A breed of dog, developed in the Scottish/English border hills to hunt foxes; small and active; solid, flat-ended muzzle; small ears; thick, stiff, wiry coat; usually golden or reddish brown.
| Border Terrier | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | ||
| Scotland, England | ||
| Classification and breed standards | ||
| FCI: | Group 3 Section 1 #10 | Stds |
| AKC: | Terrier | Stds |
| ANKC: | Group 2 (Terriers) | Stds |
| CKC: | Group 4 - Terriers | Stds |
| KC (UK): | Terrier | Stds |
| NZKC: | Terrier | Stds |
| UKC: | Terriers | Stds |
A Border Terrier is a small, rough-coated breed of dog in the terrier family.
Appearance
The Border Terrier has a double coat consisting of a soft undercoat and harsh, wiry outer coat.
Temperament
Border Terriers are friendly, smart, energetic and playful.
Behaviour with other dogs
Border Terriers generally get on well with other dogs, and often develop strong friendships with dogs they meet frequently. Border Terriers must be trained carefully from the beginning to learn proper social behaviour with other dogs, especially larger dogs. If a large adult dog comes into the family, the Border Terrier will "test" his new companion, maintaining his leadership if there is no objection from the larger dog.
Behaviour with other animals
Border Terriers are generally unsuitable for homes where there are rabbits, cats (except Maine Coons), smaller breeds of dogs, or other similar pets, as they will attack and kill all animals smaller than themselves;
Chewing
Border Terriers are strong chewers and tend to destroy all but the most durable toys.
Health
Border Terriers are generally hardy and long-lived dogs with few health problems.
Due to their instinct to kill and consume smaller animals, Border Terriers often destroy, and sometimes eat, toys that are insufficiently robust.
History
The breed was developed for hunting vermin in the area around the border of England and Scotland.\
Though some claim an ancient history for the Border Terrier, no breed of terrier is very old and the Border Terrier is no exception, first appearing around 1860, and being so undifferentiated from other rough-coated terriers that they were not admitted to the UK Kennel Club until 1920 -- after first being rejected in 1914.
The true history of the Border Terrier is exceedingly short and simple despite all the efforts to muddy the water with talk of Walter Scott, Bedlingtons, gypsies, and dark dogs seen in the muddy corners of obscure oil paintings.
The Border Terrier was a kennel type of rough-coated terrier of the Fell type bred by the Robson family.
The first Kennel Club Border Terrier ever registered was "The Moss Trooper," a dog sired by Jacob Robinson's Chip in 1912 and registered in the Kennel Club's "Any Other Variety" listing in 1913. The Border Terrier was rejected for formal Kennel Club recognition in 1914, but won its slot in 1920, with the first standard being written by Jacob Robinson and John Dodd.
For a terrier "bred to follow the horses" the Border Terrier does not appear to have been overly-popular among the mounted hunts. The Border Terrier Club of Great Britain lists only 190 working certificates for all borders from 1920 to 2004 -- a period of 84 years. Even if one concedes that borders were worked outside of the mounted hunts, and not all borders got certificates that were recorded by the Border Terrier Club of Great Britain, the base number is so slow that adding a generous multiplier does not change the broad thrust of the conclusion, which is that Boder Terriers never really had a "hay day" for work.
The relative lack of popularity of the Border Terrier as a working terrier is borne out by a careful review of Jocelyn Lucas' book Hunt and Working Terriers (1931).
Only 16 hunts said they used Borders or Border crosses, while about 80 hunts said they prefered Jack Russells, white terriers or some type of fox terrier.
The Border Terrier does not appear to be fairing any better today, with even fewer workers found in the field than in Lucas' times. In fact, there is not a single Border Terrier breed book that shows a border terrier with its fox -- an astounding thing considering the age of the breed and the ubiquitous nature of the camera from the 1890s forward. Border terriers are among the top 10 breeds in the UK Kennel Club, and nearly 1,000 border terriers were registered with the American Kennel Club last year -- up about 100 dogs from the previous year.
Earthdog trials
More Border Terriers have won American Kennel Club Earthdog titles than any other terrier.
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