{"id":138627,"date":"2016-11-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/?p=138627"},"modified":"2026-09-02T19:09:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T16:09:26","slug":"patterdale-terrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-patterdale-terrier","title":{"rendered":"Patterdale Terrier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Patterdale Terrier<\/strong> is a compact working terrier from the Lake District in north-west England. Its main peculiarity is apparent even before any description of its looks: this is not a breed in the registry sense but a <strong>working type<\/strong>, one that most of the large canine organisations do not describe at all, while those that do describe it differently from one another. That is why this page names every time <em>whose<\/em> requirement is being quoted. Look for similar breeds at <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\">Tvaryny<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who actually describes the Patterdale \u2014 and why the descriptions differ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question of what the Patterdale standard says has no single answer, because no single standard exists. The breed is absent from the nomenclature of the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Cynologique Internationale (FCI). It is absent from the breed list of the American Kennel Club (AKC) as well \u2014 even though that same list contains the Lakeland Terrier, the Border Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier, which are the Patterdale&#8217;s closest neighbours. It is missing in the same way from both the list of standards and the breed list of the British Kennel Club, where the Lakeland, the Bedlington, the Border and the Parson all hold their places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absence from a list that includes the neighbours of the same group is a meaningful fact, not a gap in our search. It means exactly what it means: in those registries the Patterdale has no standard, no number and no show class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two organisations, on the other hand, have indeed described the breed, and they are the ones worth citing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>The United Kennel Club (UKC, USA)<\/strong> recognised the Patterdale Terrier on <strong>1 January 1995<\/strong> and placed it in the terrier group. The current revision of the official UKC standard is dated <strong>1 December 2014<\/strong>. It is a full show standard \u2014 with a list of faults, serious faults and disqualifications.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The Patterdale Terrier Club of America (PTCA)<\/strong> is the breed club, and it publishes a written standard of its own with requirements of its own.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two documents are not \u201cthe right one and the wrong one\u201d. They are two different criteria for inclusion, and each of them applies at its own events. The differences between them are entirely specific:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Feature<\/th><th>UKC standard (2014 revision)<\/th><th>PTCA standard<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody>\n<tr><td>Height<\/td><td>10\u201315 inches <em>at the withers<\/em><\/td><td>10\u201315 inches <em>at the shoulder<\/em><\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Weight<\/td><td>Names no figure whatsoever: \u201cweight should be in proportion to height\u201d<\/td><td>In proportion to height; \u201ctwelve to twenty pounds would be average\u201d<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Colour<\/td><td>Black, red, chocolate, <strong>grizzle<\/strong>, black and tan, and <strong>bronze<\/strong><\/td><td>Black, red, chocolate, black and tan \u2014 with an explicit statement that other colours are not registered<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Tail docking<\/td><td>If docked, just <strong>a quarter or a third<\/strong> is taken off<\/td><td>If docked, <strong>no more than a quarter<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Eye colour<\/td><td>In harmony with the coat, but <strong>never blue<\/strong><\/td><td>Brown or hazel; in chocolates, any shade of amber<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Ears<\/td><td>Triangular, folded closely, set slightly above the skull<\/td><td>\u201cButton\u201d ears with a tight fold<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Disqualifications<\/td><td>Four: cryptorchidism, viciousness or excessive shyness, albinism, any white patch on the body or head<\/td><td>Two: cryptorchidism, shyness or viciousness<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The practical conclusion for a buyer is simple: the question \u201cdoes this dog conform to the standard\u201d is empty without saying <em>which<\/em> one. The very same grizzle or bronze dog passes under the UKC standard and is not registered under the PTCA colour list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History of origin: what is documented and what is oral tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The name comes from the village of Patterdale in the county of Cumbria. The Lake District means steep slopes, stony scree, fog and constant rain, and the local farmers needed not a handsome dog but one that would go into a rock pile after a fox and come out of it alive. The main criterion of selection was <em>gameness<\/em> \u2014 the willingness to work against the quarry and not to give ground; the word is still used untranslated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After that it becomes more complicated. The history of working types is almost always oral, and the Patterdale is a textbook case: what is retold most often is the worst supported by documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The first trap is the name itself.