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The Patterdale Terrier is a breed of dog native to the Lake District of Cumbria in Northwest England. The name Patterdale refers to a village a little south of Ullswater and a few miles east of Helvellyn.
Appearance: According to breed standards, this terrier
stands between 25,5 cm (10 inches) and 38 cm (15 inches) at
the withers and weighs between 4,5 kg (10 pounds) and 11 kg
(24 pounds). The preferred size depends on the quarry. In
Great Britain, all sizes are in use, depending on the terrain
and the quarry. Quarry here is mostly fox. In the eastern
United States, smaller is preferred and 30 cm (12 inches) tall
and 5.5 kg (12 pounds) is considered the maximum usable size
for groundhogs (aka woodchucks). However, larger (9 - 12 kg)
is preferred when hunting raccoons in excess of 13 kg (29
pounds).
95% of the breed is black, but bronze (black that shines
brown in sunlight), grizzle, chocolate, red, liver (with red
nose)and black-and-tan are also acceptable. White feet and
white chest markings appear in all coat colours. Coats are
smooth, rough, or broken-coated. However, this breed is rarely
shown and breeders are more concerned with the practicality of
the breed than with outward appearances. Practicality means
strong neck, jaws, and teeth; staying power at bay; ability to
squeeze into tight burrows; durability and endurance; and
peaceful with humans, livestock, and other dogs.
Temperament: Most Patterdale puppies are bold and
confident beyond their capabilities, and therefore are never,
or briefly, entered to rats as they soon lose all caution when
confronted with quarry of any size. Many a bold pup has lost
his life in a raccoon den while on a casual walk-in-the-woods
in the States. They have great stamina and can work quarry all
day, or play all day with the kids. Yet, indoors they are
relaxed and quiet. They have been exported abroad notably to
the States where they appear to be used primarily as hunting
dogs.
An excellent book about the origin of the breed and fell
terriers in general is The Fell Terrier by D. Brian Plummer
from The Boydell Press. Plummer goes into depth describing the
land and the people that shaped the big dog in the small
package currently called the Patterdale Terrier.
History: The Patterdale Terrier of modern times
refers to the mainly black smooth coated fell terrier first
popularized by Cyril Breay from Kirkby Lonsdale and Frank Buck
from Leyburn in Yorkshire during the early part of the 1950s.
At that time, any "typey" fell terrier being shown
in the Lake District was called a Lakeland Terrier, or simply
called a coloured terrier, whether or not they were from
Ullswater county. In the early 1960s, Brian Nuttall of Holmes
Chapel began breeding dogs that he acquired from his
grandfather and from Breay and Buck blood lines.
These dogs were carefully linebred. Nuttall blood lines are
still considered to be of the highest quality and adds a bit
to the price of a puppy. The modern Patterdale Terrier is to
fell terriers, what the Jack Russell Terrier is to hunt
terriers the indisputable leader in numbers and performance as
a breed.
They were developed in the harsh environment in the north
of England that is unable to sustain agriculture and too hilly
in the main for cattle. Sheep farming is the dominant farming
activity on these hills. Foxes being perceived by farmers to
be predatory on sheep and small farm animals, terriers are
used for predator control. Unlike the hunt terriers to the
south, typified by the Jack Russell terriers of today, which
are bred to bolt a fox to continue the chase, or to bay the
fox until the fox can be dug to, these fell terriers were bred
to bolt the fox or dispatch it, if it chooses to fight. Where
much of the "earths" in south of England are an easy
dig, much of the north of England includes "earths"
too rocky and/or too deep to dig. The fell terriers that
survived to pass on their genes, have created a truly
"tough as nails" dog. Some puppies are allowed to
chase rabbits, but most tire of chasing any quarry that won't
turn and fight.
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