Border Terrier

A Border Terrier is a small, rough-coated breed of dog of the terrier group.

Appearance

The Border Terrier has a double coat consisting of a soft undercoat and harsh, wiry outer coat.Colours include grizzle and tan (a sort of salt and pepper look), blue and tan (sometimes looks almost black), red grizzle, and less commonly, wheaten.The coat should be stripped by hand regularly, as the top coat becomes long and shaggy and eventually dies.Border Terriers being shown generally have a short coat that has been stripped and is starting to grow back.Never clip a Border Terrier, except around the face area where there are scraggy bits of hair. Clipping a Border Terrier's coat around its back may ruin its fur and make it go curly.After clipping, a Border Terrier's coat may never return to normal.Clipping also encourages coat and skin problems as the dead hair is prevented from falling naturally, changing the micro-climate next to the Border Terrier's skin.The coat type of a Border Terrier has a lot of variation across individual dogs, some develop longish, shaggy hair and others never go on to develop a full coat and remain relatively smooth in coat.

Temperament

Border Terriers are friendly, smart, energetic and playful. They can make good family pets as they are generally good with children. If their owners cannot give them a lot of attention, they are best kept with other dogs of similar temperament. Some members of the breed make a highly effective alternative to a doorbell, due to their sharp hearing and the distinctive frenzied barking that results when they hear someone approaching the door.
Usually when puppies are first taken to their home, they, like other dogs have an opinion on the owner/owners. They especially like jumping a lot, and a lot of times, when owners first buy their Border Terrier they sometimes find that they are woken up by their dog licking them in their bed! Some Border Terriers like to lick.
The key to training a Border Terrier is through its heart. They are big-hearted little dogs that love their owners and if they know that something pleases you then that is what they do. This trait, coupled with their highly intelligent mind, can sometimes lead owners, especially children, to unwittingly 'train' their Border Terriers to do certain behaviours that are not necessarily desired in their particular household. For example, when an owner comes home and their Border Terrier is overjoyed at their return and jumps, runs and become excited, the owner often reciprocates that excitement with attention and praise - hence teaching their Border Terrier that running, jumping and acting excited is a good thing and to be repeated. The same goes for teaching Border Terrier puppies to jump at toys and swing off socks and sleeves.
The golden rule with a Border Terrier is that what you give them attention for, they will do more of. Their high trainability makes them amenable to command and discouragement from unwanted beahviours. Consistency is vital, if their owner gives in even once, for example patting a Border Terrier when it jumps up on the owner's return home, they will likely remember that owners don't always mean what they say about not jumping it can take some work to undo this. As with most dogs, it is important that owners establish dominance over their border.
In terms of activity, many Border Terriers will settle to the activity levels of their owners. They do not demand exercise, but do love it when they get it. If their owner is sick for a week they will likely curl up at their feet and not move. Rattle their lead however and they will be all ears, ready to go out for that walk, run or game.
Being bred to work with people, Border Terriers do well in task-oriented activities. They have been successful in obedience, Dog agility, and working as therapy dogs in hospitals and resthomes for the elderly, and hearing dogs for the deaf.
Border Terriers respond very well to obedience classes when young as it both establishes the owner's dominance and gives their intelligent mind something to do. If left alone for much of the time without mental stimulation they do not thrive and sometimes engage in destructive behaviours like digging.