<\/strong> At the beginning of the twentieth century \u201cPatterdale Terrier\u201d did not mean the dog that is called that today. The clearest proof is Richard Clapham&#8217;s book \u201cFoxes, Foxhounds and Fox-hunting\u201d (1922): the caption under a photograph there reads <em>\u201cA Lakeland Working Terrier. One of the \u2018Patterdale&#8217; Breed\u201d<\/em> \u2014 that is, <strong>the same dog carries both names at once<\/strong>, and in the picture the dog is light-coloured and shaggy, not at all like today&#8217;s black smooth-coated Patterdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The matter was settled in 1921, when the Lakeland Terrier Association was founded and fixed the name \u201cLakeland\u201d precisely in order to cover with it all the local names that had been in parallel use until then \u2014 Patterdale, Ennerdale, Fell, Cumberland and Westmorland terriers. So the modern <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-lakeland-terrier\">Lakeland Terrier<\/a> absorbed the name \u201cPatterdale\u201d as well; and the name thus freed later attached itself to the working type that remained outside the registries. That is why old books and articles containing the word \u201cPatterdale\u201d have to be read with care: they are not necessarily about today&#8217;s black dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The earliest detailed description we are able to quote<\/strong> is a letter from Lord Decies under the heading \u201cThe Patterdale Terriers\u201d, printed in the magazine <em>The Field<\/em> on 18 April 1903; the PTCA reproduces its text on its website. The author writes that he kept a notebook on his terriers for twenty years, and describes the type a fell terrier needs: very active, rather leggy, \u201cnarrow in the chest, weighing about 15 or 16 pounds\u201d, with a weather-resistant coat. The same letter names <em>Red Tinker<\/em> \u2014 \u201cthe ancestor of many of today&#8217;s Patterdale Terriers\u201d \u2014 and <em>Blondin<\/em>, described as a \u201cdwarf pedigree Bedlington\u201d, which was widely used at stud \u201cto improve the mountain terriers\u201d. So the part played by the <strong>Bedlington<\/strong> in the forming of the type is not a guess but something a participant in the events states outright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The second trap is Joe Bowman.<\/strong> The name of this huntsman of the Ullswater Foxhounds is mentioned in most popular descriptions as the \u201ccreator\u201d of the Patterdale \u2014 it was he, so the story goes, who crossed the blue-black Border Terrier with the black and tan fell terrier. The trouble is that <strong>the modern sources describe different dogs from the ones the sources of his own time describe<\/strong>. That same Clapham writes in 1922 about the terriers of the \u201cPatterdale breed\u201d at Bowman&#8217;s that they have \u201ca good deal of Bedlington blood\u201d and weigh from 14 to 16 pounds, while the dogs he names individually are red, brown wire-haired, blue. There is no black smooth-coated dog among them. So Bowman did indeed keep terriers that were called Patterdales \u2014 but they were dogs of the type that later became the Lakeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 1903 letter reads the same way: its author lists terriers that he <em>lent<\/em> to Bowman over sixteen years. What matters is that two decades later Clapham independently mentions the same dogs \u2014 Sweep, which belonged to Lord Decies, and Corby, and Blondin \u2014 and this confirms that the letter is not a late invention. In this picture Bowman is an outstanding user and populariser of working terriers, not the man who created the modern type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most interesting part here is <strong>how exactly the legend gained weight in the retelling<\/strong>, because that can be followed step by step. Several present-day pages repeat one and the same sentence, which carries no reference to a source; and with every retelling the details shift. The age at which Bowman is supposed to have taken up the post moves about. The post itself moves about too: popular accounts make him the <em>Master<\/em> of the Ullswater Foxhounds, whereas a source from his own time calls quite another man the Master and Bowman the <em>huntsman<\/em>, the man who handles the pack. And the one page among them that carries footnotes lists by name everyone who held the post of Master \u2014 and Bowman is not in that list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is the practical lesson of this section, and it is worth carrying over to any other breed: the sheer number of sites repeating a story adds no weight to it if all of them are retelling one sourceless sentence. The sign to watch for is <strong>details that drift<\/strong>: when the age, the post or the colour change from one version to the next, nobody involved ever had the document in their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When the modern black Patterdale appeared.<\/strong> Here the sources agree on the names and disagree on the dates. Modern accounts unanimously name <strong>Cyril Breay and Frank Buck<\/strong>, who worked with the type purposefully in the 1950s, and <strong>Brian Nuttall<\/strong>, whose lines from the end of the 1950s and the 1960s stand behind many of today&#8217;s dogs. But these are <em>modern accounts<\/em> and not documents of that era. That is why the range of dates that various authors give for the beginning of the modern breed is stretched over half a century \u2014 from the 1910s to the 1960s \u2014 and none of these dates should be presented as established.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why there are so few primary documents \u2014 and this is an explanation, not an excuse.