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Border Terrier Dog Breed
A Border Terrier is a small, rough-coated breed of dog of
the terrier group.
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Border Terrier Dog Breed
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Information about
Border Terrier Dog Breed
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Appearance
The Border Terrier has a double coat consisting of a soft undercoat and harsh,
wiry outer coat. Colours include grizzle and tan (a sort of salt and pepper
look), blue and tan (sometimes looks almost black), red grizzle, and less
commonly, wheaten. The coat should be stripped by hand (not clipped) regularly,
as the top coat becomes long and shaggy and eventually dies. Borders being shown
generally have a short coat that has been stripped and is starting to grow back.
Never clip a border terrier, except around the face area where there are scraggy
bits of hair. Clipping a Border Terrier's coat around its back may ruin its fur
and make it go curly. After clipping, a Border Terrier's coat may never return
to normal.
Temperament
Border Terrier Brothers Sumo and ObiBorder Terriers are friendly, smart,
energetic and playful. They can make good family pets as they are generally good
with children. They are best kept by people who have had dogs before and know
how to maintain human social dominance over them. Since they are highly
energetic dogs, they require a lot of attention and activity. If their owners
cannot give them a lot of attention, they are best kept with other dogs of
similar temperament. Border Terriers are relatively easily trained, although
they can develop a cat-like independence. Some members of the breed make a
highly effective alternative to a doorbell, due to their sharp hearing and the
distinctive frenzied barking that results when they hear someone approaching the
door.
Behavior with other dogs
Red grizzle border terrier bitchBorder Terriers generally get on well with other
dogs, and often develop strong friendships with dogs they meet frequently.
However, if they dislike another dog, they do not hesitate to start a fight and,
as with most terriers, it can be difficult to stop them. A squirt from a water
gun can be an effective way to end a fight. Border Terriers must be trained
carefully from the beginning to learn proper social behaviour with other dogs,
especially larger dogs.
They are best kept in pairs or small groups, or with dogs of other breeds. Ideal
canine companions include other Border Terriers, Collies, and most Spaniels.
When kept in a group, they can have difficulty recognising that each dog has a
different name (they occasionally respond to them all). Border Terriers have
dominant personalities and often occupy a high position in the 'pack',
subordinate to the owner. This is especially true for adult Border Terriers when
a puppy is added to the group. 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.
ehavior 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; they were bred for
this purpose. They may, however, accept small animals they grow up with.
Chewing
Border Terriers are strong chewers and tend to destroy all but the most durable
toys. They can remove the squeak from a squeaky toy within 30 seconds, and
reduce such toys to fragments within a matter of minutes. Solid, tough rubber
toys such as rubber rings are suitable. If a Border Terrier adopts a household
object as a toy, the object will soon be ruined.
Health
Border Terriers are generally hardy and long-lived dogs with few health
problems. However, they have a very high resistance to pain and will very often
appear healthy even when injured or sick. Consequently, any sign of illness
should be taken seriously. Due to their low percentage of body fat, Border
Terriers are very sensitive to anesthetics. Therefore, Border Terrier owners
should select a veterinarian that is aware of this and is cautious in
administering anesthesia.
Due to their instinct to kill and consume smaller animals, Border Terriers often
destroy, and sometimes eat, toys that are insufficiently robust. Indigestion
resulting from eating a toy can cause the appearance of illness. Typical
symptoms include lethargy, unwillingness to play, a generally 'unhappy'
appearance, lack of reaction to affection, and inability or unwillingness to
sleep. These symptoms are generally very noticeable, however, they are also
present just prior to Border Terrier bitches being on heat. Food-grade liquid
paraffin is often an effective solution to digestive problems caused by the
consumption of dog toys. This problem can be avoided by giving the Border
Terrier only durable toys.
Border Terriers occasionally have genetic health problems. Some of these
include:
Hip dysplasia
Perthes disease
Luxating patella
Various heart defects
Juvenile cataracts
Progressive retinal atrophy
Seizures
CECS (Canine Eptiloid Cramping Syndrome [1]
Reliable breeders check all breeding stock for as many of these as possible
before breeding.
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. John Robson founded the Border Hunt in Northumberland
in 1857 along with John Dodd of Catcleugh who hunted his hounds near the Carter
Fell. It was the grandson's of these two gentlemen -- Jacob Robson and John Dodd
-- who tried to get the Border Hunt's little terrier-type popularized by the
Kennel Club.
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. Jasper Dodd was made
first President of the Club.
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[2] lists only 190 working certificates for all borders from 1920
to 2004 -- a period of 84 years. Considering that there were over 250 mounted
hunts operating in the UK during most of this period (there are about 185
mounted hunts today), this is an astoundingly small number of certificates for a
period that can be thought of as being over 15,000 hunt-years long. 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). In Appendix I Lucas provides a table listing 119 UK hunts operating in
the 1929-1930 season, along with the types of earths found (sandy, rocky, etc.)
and the type of terrier used.
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.
Lakelands and Sealhams, or crosses thereof, were mentioned by some, with quite a
few noting "no preference"(hunts are double-counted if they mention two kinds of
terriers or crosses of two types).
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.
To say that the Border is not popular in the field does not mean that it has
fallen out of favor in the show ring or in the pet trade, however! 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.
Further Reading
A piece on the history or Lakeland/Patterdales/Border Terriers with photos of
those dogs.
Earthdog trials
More Border Terriers have won American Kennel Club Earthdog titles than any
other terrier. An earthdog trial is not true hunting, but an artificial
excercise in which terriers enter 9" x 9" smooth wooden tunnels with one or more
turns in order to bark or scratch at caged rats that are safely housed behind
wooden bars. While earthdog trials are not a close approximation of hunting,
they are popular in the U.S. and in some European countries because even
over-large Kennel Club breeds can negotiate the tunnels with ease, dogs can come
to no harm while working, and no digging is required.
Famous Border Terriers
Puffy in There's Something About Mary
Hubble in Good Boy!
Co-star in Lassie View photos on imdb.com web site
There were several border terriers in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of
the Apes.
The Dog in the Wall's Sausage adverts (UK) View adverts on Wall's web site
There is a border terrier in the ad for Ambien CR sleep aid prescription
medication.
A Border Terrier can be seen on the lap of Old Monty in The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre (2003 film)
~From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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