Terrier dog breeds are the group of dog breeds thats were originated for hunting vermins like foxes, rats, badgers, and moles. The word Terrier comes from ‘terrarius,’ which means earth or oil. The dog breed was utilized for hunting prey that was harmful to the crops. The dog’s breeds can dig soil and catch the vermins. There are many varieties of terrier dog breed from 1 kg to 60 kg body weight. Many people make fun that the word terrier comes from ‘terror.’
Most Common Terrier Dog Breeds
The terrier dogs are typically small, wire, fearless, intelligent, and energetic dog breeds. The size of the dog breeds varies from as small as 3 pounds to 150 pounds. The dog breeds are friendly, easily trainable, and with a high sense of humor. I have the most common and popular terrier dog breeds in my article.
1. Bull Terrier
The Bull Terrier began life as a fighting dog and crossed an Old English Bulldog with a Terrier. Despite its aggressive appearance and strength, the Bull Terrier makes a faithful and devoted pet. The bitch, in particular, is utterly reliable with children.
2. Miniature Bull Terrier
This dog is a more miniature replica of the Bull Terrier and shares the same breed standard apart from height. They are loving and companionable little dogs with the same characteristics as their larger relative, making an excellent pet and being generally good with children.
3. Staffordshire Bull Terrier (SBT)
The SBT is one of the most popular pets and shows dogs. It makes a fine household dog and a guard, being an affectionate and game companion that adores children. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier should not be confused with the American Staffordshire Terrier, or pit Bull, developed along quite different lines.
4. Airedale Terrier
The king of the terriers is the Airedale Terrier, the most prominent member of the terrier group. The Airedale was named after the Valley of Aire in Yorkshire, England. The multipurpose Airedale is suitable for the terrier devotee who wants a giant dog.
5. Bedlington Terrier
The Bedlington Terrier looks like a shorn lamb with its distinctive thick, linty coat standing well out from the skin. This breed was once a favorite with poachers and is still known by some as the Gypsy Dog. the Bedlington is a faithful terrier: lovable, full of fun, and a terror when its temper is provoked.
6. Smooth Fox Terrier
The Smooth Fox Terrier started life as a stable dog; its job is to hunt vermin. They are affectionate, trainable, and make the ideal child’s companion for rabbiting. The dog needs daily grooming with a stiff brush and trimming and chalking before a show.
7. Wire Fox Terrier
The Wire Fox Terrier closely resembles the Smooth Fox Terrier, except for the wire coat. The wire is more popular than its smooth-coated relative. Usually good-tempered and reliable with older children, the Wire Fox Terrier is always ready for fun. The dog needs to be hand-stripped three times a year and regularly groomed.
8. Terrier Dog Breeds: Irish Terrier
Except for its fiery coat color, the Irish or Irish Red Terrier is reminiscent of a miniature Airedale Terrier. The Irish claim that this, their national Terrier, is a smaller version of the Irish Wolfhound and has been in presence in Ireland for centuries. The attractive dog is an expert ratter trained to the gun with success.
9. Kerry Blue Terrier
The Kerry Blue Terrier originated in Country Kerry, south-western Ireland. It was an excellent sporting dog, and a fine swimmer used there to hunt badgers, foxes, and otters. Although it began life as a sporting dog, the Kerry Blue is now mainly kept as a pet, and it is good with children.
10. Terrier Dog breeds: Glen of Imaal Terrier
This short-legged Terrier derives from the Glen of Imaal in Country Wicklow, Ireland, where it has existed for a long time. It was used to dispel vermin, including fox and badger, and dog fights. The dog is kept mainly as a family pet and working Terrier on Irish farms and smallholdings.
11. Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier
One of Ireland’s oldest native dog breeds, the Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier, is a progenitor of the Irish and Kerry Blue Terriers. The dog is gentle and devoted and generally loves children. It is said that a blue dog swam ashore from a shipwreck in Tralee Bay, Ireland, around 180 years ago.
12. Lakeland Terrier
The Lakeland Terrier comes from the Lake District in the old English country of Cumberland. The dog has retrained its sporting instinct yet makes an excellent house pet, an intelligent little guard, and good with children. However, it is a lovely dog, needing a fair amount of exercise.
13. Manchester Terrier
The ancestors of the Manchester Terrier were sporting terriers that would demolish rats in a pit for the amusement of spectators in the mid-19th century. This sport was popular among poorer people in areas such as Manchester in northern England. The long-lived dog tends to be a one-person animal, and it also makes a good family pet.