<\/strong> The gap here has at least three concrete causes, and each of them is checkable. First, nobody registered the working terriers of the Lake District, because no registry existed for them: the first registry of the breed \u2014 the PTCA club \u2014 was founded as late as 1993, and in America at that. Second, records were kept and preserved <em>privately<\/em>: Lord Decies writes outright that for twenty years he kept a book on his terriers \u2014 so the point is not that nobody wrote anything down, but that those records never entered public circulation. Third, the nineteenth-century author Rawdon Lee, describing the terriers of Cumberland and Westmorland, noted outright that they were not bred consistently and that the type was not fixed \u2014 so in those decades there really was nothing to record as a \u201cbreed\u201d. An absence of documents that has been explained is a checkable statement, and it is far more useful than a vague \u201cthe sources disagree\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fate of the next version is telling as well \u2014 the claim that the name was put into wide circulation by Brian Nuttall. Asked directly, he replied that rough, smooth and broken-coated terriers in his part of the country \u201cwere always called Patterdales or fells, depending on who you are talking to\u201d. So this version, too, fails to survive a check with the participant himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UKC&#8217;s own historical note puts the origin more cautiously and more broadly: the breed \u201cdescends mainly from the black smooth-coated fell terrier bred in the harsh conditions of northern England\u201d, kept against predators dangerous to sheep. It is worth remembering that the historical section of a standard is the registry&#8217;s position rather than an independently established fact; but it is precisely this more cautious version that agrees with the documents best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Appearance: function above everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier.webp\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier\" class=\"wp-image-138494\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-330x220.webp 330w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-420x280.webp 420w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-615x410.webp 615w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Patterdale breeders deliberately did not take the road of show selection, and that is exactly why the appearance of the breed is described through fitness for work rather than through beauty. But the claim that \u201cthere is no standard here at all, all that matters is the ability to squeeze into an earth\u201d is inaccurate: the UKC standard is quite detailed and contains four grounds for disqualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Height.<\/strong> Both existing standards give the same range \u2014 <strong>10\u201315 inches<\/strong>, that is roughly <strong>25\u201338 cm<\/strong>. The difference lies in the point of measurement alone: the UKC measures at the withers, the PTCA at the shoulder.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Weight.<\/strong> Here the standards diverge fundamentally. The UKC <em>names no figure at all<\/em> and confines itself to proportion to height and a working condition without surplus fat. The PTCA asks for proportion too, but adds a guideline: 12\u201320 pounds (roughly 5\u20139 kg) \u201cwould be average\u201d. This is a guideline and not a norm: the word \u201caverage\u201d is in the source for a reason. For comparison, the 1903 letter gave 15\u201316 pounds for a mountain terrier.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The chest and the \u201ctwo hands rule\u201d.<\/strong> This is not owners&#8217; folklore but the official judging procedure of the UKC. The dog is <em>measured by hand<\/em>: the chest immediately behind the shoulder blades should be spanned by the palms of an adult man so that the fingers of both hands meet. The standard also adds how exactly this is done \u2014 the front legs are lifted off the ground and the bottom of the rib cage is squeezed gently to make sure that it <strong>compresses<\/strong>. A chest that is too big, too wide or unable to compress is a fault.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Coat.<\/strong> Three types: smooth, broken and rough. The requirement is the same for all three \u2014 dense and harsh, able to protect against wet, thorns and the teeth of the quarry. Damaged working patches of coat are not penalised in the ring.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Tail.<\/strong> Both standards mention docking as a possibility rather than a requirement. Both explain the reason in the same way: the tail is sometimes the only way to pull a dog out of an earth. The UKC states outright that there is no preference between a docked tail and a natural one.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On docking it is worth remembering the legal side: the UKC itself notes in the text of the standard that, as an international registry, it is aware of the ban on tail docking and ear cropping in a number of countries, and that no dog may therefore be penalised at its events for a natural tail or natural ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And now the most important thing, the detail on which almost every description of the breed goes wrong.<\/strong> The formulation \u201cin Britain docking is permitted for working dogs\u201d is incorrect: the rule breaks apart <em>inside<\/em> the United Kingdom, and for the Patterdale the answer differs across its three jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>England \u2014 the Patterdale falls under the exception.<\/strong> The list of types for which the exception is made consists of three positions, and the third is worded openly \u2014 <em>terriers of any type or combination of types<\/em>. No breed is named there individually, so the Patterdale fits that wording.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Wales \u2014 it does not.<\/strong> Here the list is <em>closed<\/em>: four specific terrier breeds are named, the Patterdale is not among them, and there is a separate proviso that a combination of breeds does not count.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Scotland \u2014 terriers do not appear in the exception at all.