It seems like every once in a while the topic of brindle comes up in the Rat Terrier world. Teeth are gnashed and garments are rendered because brindle is not an acceptable pattern in our breed, and the standard says that brindle is a disqualification. The standard probably won’t change any time soon, and I certainly hope that it will NEVER include brindle!
Why?
The UKC standard says, in the very beginning, that “These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier and the now extinct white English Terrier… Some of these dogs were crossed with Whippets or Italian Greyhounds (for speed) and Beagles (for hunting ability).”
Let’s take a look at the ancestors of the Rat Terrier and how their standards treat brindle:
Smooth Fox Terrier
UKC : Serious Fault
AKC: Objectionable
Manchester Terrier:
UKC: Disqualification
AKC: Disqualification
Whippet:
UKC: Any color/pattern accepted.
AKC: Any color/pattern accepted.
Italian Greyhounds:
UKC: Disqualification
AKC: Disqualification
Beagles:
UKC: The standard does not address brindle specifically, but brindle is NOT a typical hound color.
AKC: Same as above.
So, with the exception of the Whippet, this history of the Rat Terrier does not include brindle! Looking at our modern day Rat Terriers compared with a Whippet, it is easy to see that their influence on the breed has long since past. In size alone, a Whippet should be at least 18” tall, and according to our standard, that is bordering too tall for a Rat Terrier. (In AKC, any dog over 18” is to be disqualified, in UKC a height over 19” is a fault.)
Certainly the ancestors of the Rat Terrier are not the only dogs that are included in the makeup of the breed. Most recently it seems that Basenji was added and in part to add brindle to the color of Rat Terriers, and in another part to add more size and “hunt.” However, Basenjis are not Terriers, and their addition was not added with betterment of the breed in mind.
Let’s take a look at the Terrier breeds that do allow or do not consider brindle to be a fault in their standard:
American Hairless Terrier
American Pit Bull Terrier
Bull Terrier
Cairn Terrier
Glen of Imaal Terrier
Miniature Bull Terrier
Scottish Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Teddy Roosevelt Terrier
Treeing Feist
Out of the 44 Terrier breeds recognized by the UKC, only 10 allow brindle. It is more interesting to me to note that two of those breeds, the American Hairless and the Teddy Roosevelt both descended from registered Rat Terrier stock – the only difference was the lack of coat or the height of their legs in relation to their bodies. Why would brindle be allowed in those breeds when their predecessors did not allow brindle?
The answers to those questions most often fall into the realm of politics – the American Hairless allowed brindle due to one of the standard writers having found a brindle Rat Terrier on a farm that they loved and wanted to add to their breeding program. This addition was not for historical or breed health reasons – it was personal!
The Teddy Roosevelt addition of brindle was not so personal. Think of a short legged dog that allows brindle... it is a herding dog... it doesn't have a "broke" tail... get it yet? The Cardigan Welsh Corgi! Even though the history is somewhat shrouded, the CWC was used to help set type with the Teddy Roosevelts by setting them lower to the ground and giving them the the longer look. A few generations of a TRT/CWC crosses and selecting for coat type - well, there you have it - brindle Teddy Roosevelt Terriers.
Four of our ten are “bully” breeds, three are wire coated breeds, and that leaves the Treeing Feist as the odd man out. Have you ever heard the adage that all Rat Terriers are feists, but not all feists are Rat Terriers? The Treeing Feist is arguably the closest to the Rat Terrier in appearance and relation, and they were accepted by the UKC a full year prior to Rat Terriers. The main difference between the two is that Treeing Feists are true squirrel dogs, while Rat Terriers have retained the ability to keep their noses to the ground.
In a roundabout way, my conclusion is that brindle is not a true terrier (re: earth dog) smooth coated color. To allow brindle now is to allow non-terriers and wired haired dogs into the gene pool – something that the breed does not need now and nor will it need in the future.
Why?
The UKC standard says, in the very beginning, that “These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier and the now extinct white English Terrier… Some of these dogs were crossed with Whippets or Italian Greyhounds (for speed) and Beagles (for hunting ability).”
Let’s take a look at the ancestors of the Rat Terrier and how their standards treat brindle:
Smooth Fox Terrier
UKC : Serious Fault
AKC: Objectionable
Manchester Terrier:
UKC: Disqualification
AKC: Disqualification
Whippet:
UKC: Any color/pattern accepted.
