The Rat Terrier

The Rat Terrier is an American farm terrier: small, athletic and full of vitality, bred for generations to hunt rats and vermin and to accompany the family. Beneath its compact appearance, it hides a very smart, healthy and surprisingly long-lived dog, as comfortable chasing a ball as curled up in your lap. If you’re looking for a versatile, tough, high-character companion, the Rat Terrier deserves a long look.

Is the Rat Terrier for you?

The Rat Terrier is one of those breeds that gives far more than its size suggests. It is extremely affectionate with its family, exceptionally healthy and adaptable to almost any home, from a farm to an urban flat. In return, it asks for something non-negotiable: activity. It is not an ornamental dog, but a born hunter with excess energy who needs to burn body and head every day.

Before you fall in love with his face, weigh whether it fits into your rhythm of life.

Character and temperament

The Rat Terrier combines two souls in one dog: That of the brave and determined terrier, and that of the faithful and sensitive companion. At home, he is sociable, playful, and very attached to his people; he loves to participate in everything the family does and quickly becomes the shadow of his favorite person. That emotional dependence is part of its charm, but it also explains why it’s bad to be alone for too long.

Outside the house the hunter looms. It is alert, curious, and courageous, with a marked eagerness for prey that drives it to chase anything that moves fast. That same sharpness makes him an excellent guard dog for his size: It detects the oddity and warns without hesitation, although it is not aggressive by nature. With strangers he is usually cautious at first and trusting afterward, especially if he has been well socialized as a puppy.

It is also a remarkably intelligent and resolute dog. It understands routines quickly, reads its people’s moods very well, and constantly seeks to have something to do. That alert mind is a blessing to train it and a problem if it gets bored: a Rat Terrier without work invents its own, almost always at the cost of your patience.

Coexistence: children, other pets, flat and loneliness

With children: The Rat Terrier is a great playmate. Resilient, tireless and affectionate, it endures well the drag of a house with small children and enjoys the activity. As with any dog, supervision with very young children is mandatory and it is advisable to teach children to respect their moments of rest.

With other pets: usually gets along well with dogs, especially if you grow up with them. The delicate point are small animals: by their mouse instinct, seeing a rodent, a rabbit or even an unknown cat can activate the pursuit. With cats of one’s own house raised together the coexistence works; with ferrets, hamsters or guinea pigs you have to be very careful.

On the floor: fits seamlessly indoors thanks to its size. The key is not the footage but the energy expenditure: a Rat Terrier that goes out and plays enough is quiet and clean at home. Without that release, the floor pays the consequences in the form of barking and debris.

In the face of loneliness: is his Achilles heel. It is a very attached dog that can develop separation anxiety if left alone for many hours on a regular basis. It is not the ideal breed for someone who is out all day; it works best with people present or with routines that avoid long absences.

Education and training

Training a Rat Terrier is usually a pleasure: it is smart, attentive and loves to please, a combination that makes it learn quickly when the method motivates it. Positive reinforcement – rewards, play, praise – is the way; with this terrier the hard hand is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive, because it can become stubborn or withdrawn.

Start early with socialization: the more people, dogs, noises and environments you know as a puppy, the more balanced and confident you will be as an adult. The call deserves special attention: with this prey instinct, a Rat Terrier that sees a prey can disconnect from the world, so it is advisable to work the “here” consciously and be cautious before releasing it into unfenced areas.

Smell games, intelligence toys, new tricks, and short, varied sessions keep him hooked and avoid boredom, which is the root of almost all his behavior problems.

Exercise and activity

Here’s the key to the breed. The Rat Terrier was born to work all day on the farm and retains that motor. It needs at least one or two good walks a day plus moments of intense play. A simple quiet walk is not enough for it: it appreciates running, jumping, chasing and exploring.

He is also an outstanding athlete. He shines in agility, flyball, barn Hunt(a test specifically designed for mousetrap dogs), obedience and rallying. These activities not only fatigue him physically, but satisfy his need to have a mission, which for him is as much or more than exercise. If you give him a purpose, you will have a happy and balanced dog.

Care: fur and hygiene

The maintenance of the Rat Terrier is one of the simplest that exists. Its coat is short, smooth and single-layered, very attached to the body. A weekly brushing with a glove or soft brush is enough to remove the dead hair and keep it shiny; in seasonal moods, brush it a little more often.

