TERRIERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES

The British Isles has a wealth of tradition in working terriers.  From the north of Scotland to the Welsh borders, from the English Midlands to the west of Ireland they can be found.  Their variety was only limited by the imagination and dedication of their originators who saw in each of them something to be valued, both as a working dog and as a loyal friend!

Terriers are ground dogs that have been used for centuries throughout the British Isles as working and hunting dogs.  Selective breeding has ensured that the variety of terriers is as varied as the quarry it was bred to hunt or work with.  That quarry ranged  from bulls at one end of the scale to rats at the other end.  In between are the breeds used for flushing or holding foxes or even for running down hares and rabbits.

Terriers were traditionally the working man's dog and, invariably the old fashioned poacher kept a brace of terriers for his particular mode of hunting around the edge of the estate.    These pages contain a select ion of some of the different breeds of terriers that have evolved in all of the home countries of the British Isles.

Use the navigation bar provided to enter the fascinating world of Working Terriers