A farm dog with the work still in it
The Rat Terrier is an American breed built for one job: clearing rats and other vermin out of barns, granaries and farmyards. The foundation was the British ratting terriers that immigrants brought with them, and in the late 1800s American farmers crossed those dogs with Beagles, Italian Greyhounds and Manchester Terriers. Nose from one, speed from another, and terrier running underneath the whole thing.
That mix explains the dog in front of you. A Rat Terrier is quicker over twenty feet than a dog that size ought to be, turns without slowing down, and goes from asleep on the sofa to fully committed in about a second.
Farms kept them in real numbers until the 1950s, when commercial pesticides took over most of the work. The breed carried on because scattered farm families went on breeding them with no registry paying much attention, which is why the American Kennel Club recognized it only recently, long after the dog had been doing the job for a century. Some still work today — on farms, and in scent-detection roles where a small, driven dog is an advantage.
They are long-lived, too. Twelve to eighteen years is the ordinary span, and a Rat Terrier stays busy and interested for most of it.
Four sizes, and the colours they come in
“Rat Terrier” covers more ground than most breed names, so it is worth knowing the sizes before you fall for a photograph. The American Kennel Club recognizes two, Miniature and Standard. The National Rat Terrier Association adds a Toy below and the Decker above. A Miniature stands roughly 10 to 13 inches at the shoulder and a Standard roughly 13 to 18. Across the range, most weigh between 10 and 25 pounds.
Colour varies just as widely. Piebald — patches of colour on a white ground — is the usual pattern, and white, black, tan, chocolate, blue, apricot, lemon and deep mahogany all turn up. Merle is not accepted by the breed standards. Ask what size a particular puppy’s parents were; it is the most useful single question you can put to us about a Rat Terrier, and our team will have the answer for a given litter.
The build is worth looking at while you are there. A Rat Terrier is put together for speed and turning: a deep chest, a tucked waist, clean legs and a lot of muscle for the weight. Ears go up, tip over or fold, and all three are correct. Tails come long or naturally short. Standing next to one, the impression is of a compact, athletic dog that is entirely aware of everything happening in the room.
Living with one
Rat Terriers are sociable, affectionate and genuinely attached to their households. They lean on people, burrow under blankets, and want to be in whichever room you are in. They are also independent thinkers, and there is a streak of farm-dog self-reliance in them that shows up the moment they decide they have a better idea than yours.
They do best in a home with some rhythm to it. Calm and reasonably predictable suits the breed, which is not at all the same as quiet — they are happy to be busy, they simply like knowing what is coming next. Settle on a routine of walks, meals and games in the first fortnight and a Rat Terrier will keep it for you, right down to reminding you when you are late.
With children they are usually good, provided the children are old enough to be gentle. A Rat Terrier is sturdier than its weight suggests and enjoys the company, and a household with a garden, a ball and someone willing to throw it is close to the ideal home for one. Give the dog a bed of its own and it will take itself off to it when the day is done.
With other dogs they are sociable, and the breed’s farm history means it is used to company. With cats, growing up alongside one is what makes it easy, and plenty of Rat Terriers live very happily with the household cat on exactly those terms.
The smooth coat and an easy routine
Grooming is the easiest part of the breed. The coat is short, smooth and lies flat, and a weekly going-over with a rubber curry or a grooming mitt keeps most of the loose hair off the furniture. A bath every three or four weeks is plenty. Nails want trimming about monthly, teeth want brushing more often than most people manage, and a wipe of the outer ear when you groom finishes the job. Ten minutes a week covers the lot.
The one thing to plan for is dirt. Rat Terriers dig, seriously and with intent, and a dog that has spent the afternoon excavating comes back with soil in the coat and grass seed in the ears. Keep a towel by the door and give the digging somewhere legitimate to go — a corner of the yard that is theirs to wreck, a sandpit, or a box of shredded paper with treats buried in it on a wet day. A dog that gets to dig on your terms does far less of it on your lawn.
The short coat also means the weather gets through. Warm days are easy, given shade, water and walks at the cooler ends of the day. For a cold snap or a winter trip north, a fitted sweater or a coat is a normal part of the kit, and most Rat Terriers work out quickly that the coat means a walk.
Exercise, games and a day together
This is a high-energy breed and the energy does its best work with a task attached. A long walk or jog of twenty to thirty minutes daily is the base, and a young one will happily take considerably more. What really satisfies a Rat Terrier is a job: fetch, a flirt pole, scent games, treats hidden around the house to be found, a ball rolled along a hallway. Turn the exercise into a game and you get twice the value out of the same half hour.
Mental work matters as much as mileage. These dogs are quick and they learn fast, so puzzle feeders and short training sessions do a restless Rat Terrier more good than another lap of the block. They are natural candidates for the dog sports — agility, barn hunt, flyball, scent work — and a great many of them are very good at all four.
A day with one runs something like this: up early and ready, a proper walk before the heat, a nap in a patch of sun, an hour of following you from room to room, a game in the late afternoon that ends with the dog flat out on the floor, and an evening under a blanket on the sofa with only the nose showing. They are excellent company for someone who likes going out and equally good at doing nothing once the going-out is done.
Training a quick dog
Training goes well if you keep it short and make it worth their while. They are eager to please and food-motivated, so reward-based training is straightforward, and a Rat Terrier will pick up sit, down, a name response and a hand target inside the first couple of weeks.
Variety is what keeps them with you. Two or three short sessions a day beat one long one, and mixing three or four known cues in with the new one keeps a clever dog guessing and interested. Reward the first rough version of a behaviour rather than holding out for a polished one, and finish while the dog still wants more.
Recall deserves real time and pays it back. Build it on a long line, in gradually busier places, with the reward always better than whatever the dog left behind. A secure fence with a buried barrier along the base and a lead in public are simply part of the kit with a dog this quick and this curious, and with those in place you can let a Rat Terrier be what it is.
Teach a “leave it” and a settle on a mat as well. Between them those two cues cover most of daily life with a busy small dog, and both come easily to a breed that likes being asked.
Coming to meet the Rat Terrier puppies
A photograph will not tell you what size a Rat Terrier puppy is heading toward, and it certainly will not tell you how much dog is packed into it. That you learn by sitting on the floor with one for ten minutes. Our Rat Terrier puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our staff can talk you through what a particular litter’s parents looked like full-grown. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.
Our stores are in Orlando and Nashville, and you are welcome to come and spend time with a puppy before you decide anything. Find directions and hours, and if you want to spread the cost, ask about financing while you are here.