The dog terrier breeds are typically small, tough, and daring dogs which vary in size from a few pounds to over 65 pounds. Most breeds were developed in Germany and Great Britain where they were used as biological controls for rats and rabbits. Dog terrier breeds of larger sizes can be used to hunt much larger Animals.
The word terrier comes from the middle French terrier, derived from the latin word terra, meaning earth. Terriers were crossed with hunting dogs, fighting dogs, and other terriers. In the mid-19th century, with the advent of dog shows, various breeds were refined from the older purpose-bred dogs. All of today's terrier breed dogs are bred primarily as pets.
Terriers range greatly in appearance from very small, light bodied, smooth coated dogs such as the English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan), which weighs as little as 2.7 kg (6 lbs), to the very largest rough coated Airedale Terriers, which can be up to 32 kg (70 lbs) or more.
Only two types of the dog terrier breeds were recognized in the 18th century which is the short-legged and the long-legged terrier breeds. However terrier breeds are often informally categorized by function and size.
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| long-legged terrier |
Types of the dog terrier breeds are include:
Working terriers: Have a specialty for hunting. That is, to find, track, or trail quarry, especially underground. Modern examples include the Jack Russell Terrier and the
Patterdale Terrier. Other original hunting dog terrier breeds include Fell terriers (assists in the killing foxes in northern England). Toy terriers include the English Toy Terrier and the Yorkshire terrier.
A combination of bulldogs and terriers were bred to give Bull terrier types of dogs. Other dog terrier breeds are Boston Terriers, American Pit Bull Terrier, Staffordshire bull terrier, and the Asian Gull Terrier dogs.
The dog terrier breeds look facially calm but are strong dogs that can be relied on.
Dog terrier breeds

