skunkstripe
06-23-2007, 10:57 AM
This question came up and since I thought for a while that Zircon might be part Rat Terrier, I thought I would share what I had learned for myself.
The Rat Terrier is also known as a "Feist" (often misspelled) and is a fairly recent development in breeding dogs for a purpose in the American south. Farmers were looking for a dog to keep vermin in check, and mixed genes from the smaller sighthounds (Italian Greyhounds and Whippets), Beagles (for tracking), and Terriers (for the hatred of rodents) to come up with a small (<25 lbs), short-haired dog that can be relied on to kill any rats it sees or smells. One characteristic of these dogs is a shrill, high-pitched "yip yip yip" they make when they are going after a rat, chipmunk, squirrel, or other fast running rodent.
http://puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/ratterrier.htm
http://www.ratterrierclub.com/standard/index.html
The RTCA is seeking AKC recognition for this breed and in doing so there have been some tensions regarding the breed standard between the RTCA and the NRTA.
The NRTA recognizes different "types" of Rat Terriers, the Type "A" with normal length legs and a Type "B" with shorter legs.
http://www.nrta.com/newratstandards5.html
Since the NRTA fears that the breed will lose it character when granted AKC recognition (kind of like the disagreement between the JRTCA and the JRTBA, now the PRTAA over the Jack Russell / Parson Russell Terrier) they are sticking to their own registry.
The Rat Terrier is also known as a "Feist" (often misspelled) and is a fairly recent development in breeding dogs for a purpose in the American south. Farmers were looking for a dog to keep vermin in check, and mixed genes from the smaller sighthounds (Italian Greyhounds and Whippets), Beagles (for tracking), and Terriers (for the hatred of rodents) to come up with a small (<25 lbs), short-haired dog that can be relied on to kill any rats it sees or smells. One characteristic of these dogs is a shrill, high-pitched "yip yip yip" they make when they are going after a rat, chipmunk, squirrel, or other fast running rodent.
http://puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/ratterrier.htm
http://www.ratterrierclub.com/standard/index.html
The RTCA is seeking AKC recognition for this breed and in doing so there have been some tensions regarding the breed standard between the RTCA and the NRTA.
The NRTA recognizes different "types" of Rat Terriers, the Type "A" with normal length legs and a Type "B" with shorter legs.
http://www.nrta.com/newratstandards5.html
Since the NRTA fears that the breed will lose it character when granted AKC recognition (kind of like the disagreement between the JRTCA and the JRTBA, now the PRTAA over the Jack Russell / Parson Russell Terrier) they are sticking to their own registry.