Teddy Roosevelt Terrier

The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is a small to medium-sized American hunting terrier. It is closely related to the Rat Terrier but stands lower, on shorter legs, and is more muscular and heavier in bone.

History

The breed shares its early history with the Rat Terrier, which is said to descend from terriers and other dogs brought to America by English and other working-class immigrants. These were farm, hunting and utility dogs, bred for working traits with little planning. Feists, the Smooth Fox Terrier, Manchester Terrier, Bull Terrier, Whippet, Italian Greyhound and the extinct English White Terrier are all counted among the ancestors, and Beagle crosses probably added scenting ability and may have reinforced the short, bench-legged build. Such dogs were often called bench-legged feists.

For a long time short-legged and long-legged dogs were born in the same litters and all were simply called Rat Terriers. Serious efforts to separate the two types began in the mid-1990s. When the Rat Terrier Club of America divided them, the short-legged kind was named in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, although he never owned Rat Terriers and had no part in developing the breed. His family’s dogs included Skip, a black-and-tan feist type; Scamp, a keen ratter in the White House; and Jack, a Manchester Terrier.

The first standard was written in 1996. The United Kennel Club accepted the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier as a breed separate from the Rat Terrier in 1999. The breed entered the American Kennel Club’s Foundation Stock Service in 2016, moved to the Miscellaneous Class in 2019, and has since gained full AKC recognition.

Appearance

The UKC standard asks for a height of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm), with weight in proportion; dogs from 8 to 25 lb (3.6 to 11 kg) are not unusual. The body is longer than tall, in a preferred ratio of 10 to 7. The head is broad, slightly domed and wedge-shaped, with V-shaped ears that may be erect or button. A docked tail is preferred, but a natural bobtail or a full tail carried in an upward curve is accepted. The dog may be solid white, another solid color with markings, or white with patches of color. Merle and hairlessness are disqualified.

Temperament

Teddy Roosevelt Terriers are smart, loyal, energetic and playful, and are considered easy to train. They attach themselves closely to their families and tend to follow their owners through the day, while staying aloof with strangers. They make protective, territorial watchdogs. Their prey drive is high: they chase squirrels, rats and cats, and they dig after moles. They adapt to most ways of life, including apartments, and are happy to settle in a lap once the day’s activity is done.

Care and health

Problems that may occur, as in the related Rat Terrier, include allergies, bite faults, hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia and slipping kneecaps. Ectopia lentis, a displacement of the lens of the eye, is also seen in small numbers.

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