AKC: Any color/pattern accepted.
Italian Greyhounds:
UKC: Disqualification
AKC: Disqualification
Beagles:
UKC: The standard does not address brindle specifically, but brindle is NOT a typical hound color.
AKC: Same as above.
So, with the exception of the Whippet, this history of the Rat Terrier does not include brindle! Looking at our modern day Rat Terriers compared with a Whippet, it is easy to see that their influence on the breed has long since past. In size alone, a Whippet should be at least 18” tall, and according to our standard, that is bordering too tall for a Rat Terrier. (In AKC, any dog over 18” is to be disqualified, in UKC a height over 19” is a fault.)
On first glance, it would be difficult to know that the Whippet is considered an ancestor of the Rat Terrier.
Certainly the ancestors of the Rat Terrier are not the only dogs that are included in the makeup of the breed. Most recently it seems that Basenji was added and in part to add brindle to the color of Rat Terriers, and in another part to add more size and “hunt.” However, Basenjis are not Terriers, and their addition was not added with betterment of the breed in mind.
Let’s take a look at the Terrier breeds that do allow or do not consider brindle to be a fault in their standard:
American Hairless Terrier
American Pit Bull Terrier
Bull Terrier
Cairn Terrier
Glen of Imaal Terrier
Miniature Bull Terrier
Scottish Terrier
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
Teddy Roosevelt Terrier
Treeing Feist
Out of the 44 Terrier breeds recognized by the UKC, only 10 allow brindle. It is more interesting to me to note that two of those breeds, the American Hairless and the Teddy Roosevelt both descended from registered Rat Terrier stock – the only difference was the lack of coat or the height of their legs in relation to their bodies. Why would brindle be allowed in those breeds when their predecessors did not allow brindle?
The answers to those questions most often fall into the realm of politics – the American Hairless allowed brindle due to one of the standard writers having found a brindle Rat Terrier on a farm that they loved and wanted to add to their breeding program. This addition was not for historical or breed health reasons – it was personal!
The Teddy Roosevelt addition of brindle was not so personal. Think of a short legged dog that allows brindle... it is a herding dog... it doesn't have a "broke" tail... get it yet? The Cardigan Welsh Corgi! Even though the history is somewhat shrouded, the CWC was used to help set type with the Teddy Roosevelts by setting them lower to the ground and giving them the the longer look. A few generations of a TRT/CWC crosses and selecting for coat type - well, there you have it - brindle Teddy Roosevelt Terriers.
Four of our ten are “bully” breeds, three are wire coated breeds, and that leaves the Treeing Feist as the odd man out. Have you ever heard the adage that all Rat Terriers are feists, but not all feists are Rat Terriers? The Treeing Feist is arguably the closest to the Rat Terrier in appearance and relation, and they were accepted by the UKC a full year prior to Rat Terriers. The main difference between the two is that Treeing Feists are true squirrel dogs, while Rat Terriers have retained the ability to keep their noses to the ground.
In a roundabout way, my conclusion is that brindle is not a true terrier (re: earth dog) smooth coated color. To allow brindle now is to allow non-terriers and wired haired dogs into the gene pool – something that the breed does not need now and nor will it need in the future.
Well said, Rebekah. Very informative. That's interesting to know about why brindle was included in the AHT and TRT standards. Would you mind emailing me your sources? Not that I doubt it; that is why solid white was permitted in our breed, after all.
ReplyDeleteMore than anything, I absolutely cannot understand the go-to argument that "____ should be acceptable, because it was acceptable for one of our foundation breed.". Breeds are created through selective breeding to preserve only particular traits from the foundation breeds. If we were to accept things on the basis that "They were acceptable in a foundation breed, therefore they're in the breed history.", we'd have a mixed bag of ten different kinds of dog (well, we kind of do at the moment)... NOT a breed.
Hey, a LOT of things are in the breed history. I'm pretty sure we don't want to preserve them all. If that's a valid argument, why don't we allow hound ears? They're acceptable in Beagles, which are in our breed history. Why stop there... Shouldn't we also be preserving all of the health issues contributed by those foundation breeds as a testament to tradition?
Haha... -exhale-. Sorry. Sore spot. ;P
I agree with you on it being a sore spot! I don't understand the passion of a very vocal few of wanting brindle - their reasoning is completely beyond me.
