The Rat Terrier is a well-muscled dog with a deep chest, strong shoulders, solid neck, and powerful legs. Their bodies are compact but meaty. The ears can be upright or tipped and are carried erect when the dog is alert. They can be born with short or full length tails, each being left in its natural state or docked at two days of age. The coat colors include, pearls, sables, chocolates, red and white, tri-spotted, solid red, black & tan, blue & white and red brindle. Breeders concerned with working dogs are not as fussy about the specifics of the looks.
The Rat Terrier is an American dog breed with a rich and varied background as an all-around farm dog. Traditionally more of a type than a breed they share much ancestry with the tough little mixed breed dogs known as 'feists.' Several private associations have maintained Rat Terriers registries for some decades, but more recently there have been movements to obtain breed recognition by the major canine organizations. Common throughout America on family farms in the 1920s and 30s, today they are generally considered a rare breed. Today's Rat Terrier is a handsome, intelligent, active little dog that is equally cherished as a farm helper and as a family pet.
Although often mistaken for a Jack Russell Terrier, the Rat Terrier has a different profile and a very different temperament. Rat Terriers are finer of bone and have a more refined head. They always have a short single coat—never wire coated. Rat Terriers tend to be less aggressive than Jack Russells; while they have a definite terrier personality they also have an "off switch" and love lounging on the sofa in a lap as much as tearing about the yard. Rat Terriers are normally cheerful dogs but they tend to be more sensitive than Jack Russells to changes in their environment, owner's moods, or to unexpected noises, people, and activities. The "social sensitivity" of Rat Terriers makes them very trainable and easier to live with for the average pet owner but it also means that extensive socialization from an early age is critical. Proper socialization of a rat terrier puppy includes exposing the animal to a wide variety of people and places, particularly during the first 3 months of life. Like most active and intelligent breeds, Rat Terriers tend to be happier when they receive a great deal of mental stimulation and exercise.
If you're considering an adult Rat Terrier...
There are plenty of adult Rat Terrier who have already proven themselves NOT to have negative characteristics. If you find such an adult, don't let "typical breed negatives" worry you.
When you acquire a puppy, you're acquiring potential -- what he one day will be. So "typical breed characteristics" are very important. But when you acquire an adult, you're acquiring what he already IS.
Rat Terrier Dogs
Looking for Special Someone
Today, everything is about niche markets. Television has learned that lesson: We have a hundred cable channels and each aims for different demographics—everything from the Food Channel to MTV to the History Channel to Animal Planet has its own audience.
We usually admire in a dog those things that we admire—or strive for—in ourselves. So, if you’re running 20 miles a week, you’ll probably admire a dog who’s equally athletic and fit. If you’re looking for a special kind of person, you might be best served by a special kind of dog.
For example:
The Liberal Left-of-Center Urban Hipster. Forget all the purebreds on the 10 Best List. You need a dog from a shelter. How important is this? When John F. Kennedy, Jr. bought a purebred Canaan Dog, he told people it was a shelter mix. The dog’s true
identity didn’t come out until Kennedy’s death, when dog lovers worried about what became of the pooch, and the breeder had to step forward and say that the supposed shelter dog was alive and well with her. (Another lesson here: Don’t fib!)
Outdoorsy Love Interest. If you’re looking for a hunting, fishing, outdoorsy man or woman, you’re not likely to meet this person while you’re walking your Pekingese. (Especially since most Pekingese can only walk a block or so.) An athletic German Shorthaired Pointer would be a better choice. Non-conformist. You’ll want a dog that goes beyond mixed—think of a lovable mutt who looks like he was designed by a
committee. Maybe stubby legs (like a Corgi) and the slender face of a Greyhound—and patches of hair of different lengths and textures. This dog isn’t going to conform to anybody’s breed standard.
Mental Health Professional. One Basenji breeder claims that a disproportionate number of psychiatrists own this fastidiously clean, barkless breed.
Dog for Men (or Women) Only
While the appeal of some breeds, such as Golden Retrievers and Collies, is generally universal, other dog breeds have almost exclusive appeal to one gender, and usually not to the other:
Guy Breeds
- Bulldog. Men relate to their big jowls and swagger. Women notice their gas.
- Airedale. Called the “king of terriers”, this big, brash dog is definitely a guy breed.
- Boxer dog. Guy dog—and half of them are named after famous human boxers, like Tyson. Or underwear (as in Joe Boxer).
To many men, to most men, perhaps, a dog is simply an animated machine, developed or created for the convenience of the human race. It may be so; and yet again it may be that the dog has his own rightful place in the universe, irrespective and independent of man, and that an injury done to him is an insult to the Creator.
Chick Puppies
- Shih Tzu. Women adore grooming them, just like they played with their baby dolls when they were kids. (And some empty nesters do seem to substitute a Shih Tzu for their grown-up children, and prefer them to their boisterous grandchildren.) Marissa agrees. “My daughter got her Shih Tzu when her youngest child started talking and playing outside. She had baby-itis and decided a Shih Tzu would need as much TLC as a baby and fix the ‘itch.’ She was right! Annie is a little doll baby . . . and takes plenty of mothering.”
- Toy Poodle. Tiny, delicate, sensitive and requires grooming: This dog is for women only. And it shouldn’t surprise you that these dogs often have names like Prada and Chanel.
- Shetland Sheepdog: A Sheltie looks a lot like a Collie in miniature, but Collies are equally a woman’s and a man’s
dog. Shelties are solely a chick breed.
