Teddy Roosevelt Terrier - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Origin
The Teddy origin is associated with early American immigrants and with the small hunting dogs and terriers they brought with themselves to their new homes. Those might have included Fox Terriers, White English Terriers, Old Bull Terrier, English Black and Tan Terrier and Manchester Terriers, but also Whippets, Italian Greyhounds or Beagles. The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is a mixture of these breeds and throughout its history, it was used as a skilled farm dog, hunter and ratter.
2) Rat Terrier
The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier shares its ancestry with another skilled ratter, the Rat Terrier. For a long time, Teddies were viewed as variety of a Rat Terrier. There was a Rat Terrier Type A with long legs and Type B with short legs. Up until the 1990s, these two types were normally crossed with each other, but since the 1990s, the Rat Terrier split into two breeds and the short legged type B was from now on known as Teddy Roosevelt Terrier.
3) Name
The Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is obviously named after the famous American president Theodore Roosevelt. It happened in 1990s when the breed was separated from the Rat Terrier and they were named like that in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, an avid hunter and sportsman, known for his affinity for his family's hunting feist, which rid the White House of vermin, caused him to coin the name Rat Terrier and drew attention to the usefulness of these tenacious hunters.
4) Hunters
As you already know, the main utilization of this breed is to be a hunter and versatile farm dog. And indeed, these dogs are versatile all around dogs with true terrier personality. These dogs might be small, but they have big temperament, they are alert, lively, independent, they have higher prey drive and chasing instinct, great sense of smell and hearing. These dogs just love to hunt and most of them will love to chase squirrels, cats, rats or any other small animal. They are also known for digging and following mole trails. Overall, this is just amazing small game hunter.
5) Companion
Of course, this is not just a hunter, but also loving, loyal and people oriented companion dog who crave for our attention and want to spend every minute with its owners and family. Teddies are known for their playfullness, great affection and higher energy and i can guarantee you that you would never be bored with these dogs by your side. On the other hand, these dogs also know how to be calm and they do enjoy good time on your lap and cuddling as well. With enough daily outdoor exercise, they can adapt to almost any person and their lifestyle.
6) Dog sports
Speaking of exercise, it does not need to be done just with long walks, jogs, hikes, playtime or training sessions, because Teddies are also great adepts for various dog sports, where they can exhaust physically, but also mentally very easily. The list of dog sports that are amazing for this breed includes agility, barn hunt and weigh pull. Without enough exercise, these dogs might develop some unwanted behaviour, such as digging, excessive barking or destruction.
7) Size
This is a small to medium sized, short legged, pretty muscular dog with broad head and v-shaped ears, that are either erect or button. The average height is between 8-15 inches which is 20-38 cm and weight is usually between 10-25 lbs, which is 5-11 kg.
8) Coat
The coat of Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is quite short, but very dense. The texture is medium-hard to smooth. These dogs can be found in variety of colors, actually they can be in any bi-color or tri-color combination, but there must always be some white color. The other common colors are red, black, tan, lemon, blue and chocolate.
9) Maintenance
Great fact is, that the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier is a very low maintenance breed and even without any grooming at all, they will keep their coat in good condition. Of course, regular brushing will minimize the shedding and it will remove any dirt from the coat, so that is always beneficial. Just like with any other breed, you should also regularly check the dogs ears, eyes, nails and teeth and clip them or clean them if needed.
10) Health
Teddies have amazing lifespan around 15 years, but of course, just like any other breed, they may suffer from some health issues. It is known, that congenital condition ectopia lentis affects this breed. Other health issues related with this breed include hip and elbow dysplasia, von willebrands disease, progressive retinal atrophy, different allergies and hypothyroidism.