DeleteFor the AHT, go here:
http://imageevent.com/flinthill/americanhairlessterriers/blueintheaht
Wudnshu's Devil W/A Blue Dress was a blue brindle, and she threw it strongly.
For TRTs, I cannot find a breeder willing to admit to the CWC addition. Rather, many hide behind the "addition of turnspit type dogs" as a reason for their short, low bodies and the appearance of brindles.
Well you are partially correct. Please understand that most of what is written concerning the history and the breeds that are involved is hog wash, plain and simple. The history that most breed clubs use today was written by Kenny Keller back in the 1970's and it never changed albeit most likely not correct. The Rat Terrier began it's history as the Black and Tan Terrier and was only seen in this Black and Tan form. This is evidenced in many documents and newspaper clippings as far back as the 1850's and 1860' here in America. So the whole idea that this dog was brought over from England in only the 1890's is factually incorrect. This Black and Tan Terrier aka "the Rat Terrier" and later called the Manchester was then crossed with predominantly Smooth Fox Terrier and Beagle here in the states and likely including the old Bench Legged Beagle, hence the FGF4 mutation and bench legged Rat Terriers, no Corgi needed. Many other cur and fiests were also bred into this versatile farm dog and indeed there is historical evidence which predates any breed club for the RT that shows brindle (not merle) did exist and were registered. The first breed club that actually had a standard wasn't even around until 1994 but the Keller's of Kansas had been breeding the RT since the 50's and producing them in the numbers of nearly 1000 per year. It was Kenny Keller who wrote the history that all breed clubs use today and the story never changed, miners...blah blah blah....1890's blah....blah...blah....whippet....blah blah blah and so on. At this point let me add that the whippet may have contributed to the resurrected and reformed Manchester to refine it in the 1890's in England but the old black and tan Terrier was already here in the US. So the whippet part is really irrelevant. Anyway I could go on and on but let's suffice it to say that yes....brindle Rat Terriers did exist and they were accepted by both registries that would register them at that time, UKCI and ARF but like Merle pattern genes, it is dominant and only takes one viable allele to be exhibited in the phenotype so for all intents and purposed it was bred out many years ago and seeing a true RT today that is self colored brindle is rare but they do exist. We also see what is known as trindle, Black and tan piebald but the tan points are brindled. So the kbr gene is still there and unlike Merle it's history is proven and not mere fancy of some trying to sell "unique" "rare" and "colorful" dogs. If you would like to contact me concerning documentation of the above information please do. Dan Moore dkm1987@sbcglobal..com remove the additional . and change com to net in order to email me directly.
ReplyDeleteI have the standard Ken Keller wrote - it does not say that rat terriers were only black and tan, it says they were predominately black and tan in the 1820's in England. It says by the the 1890's more sooth fox was added making the occurance of the black and tan diminish to be replaced by the more typical piebald pattern of the smooth fox. The is no mention of brindle in the standard Ken Keller wrote for the UKCI.
ReplyDeleteSince the UKCI was the registry of choice for the rat terrier before UKC recognition, something else interesting happened in the history that not many people are aware of. Oversized TFTs were allowed to be registered as Rat Terriers to increase a diminishing gene pool (despite your claim that Keller bred thousands of rat terriers a year and that he worked closely with the UKCI they do not have thousands of puppies registered from the Kellers). Because of this influx of TFTs the rat terriers that were being registered lost a great deal of their hardiness, and hunting instinct/ability. So the in the late 1980's UKCI instigated a hybridization program using the original breeds, the manchester and the smooth fox. Both could be bred back to a registered rat terrier and the pups registered as rat terriers. This hybridization program went on for about 10 years. Once the rat terrier gained recognition by the UKC the hybridization program was discontinued by the UKCI. This is also the reason the UKC breed recognition of the rat terrier was so strongly opposed by the TFT people - they knew what they had been adding to the gene pool for years and what had been done to correct that.
This is first hand knowledge from being there during these transistions, from being mentored by people who had strong TFT lines (Ken Keller had his share of TFTs in there) and who participated in the UKCI hybridization program. I can tell you when you breed a smooth fox with a manchester you don't get predominatle blk and tan you get predominately piebald (I'd say the ratios work out to be 75% to 25%) It's not until you get further from those intial hybridizations (say 3rd generation) that you start getting 50% - 50%.
So not sure where you information came from but it would be very interesting to see your sources.
Very Informative Post.
ReplyDeletelong haired rat terrier