Manchester Terrier
This feisty Mancunian gentleman is a very special terrier: eager, sociable, and fearless. A smartly designed little character, his glory days were those of the industrial revolution when working people and dogs alike enjoyed the dubious sport of rat-baiting in England’s engine room, the city of Manchester. This fellow stood up against the rats, putting his rabbit-hunting instincts into an urban context. Numbers dropped following the exodus of the rats and a ban on rat-baiting, and although he has enjoyed a renaissance of late, he remains a vulnerable breed.
Key facts about the Manchester Terrier
Origins and history
The Manchester Terrier came here to do two things: chase rabbits and fight rats. As such, it is believed he was developed from a meeting of a fast breed (the whippet) and a rat-killing one (the black-and-tan terrier). While these pastimes have dwindled over the years since the Manchester Terrier’s 19th century heyday, the dog himself was too charming to forget. Although his numbers dipped significantly following WW2, breeders and enthusiasts have battled to keep the breed afloat.
FCI breed nomenclature
FCI Group
Group 3 - Terriers
Section
Section 1 : Large and medium sized Terriers
Physical characteristics of the Manchester Terrier
Adult size
Female : Between 14 and 16 in
Male : Between 15 and 17 in
Weight
Female : Between 15 and 18 lb
Male : Between 15 and 18 lb
Coat colour
Type of coat
Eye colour
Description
This neat little package is all wrapped up in what the FCI lovingly calls “jet black and rich mahogany tan” fur. Indeed, there’s something at once luxurious and deeply down to earth about this scampish, tight-limbed fellow, and perhaps it is in the juxtaposition of the gem-likeness of his eyes and their mischievous edge; the Egyptian glamour of his prominent, pointy ears and their eminent practicability; the languor of his long beak versus the workmanlike musculature of his cheeks. Modestly-sized yet coiled up with energy, the Manchester Terrier can’t help but recall some short-lived experimental car design, or that unassumingly eye-grabbing person you saw everywhere at university and never quite said more than ‘Hi’ to.
Good to know
The Victorians knew him as ‘the Gentleman’s Terrier’ because he’s such a smart looker.