Rat Terrier

Balanced, compactly developed Rat Terriers are difficult yet elegant-looking. There are 2 size divisions: Minis stand 10 to 13 inches at the shoulder; requirements are over 13 inches and also as high as 18 inches. The smooth, shiny layer can be found in ranges of pied patterns. (Pied, a word obtained from the horseman's lexicon, means "somewhat huge patches of several shades in mix with white.") These smoothly muscled pest control operators are constructed for the efficient motion needed for a long day's job.

Rat Terriers were prominent farm pet dogs by the very early 1900s-- they were possibly amongst the most popular canines in America. Head of state Theodore Roosevelt even kept them in the White House. The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is a short-legged spin-off of the Rat Terrier. In the early 1900s, Midwestern farmers blended Rat Terriers with Whippets and Italian Greyhounds to increase speed so they might better secure the farm's plants.