A newish breed? Recognized? Bred from JRT and ??
Old farm terrier, comes in several sizes, bigger ones, Decker rat terriers, are used as hunting/treeing dogs, little toy ones for companions.
I have one, was supposed to end up middle sized for a farm and agility dog, ended up the runt of the litter at 11", parents were 13".
One of my friends is a small animal vet and has one she competes in agility.
Terrific dogs, go-getters like JRTs without the hyper part.
Mine is great with the horses, livestock, other dogs and loves people, but is all terrier and that is not for everyone.
She hardly ever barks, but is a good watch dog and alerts with a low grumble.
They had their own registry, then UKC, the past 8 years also AKC, mine is rat terrier and AKC registered, for many competitions that is necessary.
There come in a standard conformation type and a short legged type.
Mine:
http://www.akc.org/breeds/rat_terrier/index.cfm
Plenty of info there as well.
Named by the perceptive Teddy Roosevelt, the Rat Terrier was developed in Great Britain originally from the Smooth Fox Terrier and the Manchester Terrierin 1820. It was brought to the USA in the 1890s. At that time they were all their original color of black and tan. Life Magazine showed President Roosevelt with three black and tan Rat Terriers. American breeders crossed them again with the Smooth Fox Terrier as well as the Beagle and Whippet. The Beagle increased bulk, trailing and hunting ability, along with the red color. The Whippet contributed the speed and agility and probably the blue and brindle colors. The smallest variety was derived from the Smooth Fox Terrier and Chihuahua. The Rat Terrier proved to be one of the best in the rat-baiting pits. One Rat Terrier is reported to have killed over 2,501 rats in a span of only seven hours in a rat infested barn. The Rat Terrier is a hard-working farm hand, able to rid an infested barn of vermin with no problem.
The ones I saw looked like Bluey’s, bit smaller, brown and white, and showed the Chihuha in their fine bone and foot structure. They were short, longish little things, and quite adorable.
It’s a new breed at Westminster as of next year. I think they were recognized by the UKC in the past. It was a generic name for something like a Toy Fox Terrier.
Check this out:
http://www.ratterrierclub.com/
[QUOTE=RPM;7228237]
It’s a new breed at Westminster as of next year. I think they were recognized by the UKC in the past. It was a generic name for something like a Toy Fox Terrier.
Check this out:
http://www.ratterrierclub.com/[/QUOTE]
Not really, Toy Fox Terriers are different in temperament, more timid, are a bit more refined, leggier and more elegant, not as plain.
RT and TFT are definitely two different breeds of dogs.
You can tell the difference when you see them together at a show.
I know several of them and they’re wonderful fun smart athletic dogs. I’ll get one next.
Many farms in the 1940-50’s had a rat terrier or two.
We had one, belonged to the fellow running the farming.
He was getting older and so was the dog.
One day he came in from plowing, took his overalls and laid them on the floor by the door, as he used to do.
His rat terrier, that used to ride the tractor with him and chase mice and rabbits around the field when not, used to lay on the overalls in the evenings.
One evening he just went to sleep after dinner and passed away on his chair from a silent heart attack.
His wife could not get the dog to get off his overalls or eat.
He laid there for several days and one morning was found dead.
AKC rat terrier page; http://www.akc.org/breeds/rat_terrier/index.cfm (Two sizes: Miniature - At least 10 inches tall at the shoulder, not to exceed 13 inches; Standard - over 13 inches, and up to and including 18 inches in height measured at the shoulder. Generally 10 to 25 pounds.) Toy fox terrier page; http://www.akc.org/breeds/toy_fox_terrier/index.cfm (Ranging from 8 to 11 inches tall at the shoulder)
I had one once. She was black and white. IIRC, there are actually two types of Rat Terrier, one with long legs and one with short stumpy ones. The AKC went with the long legged variety, but the short legged ones have been named the Teddy Roosevelt terrier. Of course they are all short.
We always used to call the black and tan ones feists.
[QUOTE=Equibrit;7228403]
AKC rat terrier page; http://www.akc.org/breeds/rat_terrier/index.cfm (Two sizes: Miniature - At least 10 inches tall at the shoulder, not to exceed 13 inches; Standard - over 13 inches, and up to and including 18 inches in height measured at the shoulder. Generally 10 to 25 pounds.) Toy fox terrier page; http://www.akc.org/breeds/toy_fox_terrier/index.cfm (Ranging from 8 to 11 inches tall at the shoulder)[/QUOTE]
1 Like
Have one myself, in addition to JRTs. Bluey’s description is great - she’s like my JRTs without the hyper. She is the BEST dog. Brave and great with the horses. We always catch her up in the windows watching us when she can’t come out with us…including eye to eye with my husband in an attic window yesterday when he was up a ladder working on the roof line! She loves riding in the truck and has learned many basic command words. She rarely barks but when she does, its a throaty deep woof, not a little dog bark.
[QUOTE=WendellsGirl;7228614]
Have one myself, in addition to JRTs. Bluey’s description is great - she’s like my JRTs without the hyper. She is the BEST dog. Brave and great with the horses. We always catch her up in the windows watching us when she can’t come out with us…including eye to eye with my husband in an attic window yesterday when he was up a ladder working on the roof line! She loves riding in the truck and has learned many basic command words. She rarely barks but when she does, its a throaty deep woof, not a little dog bark.[/QUOTE]
Mine is older now at almost 8 years old.
She loves to go in the UTV to do whatever and when she gets tired, sits there and naps, until something else interesting comes up.
You are right they are very brave dogs, she has caught a full grown pigeon about her size while on the flight and brought it down.:eek:
Rat terriers are very good dogs, but beware, they are still all terrier, that means they will compromise and gladly do what you want to do, but won’t put up with foolishness, you better have a good reason for asking.
They definitely have a mind of their own.
Some people don’t like that, they want a dog to be obedient, period.
She has been one of those dogs even dog aggressive horses ignore, they know she is not going to bother anyone.
She and my old ranch horse were pals, she used to stand by him when I fed in the mornings and there were not but a couple of horses, so it was safe no one would be moving around and maybe running over her:
I’m a JRT lover, used to breed them, and all mine were good steady dogs. Our original JR came from the Portman Hunt. Picked her up on a trip there
in 1977.
It took a while to get them recognized. Some people (us included) did not agree with this because the whole reason for a JRT was to go down fox holes, so they needed the size, energy, braveness to do a job…so the hunts bred them for performance ahead of conformation. More form to function and it was felt they would lose that if made into show dogs. We liked the terrier trials. I think the craze for the JRT did not do the breed any favours.
Perhaps that is true of the rat terrier?
