Feist

A feist is a small hunting dog from the United States. It is a type and not a single formal breed: feists are bred for the way they hunt, so they may be purebred, crossbred or mixed, and they are known more by their size and working style than by their looks.

History

Feists descend from the terriers that British miners and other immigrants brought to the United States, probably crosses involving the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier and the now-extinct English White Terrier. These dogs were ratters, and their owners liked to bet on how well they killed rats. Some were later crossed with Greyhounds, Whippets or Italian Greyhounds for speed and with Beagles or other hounds for hunting ability. One writer believed the type also drew on Native American dogs and was kept as early as the 17th century.

The dogs have been written about for centuries, under spellings such as foist, fice and fyce. George Washington described a “foist-looking” dog in his diary in 1770, Abraham Lincoln put a “fice” into a poem, and William Faulkner wrote about them. Theodore Roosevelt often hunted with a feist named Skip. The word “feisty” comes from these small, energetic dogs.

Named varieties include the Mountain Feists and the Treeing Feists. The Rat Terrier is counted as a specific breed within the feist type.

Appearance

Feists are small to medium-sized dogs, 25–46 cm (10–18 in) tall and 6.8–14 kg (15–30 lb), with a short coat and long legs. The ears sit high and may be button, erect or short and hanging. The tail may be natural, a bobtail or docked. Beyond that there is little consistency in how they look.

Mountain Feists are sometimes mistaken for Jack Russell Terriers. The feist’s coat is generally softer and smoother than a rough-coated Jack Russell’s, its legs are longer, and its tail is usually shorter.

Temperament

Feists work above ground, chasing small prey and squirrels in particular, where terriers and Dachshunds go to ground. They track mostly in silence, using eyes, ears and nose. Once a squirrel is up a tree they bark loudly and circle the trunk, much as a coonhound trees a raccoon, and wait for the hunter. Most also have a very strong urge to chase rabbits and rodents, and will cross streams and roads to do it, so a leash is wise where squirrels are about.

Away from the hunt, most feists are fairly quiet dogs. Compared with Jack Russells they bark less, are less combative and are not as frantic.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.