English Toy Terrier (black & Tan)

[Troy]

The English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan)

ANKC Standard

(from http://www.ankc.org.au/home/breeds_details.asp?bid=32 )

Group: Group 1 (Toys)

General Appearance: Well balanced, elegant and compact, sleek and cleanly built.

Characteristics: Toy with Terrier characteristics.

Temperament: Alert, remembering that historically he could acquit himself satisfactorily in the rat pit. Never unduly nervous.

Head And Skull: Head long, narrow, flat skull, wedge-shaped without emphasis of cheek muscles, well filled up under eyes. Top and bottom jaws held tightly together within compressed lips. Slight stop. Foreface tapers gently to provide wedge-shaped impression, in profile similar to that seen when viewed from front. Although an illusion of being overshot can result any suggestion of snipey appearance is undesirable. Nose black.

Eyes: Dark to black, without light shading from iris. Relatively small, almond shaped, obliquely set and sparkling.

Ears: Candle-flame shape, slightly pointed tips, placed high upon back of skull and proportionately close together. A guide to size can be obtained by bending ear forward - it should not reach eye. From nine months of age ear carriage must be erect. Entire inside of ear should face front. Leather of ear thin.

Mouth: Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. teeth level and strong.

Neck: Long, graceful, slightly arched. Shoulders well laid back. Line of neck flowing into shoulders, and sloping off elegantly. Throatiness undesirable.

Forequarters: Legs falling straight from shoulders with elbows close to chest providing a straight front. Fine bone eminently desirable.

Body: Body compact, head and legs proportionate thus producing correct balance. Back very slightly curving from behind shoulder to loin, falling again to root of tail. Chest narrow and deep with ribs well sprung. Loins well cut up. Buttocks gently rounded.

Hindquarters: Well-rounded loin leading to a good turn of stifle; hocks well let down; turning neither in nor out; a 'tucked under' appearance undesirable.

Feet: Dainty, compact; split up between toes; well arched, with jet black nails, two middle toes of front feet rather longer than others, hind feet cat-like. Hare feet undesirable.

Tail: Thick at root, tapering to point. Set low and not reaching below hock. 'Gay' tail undesirable if displayed to excess.

Gait/Movement: Ideal fore-movement akin to the 'extended trot'; hackney action not desirable; equally a 'shuffling gait' undesirable. Hind action smooth with ease and precision combined with drive, there should be flowing quality to indicate true soundness.

Coat: Thick, close and glossy. A density of short hair required.

Colour: Black and Tan. The black ebony, the tan likened to a new chestnut deeply rich. Colours not running or blending into each other, but meeting abruptly, forming clear and well defined lines of colour division. Forelegs tanned to knees in front. The tan then continuing inside and at back of forelegs to point just below elbows, the thin black line up each toe (penciling) and a clearly defined black mark (thumb mark) on centre of each pastern, and under chin. Hindlegs well tanned in front and inside with black bar dividing tan at centre of lower thigh. Heavy tan on outside of hindquarters (breeching) undesirable. Muzzle well tanned. Nose black, the black continuing along top of muzzle, curving below eyes to base of throat. A tan spot above each eye and a small tan spot on each cheek. Under jaw and throat tanned, lip line black. Hair inside ears tan (tan behind ears undesirable). Each side of chest has some tan. Vent and under root of tail, tan. White hairs forming a patch anywhere totally undesirable.

Sizes: Ideal weight: 2.7-3.6 kg (6-8 lbs)

Ideal height: 25-30 cms (10-12 ins) at the shoulder.

Faults: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Notes: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

See Photos of the English Toy Terrier

QUESTIONS

1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc)

2. Where and why was the breed first developed?

3. How common is it in Australia?

4. What is the average lifespan?

5. What is the general temperament/personality?

6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult?

7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with?

8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods?

9. How much grooming is required?

10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)?

11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of?

12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? (eg what health tests have been done (if applicable) and what is an acceptable result to those tests so the buyer has an idea of what the result should be)

If you wish to contribute to the knowledge about this breed, please answer the above questions. (Copy and paste them into a new post).

• Please only answer if you breed or own a pedigree example of this breed.
  
