puppy he was sold to that very clever breeder and good sportsman, Lt Col. H.R. Phipps. Simon was sent to the kennels of the world-famous handler, J.R Barlow, and soon gained his full title; in fact, he was awarded more championship certificates than the necessary three under three different judges.

One of the greatest judges of dogs, the late Holland Buckley, reported on the dog before he qualified in the following words: “Talavera Simon is a very beautiful terrier; indeed, as sound as they are made, with the perfect body, coat, bone and head imaginable. He is as near faultless as they come. If he does not turn out one of the greatest sires, not only myself, but others fit to form an opinion, will be most truly amazed.” These lines were written about a promising youngster, hardly out of puppy-hood, but this prophecy proved to be one hundred percent true.

In the 20 years that followed the wire breeders failed to achieve anything Simon’s record. I remember visiting a Championship Show at Tattersall’s, Kingsbridge, London. There were about 120 dogs benched and more than half of them were sons and daughters of Simon. In his early litters he even sired 2 champions in one litter on more than one occasion.

Simon was a king of sires, not only through his ability to produce winners but because the strength and consistence of his blood used to be evident in all his puppies. They all had that hard terrier look, and when breeders wanted to pay compliment to the expression of a dog they used to say it had that ‘hard Simon look’. Simon used to stamp his points, and particularly his aggressiveness of character, on the progeny of all bitches, irrespective of their breeding. He sired 22 English champions, 11 dogs and 11 bitches. Many of these became International Champions. I am afraid I do not know how many Continental and American Champions have to be added to this list.

Simon’s daughters, rather than his sons, particularly inherited his ability to produce winners and even champions and old Simon is thus the grandsire of several dozens of them, including such dogs as Int.Ch. Gallant Fox of Wildoaks, Int.Ch.Crackley Startler of Wildoaks, Ch. Beau Brummelof Wildoaks, Ch. Talavera Jupiter, Ch. Talavera Nigel and many others.

Ch. Talavera Simon was a kennel dog. He was kept in hard condition and lived in his own separate kennel with a little run of his own. In spite of this he was an extremely intelligent dog. He knew his job perfectly well and there were no disappointments for those who used his services.

Now, after 20 years, we breeders have probably improved wires by producing better dogs with longer heads and necks and perhaps more refinement, but one thing we have failed to do, and that is, to produce another Simon. I doubt if one can find, at the present time, a wire fox terrier in the show ring or in a household throughout the world, which does not have the name of Ch. Talavera Simon in its pedigree.

On a small estate of a few acres, near a quiet Berkshire village, not far from Reading, close to the house, a shrub overhangs a square stone bearing one word, which means so much to the terrier world – “SIMON”.

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