<\/strong> The exception covers spaniels and gun dogs alone; moreover it concerns work at hunting and not pest control, it permits no more than a third of the tail to be taken off, and it requires the procedure to be carried out by a veterinary surgeon and nobody else.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conditions under which the exception applies in England are also worth knowing in advance, because several of them are far from obvious: the puppy&#8217;s dam has to belong to one of the listed types; the puppy may be no more than five days old; a veterinary certificate is needed, issued on the basis of one of seven permissible proofs of working purpose \u2014 among them a letter from a representative of the working terrier federation is named outright, a detail that concerns precisely this breed; the dog has to be microchipped before three months of age; and such a dog may not be shown at events where the spectators pay for admission, except to demonstrate working qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outside Britain the logic can follow an entirely different pattern. In <strong>Germany<\/strong> the exception is tied not to the breed but to the <em>intended use<\/em> \u2014 to dogs that are to be worked at hunting; the text of the law contains no list of breeds and no age limit, but instead three conditions have to be met at once: a necessity arising from that use, the absence of veterinary objections, and the carrying out of the procedure by a veterinary surgeon. In <strong>Poland<\/strong> the ban is stated outright, and no working or hunting exception to it is provided \u2014 a therapeutic one alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A separate word about <strong>Ukraine<\/strong>, and here we deliberately mark the limit of our own statement: the relevant law contains no special provision on docking as such. There is a general ban on mutilating domestic animals, and docking for cosmetic reasons most probably falls under it \u2014 but that is <em>our conclusion drawn from a general provision<\/em> and not a quotation from an article of its own, and the reader should know the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Characteristic<\/th><th>Description of the features<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody>\n<tr><td>Colour<\/td><td>The most typical is solid black, but the colour lists of the two standards differ (see the table above). Both allow a little white on the chest and feet; under the UKC standard a white patch on the body or head is a disqualification.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Head<\/td><td>Strong, wedge-shaped or trapezoid from the front. Skull and muzzle are equal in length, or the muzzle is slightly shorter. The muzzle should not be snipy or weak.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Teeth<\/td><td>A full set, with a scissor or level bite. Teeth broken or lost at work are not penalised.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Eyes<\/td><td>Set straight and fairly wide apart, not protruding \u2014 which matters for a dog that works in the earth.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Ears<\/td><td>Small, with a tight fold, the tips directed towards the outer corner of the eye.<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Temperament and character: little devil or devoted friend?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Temperament and Character: Little devil or devoted friend?\" class=\"wp-image-138509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1-860x645.jpg 860w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/gallery-223241-1536x1152-1.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the most important section for a future owner, and the UKC standard puts its view here unusually frankly for a document of the genre: Patterdales are \u201cvery willing workers with a strong desire to please\u201d, but this is <strong>not a dog for the ordinary pet owner<\/strong>, and the owner needs a sense of humour and an understanding of true terrier character. It is a rare case of a registry warning a buyer directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At home the Patterdale is mostly gentle and affectionate, sometimes to the point of clinginess. But his switch into working mode is instantaneous, and in intensity and refusal to compromise he is noticeably harder than the <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-border-terrier\">Border Terrier<\/a>, which is often regarded as the softer alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In manner of work and level of arousal Patterdales are closest to the <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-german-hunting-terrier-jagdterrier\">German Hunting Terrier (Jagdterrier)<\/a>. Both are inclined to overestimate their own strength and to attack an opponent considerably larger than themselves. The practical consequence in town is a single and very concrete one: a walk off the lead where there are cats, squirrels or a roadway is an unjustified risk, because the chase switches on faster than obedience takes hold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Towards people Patterdales are usually loyal; the UKC standard requires the dog to be calm with people, livestock and other dogs, and viciousness or excessive shyness are on the list of disqualifications. In practice, however, males often clash with one another, so it is wiser to take a second dog of the opposite sex into the house. Small animals \u2014 hamsters, rats, rabbits \u2014 do not live alongside a Patterdale: the hunting instinct here is too strong to rely on socialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike the <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-odis\">ODIS<\/a>, which was bred first of all as a companion with a moderate temperament, the Patterdale needs consistent rules and a serious workload. This is not a dog with which soft vagueness in upbringing works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Working qualities \u2014 and why the law matters more here than tradition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-1024x682.webp\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Working Qualities: What is this breed's superpower?