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See Photos of the English Toy Terrier

English Toy Terrier Breeders

English Toy Terrier Puppies For Sale

[RuralPug]

 

1. What is my relationship with the breed? (ie breeder, first time owner etc) 
I own,  occasionally show and do Earthdog with a gorgeous ETT! Although I have bred, trained and shown other breeds more more than half a century this is my first ETT. Fidget is now almost 3 years old.
 

2. Where and why was the breed first developed?
The breed is a smaller version of the Old English Black and Tan Terrier ( a very old vermin hunting breed now extinct but the English Toy Terrier is a direct descendant.)  In the 1800s in the UK the "sport" of rat pitting was very popular and one goal was to have the smallest possible dog killing the most of rats in the set time period. So the Old English Black and Tan Terriers were bred down to a smaller size. In 1848 a black and tan terrier weighing just 5 ¹⁄₂ pounds (2.5 kg) named Tiny is recorded to have killed 300 rats in less than an hour. Rat pitting was outlawed in 1873 in the UK.
Coincidentally the Kennel Club of England was formed in the same year and its very first show has a respectable entry of Black and Tan Terriers both in the Standard and Miniature varieties. By 1900, however, the standard size Black and Tan Terrier was seldom if ever seen. However, a new breed, developed by crossing the Whippet with the Black and Tan Terrier had become well established by then and was known as the Manchester Terrier. In the 1920's the Kennel Club decided that the Black and Tan Terrier was no more and listed two new breeds in lieu: The Manchester Terrier and the Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature). In 1962 the name of the latter breed was changed to the current English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan).
 

3. How common is it in Australia?
Rare.
Early this century, the UK Kennel Club declared the breed at risk of extinction and opened the stud book to allow the toy variety of the US/Canadian Manchester Terrier to be re-registered in the UK as an English Toy Terrier(Black and Tan) in order to widen the gene pool. (The US briefly recognised the Toy Manchester Terrier as a separate breed from the Manchester Terrier from 1938 to 1958 but before and after that date considered them two varieties of the same breed.)
Australia has followed suit and also currently permits US and Canadian toy variety Manchester Terriers (or sperm) to be re-registered with the ANKC as English Toy Terriers (Black and Tan). So some lines are direct descendants of the extinct Black and Tan Terrier and some are not (which does create some controversy amongst breed adherents both in the UK and in Australia).
 

6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult?
Being a tiny breed, not a great deal of physical exercise is needed. Most would get enough daily exercise in a small courtyard as they are a very lively breed and keep themselves fit. However, at least one daily walk is needed for mental health or boredom might lead to yapping. As they are a very intelligent little dog they do need quite a lot of mental enrichment.
 

7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with?
Yes, provided that they learned about and provided sufficient mental enrichment to avoid creating a boredom yapper.
 

8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods?
Mine has always had other dogs or cats as company. I suspect the answer to this question should be no, not easily. However. if enough mental enrichment is provided and/or a large enough area to safely explore there is not likely to be any problem behaviour.
 

9. How much grooming is required?
Very little. The major part of grooming consists of keeping an eye on nail length and dental cleanliness.  Coat is single and smooth - in fact many of them can be too thinly coated and bare throats are not unusual in this breed. 

10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)?
Certainly it can be a tripping hazard for infirm people. Even if untrained and boisterous it isn't heavy enough to knock over a small child - however the risk to the dog of being severely injured if a small child falls over on top of it, or picks it up and drops it is quite high.
 

11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? combined with 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? (eg what health tests have been done (if applicable) and what is an acceptable result to those tests so the buyer has an idea of what the result should be)

As far as I am aware none of the breeders in Australia currently do the screening tests as recommended by the UK breed club.
According the breed club in the UK,  breeding dogs and bitches should be DNA screened (or clear by parentage where appropriate) for the following conditions:
Von Willebrands Disease Type 1
Juvenile Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Xanthinuria
Breeding stock should also be screened for Patella Luxation. Ideally both parents should be screened as clear but if the other parent is clear than the mildest level of LP then the breeding is sanctioned.
Breeding stock should also be BAER tested for hereditary deafness and should only be bred from if unaffected. 
Additionally the breed club lists the following conditions to be aware of, where no screening methods are available:
Heat Stress
Demodectic Mange
Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease
Eye Conditions  -  Various different conditions of the eye that can present themselves at different stages of life. The include glaucoma and primary lens luxation. Cataracts are also found within the breed, but these usually do not become apparent until maturity.