“A Mans Best Friend”
Aug 13 2009
The Border Terrier is a breed of dog of the terrier type that came from the borders of England and Scotland. Its ancestors are said to be the Dandie Dinmont terrier and the Bedlington terrier. Today, countless of families choose the Border terrier as a companion and in fact, this breed ranked 81st in the American Kennel Club registry and 10th at the UK kennel club.
This dog was named Border Terrier because of the fact that it was first seen and has flourished in the Scottish borders. This dog has existed probably for centuries but it was only in 1920 that it was officially recognized as a breed by the Kennel Club. Before this recognition though, the Border Terrier fell under the “Any Other Variety” of the Kennel Club.
The Border Terrier is distinct for its dominant otter-like head wherein its skull is broad and its snout short and strong. The ears of this dog are V-shaped and fall closely to the cheeks. The tail is averagely short and is thick at the base and thins towards the tip.
The body of this dog is narrow and long and is covered with dense and rough-looking hair. Its height is 13 to 16 inches on the average. The weight is 13 to 15.5 pounds for the male and 11.5 to 14 pounds for the female.
This dog is covered with a double coat that is soft, short and dense underneath and harsh, stringy and weather-proof at the top. This coat sheds twice a year and during these times, hand stripping is necessary in order for the coat to grow back normally. The coat colors of this breed are blue and tan, red, wheaten, and grizzle and tan.
This dog is sociable and gets along well with other dogs but it does not hesitate to fight back whenever it feels threatened. Generally, however, this dog is very friendly and does not aggress anybody intentionally and in fact, it will likely go with a stranger without suspicion. This dog is also very bright and mild tempered but at times it can be confrontational and hard-headed.
Task training for this breed is very easy as it tends to learn quickly on this subject. When it comes to agility, this dog performs outstandingly even defeating other breeds. Teaching this dog some tricks, however, is less enjoyable as it tends to learn slowly on this topic.
Since the Border Terrier was primarily developed to be a hunter, it naturally has great stamina and energy that needs to be polished through daily exercise. This breed is decidedly sensitive to pain and most times its illness won’t show obvious signs. This dog is not very active indoors and so an apartment living is enough for its activities.
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