General Appearance:
The Rat Terrier is a muscular, active, small-to-medium
hunting terrier. The preferred ratio of length of body (prosternum to
point of buttocks) to height (withers to ground) to is 10:9. The head is
broad, slightly domed, wedge-shaped, and proportionate to the size of
the body. Ears are V-shaped, set at the outside edges of the skull, and
may be erect or button. The Rat Terrier may have a natural tail carried in
an upward curve, a natural bob tail, or a docked tail. The Rat Terrier
comes in solid white, other solid colors with markings, and white with a
variety of colored patches. The Rat Terrier should be evaluated as a
working terrier, and exaggerations or faults should be penalized in
proportion to how much they interfere with the dog’s ability to work.
Honorable scars resulting from field work are not to be penalized.
Disqualification:
A short-legged dog whose proportions
vary significantly from the 10:9 ratio lacks breed type and must be
disqualified.
Colors & Markings:
The Rat Terrier may be solid white, bi-color or tri-color but must
always have some white, which may be of any size and located anywhere
on the dog. The white area may be ticked as long as white
predominates. The remaining accepted colors are: black, tan (ranging
from dark tan to very light tan and from intense dark mahogany red to
light red with black nose and eye rims), chocolate (ranging from dark
liver to light chocolate with self-colored nose and eye rims), blue and
blue fawn (with self-colored nose and eye rims), apricot (ranging from
orange to faded yellow with black nose and eye rims), and lemon
(ranging from orange to faded yellow with self-colored nose and
eye rims). Colored areas may have sable overlay
Weight will vary depending on the size of the individual dog. Rat
Terriers are working terriers and should be presented in hard,
muscular condition.
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