Wash it only when it really needs it: its hair is easily cleaned and excessive bathing dries the skin. The rest of the hygiene is the usual routine of any dog: checking and cleaning the ears to prevent infections, brushing the teeth regularly and trimming the nails every few weeks. With its short hair it is advisable to protect it from the intense cold, since it does not have insulating undercoat.

Foodstuffs

The Rat Terrier does not have special dietary requirements, but it is advisable to adjust the rations well. Being a small and very active dog, it needs a complete and high-quality food, with good protein intake, adapted to its size, age and activity level.

Watch your weight: Although it is vigorous, its size makes excess rewards pay off quickly, and excess weight weighs on joints and the heart. Use some of your daily allowance as training rewards to avoid adding extra calories, always have fresh water available, and check with your vet for the exact amount according to your body condition.

Health and life expectancy

The Rat Terrier is one of the healthiest and most resilient breeds in existence, and much of the credit goes to its history: the refreshment crosses it has received over time have expanded its genetic base and kept it free of many hereditary problems.

That doesn’t mean it’s risk-free. With their growing popularity, certain problems are becoming somewhat more common, and canine health programs especially recommend controlling: dislocation of the kneecap, heart abnormalities, pancreatic problems, hypoplasia of the hip and legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, also known as Legg-Calvé-Perthes(a degeneration of the femur head typical of small breeds). Buying from a breeder who tests the health of the breeders is the best insurance policy.

With regular veterinary checkups, daily vaccinations and deworming, weight control, and an active lifestyle, the Rat Terrier usually gives many years of healthy, energetic companionship.

Physical appearance

The Rat Terrier is a small dog of athletic and compact appearance, with a balanced silhouette that transmits agility and strength without apparatus.

His coat is short, smooth, dense and shiny, single layer. It supports a wide variety of colors and combinations: black, brown, chocolate, blue, grey, Isabella (pearl), lemon and apricot, almost always in two- or three-color patterns with white. The head is proportionate, with vivid and expressive eyes and V-shaped ears that can be carried upright or half-dropped. The tail, traditionally amputated in the past, now looks more and more natural.

Origin and history

The Rat Terrier is a genuinely American breed, forged on the country’s farms. It is descended from the feists– small North American hunting dogs – crossed with various European terriers brought by immigrants, such as the smooth-haired Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier or the Bull Terrier, in addition to contributions from other breeds to fine-tune speed and smell. The result was a versatile, fast and brave dog, specialized in controlling the pests of rats and other vermin.

During the 1920s and 1930s it was one of the most common farm dogs in the United States, present on virtually any family farm as a scavenger, guard and companion. It is said that his reputation as a mouse hunter was such that he is credited with protecting crops from rodent pests. Its name, in fact, refers directly to that function: “rat terrier” is the name of the game.

Mechanization of the countryside and the use of poisons dropped its population in the mid-20th century, and it was on the verge of extinction. Official recognition came late: The United Kennel Club admitted it on 1 January 1999, and the American Kennel Club did so on 1 July 2010, including it in the group of terriers. Today it is considered a relatively rare breed, prized both by farm workers and by families seeking a healthy, versatile mate.

Curiosities

• The oldest record of a rat-hunting dog is that of “Hatch”, whose remains were recovered from Mary Rose, the flagship of Henry VIII of England, sunk in 1545 and refloated in 1982.
• In one competition in England, a single terrier reportedly killed 2,501 rats in seven hours inside an infested barn – an average of one rat every ten seconds.
• Their great variability in size has resulted in recognized varieties by size, including a miniature version very popular as a companion dog.
• There is a short-legged variant, the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, related to the Rat Terrier and named in honor of the American president, a fan of these dogs.
• Its versatility has made it popular in modern trials of barn Hunt, a canine sport that precisely recreates the rat hunting that defined the breed.

If you are attracted to the Rat Terrier but want to compare with other terrier breeds or lively dogs and companions, take a look at these related alternatives: the Yorkshire Terrier, the fearless Dachshund, the small and alert Chihuahua and the small dog Beagle, another great hunter turned family dog.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Rat Terrier