14. Parson Jack Russell Terrier
The Parson Jack Russell Terrier takes its name from a sporting parson, Jack Russell, who lived in the country of Devon, England, in the 1800s. The dog is still a terrific working terrier and has become enormously popular as a household pet. It can be somewhat excitable and is best suited to being the companion of an active child.
15. Border Terrier
This attractive, tough little dog derives from the Border country, the area around the boundary between England and Scotland, and is probably still seen in its most enormous numbers there. The smallest of the working terriers, The Border makes the first-class pet. It usually loves all children, is long-lived, will walk its owners off their feet, and is a good watchdog.
16. Terrier Dog Breeds: Welsh Terrier
The Welsh Terrier closely resembles both the Lakeland Terrier and the larger Airedale Terrier. The dog is energetic, affectionate, and good with children. It enjoys plenty of exercises and will need to have its coat stripped at least twice a year if it intends to exhibit. Many owners of pet Welsh Terrier have their dog’s coat clipped.
17. Cairn Terrier
This famous Scottish Terrier, or very similar, has been known and used to put down vermin for 150 years or more. This intelligent, lively little working Terrier is still well able to prove its worth as a dispeller of vermin and is also a popular and affectionate pet. It is hardy and enjoys plenty of exercises though it can adapt to most living situations.
18. Terrier Dog Breeds: Norfolk Terrier
The drop-eared Norfolk Terrier and the prick-eared Norwich Terrier originated in the East Anglian area of England. This breed was once classified with and known as the Norwich Terrier. A friendly dog, this hardy, lovable Terrier is alert and fearless, but it is good with children.
19. Norwich Terrier
The dog is named after the city of Norwich, which lies in the country of Norfolk in the East Anglian area of eastern England. The Norwich originated in East Anglia and probably included Cairn, Border, and Irish Terrier blood. This hardy and adaptable Terrier is usually good with children.
20. Terrier Dog Breeds: Dandie Dinmont Terrier
The dog is generally believed to be a relative of the Skye Terrier and was initially bred to hunt badgers and foxes. Now kept mainly as a pet, the Dandie Dinmont makes a most affectionate, playful, and intelligent companion and is in its element as the family’s sole pet.
21. Scottish Terrier
The Scottish Terrier or Scottie was once known as the Aberdeen Terrier, after the Scottish city. The Scottie tends to be a one or two-person dog, perhaps at its best as the pampered pet of a childless couple. It has a reliable temperament but does not welcome interlopers and has no interest in anyone outside its human family.
22. Sealyham Terrier
Freeman Lloyd, an authority on the Sealyham Terrier, has traced the breed back to the 15th century when a family called Tucker is reputed to have imported a small, white, long-backed Flemish terrier into Wales. The Sealyham makes a fine show dog and family pet. It is good with children but not averse to scrap with its fellows.
23. Terrier Dog Breeds: Skye Terrier
The Skye developed from small dogs kept in the Highlands of Scotland to go to the ground after badger, fox, otter, and rabbit. The best of these “earth” terriers were said to originate in the Isle of Skye. The dog tends to be suspicious of or uninterested in anyone other than its owner.
24. West Highland White Terrier
Like other miniature Scottish terriers, the West Highland White Terrier or Westie was bred to hunt vermin. It was classed along with the Cairn and Skye Terriers at one time as a Small highland Working Terrier. This game and hardy little Terrier is easy to train, gets on well with children, and is a suitable housepet for people in town and the country.
25. Terrier Dog Breeds: Czesky Terrier
The Czesky or Bohemian Terrier is a short-legged terrier, little known outside its native home of the Czech Republic. It was developed in the middle of this century by crossing the Scottish, Sealyham, and possibly other terriers. The result is a tough, sturdy dog that will go to the ground after the quarry and is an excellent ratter and guard.
26. Australian Terrier
The Australian Terrier is often mistaken for a large Yorkshire Terrier. This is not surprising since it results from the mating of a Yorkshire Terrier bitch and a dog that resembled a Cairn Terrier. This breed is now proving a famous dog outside its native Australia, both as an alert, hardy, and devoted family pet in the international show ring.
Concluding Remarks on Terrier Dog Breeds
The terrier dogs are small and big, intelligent, and working dogs. The small terrier dogs were used to hunt rats and mice; larger dogs were used for hunting fox. The dogs were beneficial for stables. The terrier dog breeds were used for fighting in pits. That’s why they called pit bulls. The dogs are also excellent as companion animals, house pets, and guard dogs.
