Patterdale terrier

Patterdale Terrier
Black and tan Patterdale.
Alternative names
Fell Terrier (working terrier group) Coloured Terrier (working terrier group) Lakeland Terrier (original group/breed)
Country of origin
England
Classification and breed standards
UKC:	Terriers	Stds
Notes
The Patterdale Terrier is also recognised by the American Rare Breed Association

The Patterdale Terrier is a breed of dog native to the Lake District of Cumbria in Northwest England. The name Patterdale refers to a village a little south of Ullswater and a few miles east of Helvellyn.

A Patterdale is a type of Fell Terrier, which is the modern name for what used to be called a Black and Tan Terrier. The Black and Tan terrier was "improved" and brought into the Kennel Club as the Welsh Terrier after a brief naming struggle in which the name "Old English Broken-coated Terrier" was attempted before being rejected by the Kennel Club hierarchy. The "Old English Broken Coated Terrier" is sometimes called the "Old English Terrier"

Appearance

According to breed standards, this working terrier stands between 25.5 cm (10 inches) and 38 cm (15 inches) at the withers and weighs between 4.5 kg (10 pounds) and 11 kg (24 pounds). The preferred size depends on the quarry. In Great Britain, all sizes are in use, depending on the terrain and the quarry. Quarry in the UK is mostly fox. In the eastern United States, smaller dogs are preferred and 30 cm (12 inches) tall and 5.5 kg (12 pounds) is the preferred size for groundhogs (aka woodchucks). However, somewhat larger dogs can be used in the American West when ground barn hunting larger raccoons and badgers.

Variations in Coat, Colour and Name

3 year old smooth black Patterdale Terrier

The term "Patterdale terrier" generally refers to a smooth coated (short haired) black terrier, but bronze (black that shines brown in sunlight), grizzle, red sable (red base color with black hairs mixed through out, often with a black mask on the muzzle), liver (with red nose), and Blue, any of these colours can also be tan pointed like a Dobermann) or saddled patterned like an Airedale terrier. White feet and white chest markings appear in all coat colours. Coats are smooth, rough, or broken-coated.

If a black terrier is rough coated, rather than smooth, it may be called a Patterdale terrier, but it is more commonly called a "fell terrier" while a rough-coated black and tan terrier may be called a "fell terrier," a "Patterdale terrier," a "working Lakeland terrier," or a "black and tan terrier" In the world of non-Kennel Club working terriers, the only real proctor is the quarry itself.

Temperament

Patterdale puppies tend to be bold and confident beyond their capabilities, and responsible owners of working dogs will not overmatch their dogs or enter them to formidable quarry before they are around one year of age.

A Patterdale terrier is a working terrier, and terrier work requires a high-energy dog with a strong prey drive and a loud voice. As a result, Patterdales are very energetic dogs, and can be quite vocal. It is not uncommon for a Patterdale to be cat-aggressive, and homes with other small fur-bearing animals in them (pet hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc.) would do well to think through the ramifications of bringing a working terrier into the house.

Due to their compact size, friendly and inquisitive nature, and intelligence, Patterdales are attractive as pets, but prospective buyers should be aware that while these dogs may enjoy sitting in a lap, they are not “lap dogs” – they are dogs that require training and regular and consistent exercise to maintain their temperament and to occupy their minds.

Patterdales which are not trained on a consistent basis, or are not exercised regularly, may exhibit unmanageable behaviour, including excessive barking, escaping from the yard, or digging in unwanted places inside and outside the house. Prospective Patterdale terrier owners are advised to do their homework, and those seeking working dogs are advised to focus on size and to make sure they are acquiring their dogs from true working homes.

History

The Patterdale Terrier of modern times refers to the mainly black smooth coated fell terrier first popularised by Cyril Breay from Kirkby Lonsdale and Frank Buck from Leyburn in Yorkshire during the early part of the 1950s. At that time, any "typey" fell terrier being shown in the Lake District was called a Lakeland Terrier, or simply called a coloured terrier, whether or not they were from Ullswater county. In the early 1960s, Brian Nuttall of Holmes Chapel began breeding dogs that he acquired from his grandfather and from Breay and Buck blood lines. These dogs were carefully linebred. Nuttall blood lines are still considered to be of the highest quality and adds a bit to the price of a puppy. The modern Patterdale Terrier is to fell terriers, what the Jack Russell Terrier is to hunt terriers—the indisputable leader in numbers and performance as a breed.

Patterdale terrier were developed in the harsh environment in the north of England that is unable to sustain agriculture and too hilly (in the main) for cattle. Sheep farming is the dominant farming activity on these hills. Since fox are perceived by farmers as being predatory on sheep and small farm animals, terriers are used for predator control. Unlike the dirt dens found in the hunt country of the south, the rocky dens found in the north do not allow much digging. As a consequence, a Patterdale terrier needs to be able to bolt the fox from the rock crevice or dispatch it where it is found. Because of the difficulty in digging in the north, northern dogs such as the Patterdale and fell terrier tend to be "as tough as nails." The use of "hard" dogs to hunt foxes in this way was made illegal in England and Wales by the Hunting Act 2004, as it runs counter to the code of practice[1] under the Act.

The Patterdale Terrier was recognised by the United Kennel Club on January 1, 1995.

See also

• Working terriers
• American Working Terrier Association
• Black and Tan Terrier
• Jack Russell Terrier

External links

• A piece on the history or Lakeland/Patterdales/Border Terriers with photos of those early dogs.

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