\" class=\"wp-image-138524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-1024x682.webp 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-300x200.webp 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-330x220.webp 330w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-420x280.webp 420w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-615x410.webp 615w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280-860x573.webp 860w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/dog-1268559_1280.webp 1100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Patterdale is an earth dog, and his physical features are subordinated to exactly that: flexibility, the ability to turn round in a narrow tunnel, a compressible rib cage, stamina. Underground the dog gives tongue, marking his position for the hunter. In a state of excitement his sensitivity to pain drops noticeably \u2014 and that is a problem rather than an advantage: the dog may carry on working with serious injuries, which is why an examination after every outing in the field is obligatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>But a description of how the breed worked historically is not a description of what is permitted today.<\/strong> Earth hunting is regulated differently in different countries, and in the breed&#8217;s homeland the rules have changed radically. To set out \u201cthe usual practice\u201d here without that reservation would mean advising the reader to do something for which his country holds him liable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>The badger in Great Britain.<\/strong> The badger protection act of 1992 (Protection of Badgers Act 1992) treats as offences both digging for a badger and \u2014 under a separate provision on interference with a sett \u2014 <em>causing a dog to enter a badger sett<\/em>. What is more, the act establishes a presumption: if there is evidence from which it may be concluded that a person was digging for a badger, he is taken to have been doing so until the contrary is proved. So the work at the badger that is traditional in old descriptions has been outside the law in Britain for more than thirty years.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Working underground in England and Wales.<\/strong> The hunting act of 2004 (Hunting Act 2004) left a dog underground just one narrow exception, and its conditions are listed exhaustively: the purpose is to prevent serious damage to birds kept or preserved for shooting; <em>written<\/em> evidence of the right to be on that land has to be carried and shown at a constable&#8217;s request; <strong>no more than one dog<\/strong> may work underground at a time; the quarry must be flushed from the earth as soon as possible and then shot by a competent person; and reasonable steps are separately required in order <em>to prevent injury to the dog<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Scotland is a separate and newer system.<\/strong> It is easy to go wrong here by relying on an outdated text: the act of 2002 that used to govern the question was <strong>repealed on 3 October 2023<\/strong>. The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 now in force allows work underground for the <strong>fox<\/strong> alone and subject to conditions that include a single dog, the compulsory <strong>fitting of the dog with a device that allows his position underground to be tracked<\/strong>, reasonable steps to keep the dog from becoming trapped and his immediate rescue if that has happened; a fox that has been found is to be shot (or it may be killed by a bird of prey), and if it has been wounded it is to be killed <em>by a means that does not involve the use of a dog<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Germany is an example of why \u201cthe country allows it\u201d means nothing.<\/strong> Federal hunting law acknowledges earth hunting and mentions it separately in its list of exceptions, and the animal protection act forbids setting one animal on another \u201cunless the principles of proper hunting demand it\u201d. But the substantive regulation lies at the level of the federal states, and it varies: some states have banned work in a <em>natural<\/em> earth (entirely, or for the badger alone), keeping permission for an artificial one, while others have limited themselves to a requirement to prove qualification. The state of affairs in a particular federal state cannot be derived from the federal rule.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last point deserves a careful reading, because it changes the frame itself. A scheme in which the dog holds or kills the quarry underground is not a \u201ctraditional style of work\u201d in England and Wales \u2014 it does not fit into the single permitted exception, which is built around flushing the quarry from the earth and shooting it. That is why describing the breed through \u201cwork to kill\u201d is correct as a historical characterisation of the type and not as current advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rules differ not merely between countries but within individual states as well, so there is no one answer to \u201cwhat a Patterdale is allowed to do\u201d. Before taking a dog specifically for earth work, find out the rules in force in your own region \u2014 and do not carry over to them either the British tradition or American practice. Here is how widely the approaches vary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>France \u2014 the opposite pole from Britain: there earth hunting is not merely permitted but codified<\/strong> under a name of its own and regulated in detail. A pack of at least three dogs entered specifically to fox and badger is required; only digging tools and tongs that do not wound are allowed; gas and traps are expressly forbidden; killing must be immediate, and exposing the animal to the baying or the bites of the dogs is separately prohibited; the excavated site must be restored within a day; and if a protected species is found in the earth, the hunt stops at once. Championships and competitions in this form of hunting are banned as well. The season closes on 15 January, and for badger an additional period from 15 May is possible.