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English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan)
Encyclopedia
The English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan) is a small breed
Dog breed
Dog breeds are groups of closely related and visibly similar domestic dogs, which are all of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris, having characteristic traits that are selected and maintained by humans, bred from a known foundation stock....
of terrier
Terrier
A terrier is a dog of any one of many breeds or landraces of terrier type, which are typically small, wiry, very active and fearless dogs. Terrier breeds vary greatly in size from just a couple of pounds to over 70 pounds and are usually categorized by size or function...
in the toy dog
Toy dog
Toy dog traditionally refers to a very small dog or a grouping of small and very small breeds of dog. A toy dog may be of any of various dog types. Types of dogs referred to as toy dogs may include Spaniels, Pinschers and Terriers that have been bred down in size. Not all toy dogs are lapdogs,...
group.
Appearance
According to the Kennel ClubThe Kennel Club
The Kennel Club is a kennel club based in London and Aylesbury, United Kingdom.The Kennel Club registration system divides dogs into seven breed groups. The Kennel Club Groups are: Hound, Working, Terrier, Gundog, Pastoral, Utility and Toy...
, the English Toy Terrier should be 25 centimetre in height and 2.7 kilogram in weight. The only permitted color is black with defined tan markings on the legs, chest and face. The movement is described as being like the extended trot
Trot (horse gait)
The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat....
of a horse.
History
Manchester Terrier
The Manchester Terrier is a breed of dog of the smooth-haired terrier type.-Appearance:Manchester Terriers are considered by most to be the oldest of all identifiable terrier breeds, finding mention in works dating from as early as the 16th century. In 1570 Dr...
. Extremely fast and agile, the origins of this alert terrier are in the world of the rat pit, a sport popular in the cities of Victorian England where terriers were placed in a circle or pit with a number of rats and bets were taken as to which dog would kill its quota of rats in the fastest time. Small dogs were highly prized with the ideal being to produce the smallest dog still capable of killing its quota of rats in as short a time as possible. In 1848 a black and tan terrier weighing just 5½lb (2.5kg) named Tiny is recorded to have killed 300 rats in less than an hour.
The outlawing of this sport coincided with the formation of the Kennel Club
Kennel club
A kennel club is an organization for canine affairs that concerns itself with the breeding, showing and promotion of more than one breed of dog...
. With its elegant appearance the Black and Tan Terrier moved effortlessly into the conformation show ring. At the first ever all breeds dog show there was a very respectable entry of Black and Tan Terriers divided by weight. This weight division continued with two varieties of Black and Tan Terrier until the 1920’s when they were split into two breeds, the larger Manchester Terrier and the smaller Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature). The name English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan) was adopted in 1962. Black and Tan Terriers of all sizes were exported to Canada and the USA, founding a population which was largely isolated from the European one until very recently. In North America the two sizes were also split into two breeds until 1958 when declining numbers of the Standard Manchester Terrier prompted the American Kennel Club to re-defined them as a single breed with two varieties; Standard and Toy.
Concerns of extinction
The ETT is on the UK Kennel Club's list of vulnerable native breeds and great effort is being made to boost the popularity of the breed and develop a viable gene pool. The Kennel Club (UK) has opened the stud book, allowing the North American Toy Manchester TerrierToy Manchester Terrier
The Toy Manchester Terrier is a breed of dog, categorized as a terrier. The breed was bred down in size in North America from the Manchester Terrier, and is placed in the Toy Group by the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club Neither the Fédération Cynologique Internationale nor the...
to be re-registered as English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan) provided it is certified to be a Toy and not of the Standard variety. Some owners in Great Britain are against this decision; others see it as a positive way to preserve the breed.
See also
- Manchester TerrierManchester TerrierThe Manchester Terrier is a breed of dog of the smooth-haired terrier type.-Appearance:Manchester Terriers are considered by most to be the oldest of all identifiable terrier breeds, finding mention in works dating from as early as the 16th century. In 1570 Dr...
- Toy Manchester TerrierToy Manchester TerrierThe Toy Manchester Terrier is a breed of dog, categorized as a terrier. The breed was bred down in size in North America from the Manchester Terrier, and is placed in the Toy Group by the American Kennel Club and the Canadian Kennel Club Neither the Fédération Cynologique Internationale nor the...
- Toy dogToy dogToy dog traditionally refers to a very small dog or a grouping of small and very small breeds of dog. A toy dog may be of any of various dog types. Types of dogs referred to as toy dogs may include Spaniels, Pinschers and Terriers that have been bred down in size. Not all toy dogs are lapdogs,...
- Toy GroupToy GroupToy Group is the name of a breed Group of the smallest kinds of dogs, used by kennel clubs to classify a defined collection of dog breeds. Toy Group does not necessarily refer to one particular type of dog. Most major English-language kennel clubs include a Toy Group although different kennel clubs...
- Russkiy ToyRusskiy ToyThe Russkiy Toy is a very small breed of dog originally bred in isolation in Russia from the English Toy Terrier. There are two types, smooth haired/coated and long haired, which were known by a variety of different names until brought together under the same standard as the Russkiy Toy in 2000...