The Patterdale Terrier

Is The Patterdale Terrier A Pure Breed of Terrier? ...
Nuttall, Gould, Booth, Wheeler, David Mason, Jeff Rowe
Photos have been added to this page - Updated 1st, October, 09

The Patterdale is a breed, it's like any other breed, it's a mixture of different breeds with one of the strongest influences being that of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which gave the breed the ability work bigger and stronger game, both Booth, Nutall and all the Lancashire lads who work their dogs, know what I'm talking about.. all you have to do is look at some of the older patterdale dog, the likes of Smitty etc... dogs like Smitty were carrying at least half the gene pool of the SBT breed, it's just an opinion, you ask any dog person that has been breeding their dogs for 40+ years and with every mating hoping to incorprate certian desired traits of that breed and also get rid of the undesirables which creep in, there is no fooling true terrier men when it comes to terrier type or typness etc...

There are great terrier men all over the world but the in the north of England it's a way of life for many, hunting rat, rabbit, fox, and even badger in the earlier years and used whatever breed of terrier that were available to them and breeds that would get the job done...

Being raised in the north of England and having hunted the cumbrian fells, the dales and dikes of yorkshire including, canal banks of Leeds to Liverpool canal ways, tip heads and dumps, hunting both day and night with some of the most unusual types of terriers and lurchers you'll ever come across, one of those types that fall into that category would be the Patterdale terrier, not a very uniform type of breed, a bit like the German hunt terriers, Jagdterriers that also come in all shapes and sizes, colours and coats, but getting back to the Patterdale, not only has the Patterdale inherited the strength and ability to work bigger game from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier it has also inherited some the undesirables such as the excessive breathing and panting which seems to be so uncontrollable at times, especially when working hard, this hard breathing and panting is a real undesirable trait in the SBT breed and one that the custodians of the breed have been trying to breed out for many years.

Another undesirable inherited from the Stafford or Staffordshire Bull Terrier, not that it has hurts the dogs performance, but rather cosmetic, not really nice to look at is the Chinese shaped eyes with the white skin bald eye lids, I'm sure many patterdale breeders have wondered where this has come from and after being around the Staffordshire Bull Terrier breed both in field and show and hunt for 40+ years I can tell you its a comon fault carried in some of darker Staffordshire Bull Terriers, you don't have to take my word for it but ask any Staffordshire Bull Terrier enthusiast that is in the breed for a long time and they will tell you very the same thing..

The Patterdale is so strong with the influences of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, many of the stronger and bigger Patterdale types could be mistaken for the old type gamebred stafford, just look at Staffordshire Bull Terrier crosses and you will see the strong resemblance of the Patterdale Terrier, in fact if you look at the litters of the SBT you will also see that they are not a uniform type of dog, the dogs that you see in the show rings are the cream of the crop of the litters, you would be simply amazed if you seen the show ring competitors littermates.... some of them are so strong in the terrier type gene which is an undesirable because the breed standard calls for 50% bull and 50% terrier, so in many litters you will see puppies that resemble the Patterdale and also some pups carrying the strong bull gene, because of use of the stafford in the patterdale you just never know what your going to get, they come in all shapes and sizes, it is man who set the ideological standards as to what we think a certian type of terrier should look like, only a breeder of terriers would be able to tell you this but as breeders of quality show terriers, they some times have to produce many litters before they get that one puppy that would come close to the breed set standard.

It must be also noted that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was not the only bull type breed that was introduced into some of the patterdale lines, the English Bull Terrier was also another bull breed that was used quite frequently.

Here are some of the genetics of the Patterdale Terrier Breed, in looking at these you can be your own judge as to what other type of terriers they resemble.

Note: if you feel my display of patterdales terriers are not true to type, then please email the network and send them your photographs to this display here that you feel better represents the breed.

Article: by Compo ...

If you have a photograph of your Terrier(s), or maybe an article you would like to have submitted, email me and I will include it here on the site for you and you will also receive full creditability ... info@terriernetwork.com