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Poland \u2014 an example of how a single amendment changes everything.<\/strong> Until 2018 the law expressly exempted the testing of hunting dogs&#8217; working qualities from the prohibition, and it was precisely that exemption which legitimised organised work below ground. An amendment removed it. Hunting remained permitted, but destroying an earth is an offence in its own right and carries a penalty, so digging has no basis.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Italy \u2014 the answer splits by species.<\/strong> The badger is not among the quarry species there at all, which rules out hunting it below ground \u2014 but through protection of the species rather than any prohibition of the method. The fox, by contrast, is a quarry species, and there is no national ban on the method itself.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Spain \u2014 competence lies with seventeen autonomous communities.<\/strong> In at least two of them, hunting &#8220;the fox with earth dogs&#8221; is a form expressly named in the legislation. Gas and smoke are prohibited nationally.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Ukraine \u2014 the method is not prohibited.<\/strong> Hunting with dogs and the testing of working qualities are expressly provided for. Flooding earths, however, and the use of gas and smoke, and the destruction of animals&#8217; dwellings, are prohibited by separate provisions.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The United States \u2014 there is no federal prohibition<\/strong>, and the one federal provision on animal fighting expressly excludes the use of animals in hunting from its scope. The states, however, genuinely differ: one forbids taking a fox from any earth at all, another forbids it for skunk and raccoon but precisely not for fox, and a third does not regulate the question at all.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Brazil \u2014 the question has no object, for a reason outside the law:<\/strong> neither foxes of the genus <em>Vulpes<\/em> nor badgers of the genus <em>Meles<\/em> occur there. Hunting is in any case prohibited there as a general rule.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let us note one small thing that often travels through breed descriptions: the quarry list \u201cfox, badger, raccoon\u201d mixes different countries. There is no raccoon in Britain \u2014 it is a North American quarry, and it got into the description together with the American experience of using the breed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An interesting comparison: while the <a href=\"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/breed-otterhound\">Otterhound<\/a> is a master of work in water and on boggy ground, the Patterdale specialised underground. Water, though, does not frighten him either, and he swims willingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Maintenance and care: simplicity and complexity at once<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Maintenance and Care: Simplicity and complexity at once\" class=\"wp-image-138539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-615x410.jpg 615w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523-860x573.jpg 860w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-on-hill-196381019-2000-070eb78f6c3d4481aeebbfeaa7e50523.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In grooming the Patterdale is undemanding \u2014 the UKC standard notes outright that very little care is needed to keep the coat in order. The difficulty of keeping one lies in an entirely different plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Smooth-coated.<\/strong> It is enough to go over the dog once a week with a damp cloth or a rubber mitt to gather up the dead hair.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Rough-coated and broken.<\/strong> These need stripping (plucking) several times a year. It is not merely a matter of looks: old coat does not fall out by itself and can cause itching.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The real burden on the owner is providing the dog with an outlet for his energy. A quarter of an hour around the house gives a Patterdale nothing. He needs to run, to search, to dig and to solve problems, and without that he will find work for himself: excavations, ruined furniture and stripped wallpaper are the typical result of boredom rather than of a bad character. Any activity with a searching or a speed component suits \u2014 nose work, agility, flyball; the UKC, incidentally, runs coursing and nose work competitions that are open to the breed. The stamina of these dogs really is noticeable: they are able to accompany a bicycle for kilometres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tendency to escape has to be taken into account separately. Patterdales climb well and dig superbly, so the fence has to be high and protected against digging underneath \u2014 otherwise the hunting instinct will sooner or later take the dog beyond the perimeter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Health and genetic features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p.jpg\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Health and Genetic Features\" class=\"wp-image-138554\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p.jpg 650w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/pup-14-nr0008-01p-615x410.jpg 615w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is correct to speak about the health of the Patterdale with one important qualification. The breed is registered by neither the British Kennel Club nor the AKC, and so it does not enter their breed health surveys or their lifespan statistics. That means not \u201cthe breed is healthy\u201d but \u201cthere are no breed statistics\u201d: the absence of a list of diseases is a gap in the data, not a certificate of wellbeing. What is named below, therefore, is what has been documented for this breed specifically, and, separately, what is merely recommended for checking in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the same reason the status of the lifespan figure needs to be made precise. The guideline usually given for the Patterdale is <strong>12\u201315 years<\/strong>, and that is a generalisation from keeping practice rather than the result of a breed study: large cohort works on the lifespan of dogs are built on registry breeds, and unregistered types are not singled out in them as a separate group. This figure is to be treated as a guideline, not as a measured value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Primary lens luxation (PLL) is the main documented genetic problem of the breed.