Page 287 - ShowSight - September 2019

Terriers: How They Look, How They Act... BY CELESTE M. GONZALEZ continued
One can loosely categorize the Terri- ers into long-legged or short-legged, that is those with normal long-bone growth and those with chrondrodysplastic long-bone growth. The Airedales, American Hair- less, American Staffordshire, Bedlington, Border, Bull, Fox (Smooth and Wire), Irish, Kerry Blue, Lakeland, Manchester, Min- iature Bull, Miniature Schnauzer, Parson Russell, Rat, Soft Coated Wheaten, Staf- fordshire Bull, and Welsh Terriers would be grouped into the long-legged Terriers. The short-legged or chrondrodysplastic- like breeds would include the Australian, Cairn, Cesky, Dandie Dinmont, Glen of Imaal, Norfolk, Norwich, Russell, Scot- tish, Sealyham, Skye and West Highland White Terriers.
COAT
Within these two groupings of Terri- ers, there are a several distinct coat types, or lack thereof. There are those that are fine haired smooth-coated such as the Ameri- can Staffordshire, Bull and Miniature Bull, Staffordshire Bull, Rat, American Hairless (Coated Carrier), and Manchester Terriers, while the Smooth Fox Terrier has a smooth laying coarser coat. The American Hairless Terrier, a genetic variation of the Rat Ter- rier, is hairless. However, its coated carrier siblings are exhibited in the same classes.
The more abundantly coated soft-coat Terriers are the Bedlington, Kerry Blue, Soft Coated Wheaten, Cesky, and Skye Terriers. Each of these five breeds have dif- fering textures to their coats. The Skye has a double coat comprised of a short, soft, close and woolly undercoat and a hard, straight and flat outer coat. The Kerry Blue dis- plays a coat that is silky, soft, dense, hav- ing waves that appear as Marcel waves and a coloration that is any shade of gray blue or blue gray. The Soft-Coated Wheaten demonstrates a coat exactly as it is named, soft, silky, waving and flowing of a warm wheaten color. Bedlingtons show a distinc- tive mixture of hard and soft hair standing out from the body that is also crisp to the touch but not wiry, and having a tendency to curl, especially on the head and face. The Cesky coat is long, fine and firm, slightly wavy with a silky gloss with the body coat and part of the head being chippered, while furnishings, fall and beard are scissored and left longer.
Three Terrier breeds call for coats that may be smooth or broken, the Parson Rus- sell and the Russell. However, the Russell Terrier also allows for a rough coat. The Border has a short and dense undercoat cov- ered with a very wiry and somewhat broken topcoat which should lie close to the body.
It should be noted that the progenitor of the Fox Terriers (Smooth and Wire), Parson Russell, and Russell was a Parson
Russell-like white terrier developed in the south of England to work the European red fox above and below ground.
The wire-coated Terriers include the Airedale, Australian, Cairn, Dandie Din- mont, Glen of Imaal, Irish, Lakeland, Miniature Schnauzer, Norfolk, Norwich, Scottish, Sealyham, Welsh, West Highland White and Wire Fox. These breeds each have a slight variation in the length, qual- ity and texture of the coat over the various parts of the body.
Airedales have a hard, dense and wiry coat which lies straight and close while cov- ering the dog well over the body and legs. Some of the hardest coats are crinkling or just slightly waved. There is hard very stiff hair at the base with an undercoat of shorter growth of softer hair. The Australian Terrier has an outer coat that is harsh and straight, about 21⁄2 inches all over the body except the tail, pasterns, rear legs from the hocks down, and the feet all of which have short and somewhat softer hair. Its undercoat is short and soft. The Australian’s topknot is of finer and softer texture than the rest of the coat. Cairns have a hard weather resis- tant double-coat with a profuse harsh outer coat and short, soft, close furry undercoat. The Dandie Dinmont’s coat and its distri- bution is unique among Terriers. Its body coat is a mixture of about 2/3 hard hair with about 1/3 soft hair, giving a somewhat crisp texture. The hard hair is not wiry, while the hair on the underpart of the body is softer than on the top. Its distinguish- able soft and silky topknot hair covers the head and extends to the upper portion of the ears. The Glen of Imaal has a medium length coat that is of harsh texture with a soft undercoat. Irish Terriers display a coat that is dense and wiry in texture, having a broken appearance, but close to the body. Hair growth on this breed is so close and strong that when parted with the fingers the skin is hardly visible. The undercoat is finer and softer hair and lighter in color. Lake- lands exhibit a double coat with the outer coat being hard and wiry in texture, and the undercoat close to the skin and soft. The Lakeland’s furnishings on the legs and foreface are plentiful but not profuse, tidy and crisp in texture. Miniature Schnau- zers, no matter where they are presented, exhibit a hard, wiry, outer coat and close undercoat. Their leg and facial furnishings are fairly thick but not silky. Norfolk and Norwich Terriers, at one time in the not too distant past, came from the same litters. They demonstrate a close-lying hard, wiry and straight coat of about 11⁄2 to 2 inches long with a definite undercoat. Its moderate leg furnishings are harsh in texture. Hair on the head and ears is short and smooth, except for slight eyebrows and whiskers.
Scottish Terriers are broken coated with a hard, wiry outer coat and a soft, dense undercoat. The longer coat on the beard, legs and lower body may be slightly softer than the body coat. The Sealyham has a weather-resistant coat comprised of soft, dense undercoat and hard, wiry top coat. The Sealy also has a distinct growth of soft- er hair on its foreface and beard. It is often described by long-time Terrier fanciers and groomers as the most difficult of the Terrier coats to properly groom due to the rooted- ness of the hair.
Welsh Terriers reveal a coat that is hard, wiry, and dense with a close-fitting thick jacket over the torso that includes a short, soft undercoat. Muzzle and leg furnishings are dense and wiry. West Highland White Terriers are double-coated with an outer coat consisting of straight hard white hair, about two inches long, and a shorter coat on neck and shoulders, blended into shorter areas into furnishings, which are longer on stomach and legs and may be softer. The ideal coat is hard, straight and white. Wire Fox Terrier coats are sometimes described as having a coconut husk or coconut mat- ting texture with a shorter and finer under- coat. The coat appears to be broken, with the dense wiry hairs having a tendency to twist. The hair grows so closely and strong- ly together that, when parted with the fin- gers, the skin can’t be seen. The coat on the back and quarters is the hardest with some of the hardest coats demonstrating a crinkly or slightly waved appearance, but not curly. The hair on the muzzle and forelegs is dense and crisp.
TERRIERTUDE
All Terriers must have a self-assuredness unique to their own breed. Some, such as the Skye Terrier, display it in a quiet and reserved way. While the Lakeland has tra- ditionally been a pack working Terrier, is part of the sparred Terrier breeds. The Irish, Airedale, Scottie, Welsh, Lakeland, Kerry Blue, West Highland White, and the Fox Terriers (Smooth and Wire) are downright bodacious in their self-confidence. Among this group you’ll find they are typically sparred in pairs, or trios at most, to enable the judge to see a display of each terrier coming up onto their toes and becoming full of themselves in anticipation of the sparring partner’s next move. The eyes are full of fire, the ears held tight, and the tails seem to vibrate in expectation. Here the expression and attitudes of these Terrier breeds is at its finest.
For those breeds that are not typically sparred, one only has to observe them on the hunt for prey and hear them as they cor- ner the quarry, ready for bolting or dispatch.
Terriertude, it’s what all the Terriers have!
ShowSight Magazine, SepteMber 2019 • 285