<\/strong> It is a monogenic disease with an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance; the gene is <strong>ADAMTS17<\/strong>. Farias and co-authors described the causal mutation in 2010 as a G\u2192A substitution at position c.1473+1 that destroys the splice donor recognition site in intron 10. The Patterdale entered that list through one specific piece of work: in 2011 Gould and co-authors examined 121 dogs of 30 breeds with clinically confirmed PLL and, among fourteen breeds added to the three previously known ones, found <strong>at least one dog of each that was homozygous for the ADAMTS17 mutation and clinically affected<\/strong> \u2014 the Patterdale Terrier among them. The wording is worth keeping exactly as it is: what is meant is the proven presence of the mutation in the breed, not a measured frequency of its spread, which has not been published for the Patterdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two things matter more for the owner in practice. First, a DNA test exists, and it is the test, and not an examination, that gives the answer before mating. Second, the genetics of PLL has a feature that is often forgotten: most carriers with a single copy of the mutation do not fall ill during their lives, but a small percentage do fall ill after all, and the reason for that is unknown so far \u2014 which is why carriers are recommended to be watched by an ophthalmologist rather than simply excluded from breeding and forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The clinical course has practical significance, because PLL is an emergency. The disease usually goes unnoticed until the lens shifts in one eye; in the second eye there is often a partial displacement by that moment already, which turns into a complete one over weeks or months. The most dangerous variant is a forward displacement of the lens: it blocks the outflow of fluid and causes acute glaucoma, sharply painful and able to take sight away irreversibly. The treatment is surgical \u2014 removal of the displaced lens; if that is impossible, the eye is removed in order to relieve the pain. Sudden redness, cloudiness or evident pain in the eye of a Patterdale is a reason to drive to the vet the same day rather than to watch and wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What is additionally recommended for checking.<\/strong> The breed club advises breeders to screen for patellar luxation, to have ophthalmological examinations done and to have the heart checked. These are recommendations about testing and not an established prevalence in the breed: examination is advised because it reveals a problem earlier than the first symptoms do, and not because a raised risk has been measured for the Patterdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most frequent reason for visits in working dogs of this breed, meanwhile, is not hereditary: it is injuries. Because of the reduced sensitivity to pain in an excited state, a Patterdale is able to hide damage to his feet, teeth and skin, so an examination after an active walk or work in the field should become a habit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Condition<\/th><th>Status for the breed<\/th><th>What the owner should do<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody>\n<tr><td>Primary lens luxation (PLL)<\/td><td>Documented: the ADAMTS17 mutation is confirmed in clinically affected Patterdales<\/td><td>DNA test before mating; carriers watched by an ophthalmologist; pain or redness of the eye \u2014 without delay<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Patellar luxation<\/td><td>On the breed club&#8217;s list of recommended examinations<\/td><td>Orthopaedic examination of breeding dogs<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Eye and heart conditions<\/td><td>Screening recommended to breeders<\/td><td>Examination before breeding<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Working injuries<\/td><td>Not hereditary; a consequence of the manner of work and a high pain threshold<\/td><td>Checking the feet, teeth and skin after every outing<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Feeding features: fuel for a working dog<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rlzhrm.jpg\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Feeding Features: Fuel for a four-legged rocket\" class=\"wp-image-138599\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rlzhrm.jpg 750w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rlzhrm-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Patterdale&#8217;s ration has to match his real workload rather than the idea of a \u201csmall dog\u201d. For a dog that genuinely works or moves about a great deal, quality animal protein forms the basis, while fats serve as the source of energy for long work; ready-made foods labelled for active dogs are calculated for exactly that profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most important indicator here is not the composition of the food but the condition of the dog himself. The guideline is simple, and the PTCA standard gives it: the ribs should be easy to feel but not to see. Excess weight in an earth dog is not a cosmetic problem but a direct loss of fitness for work: a dog whose chest does not compress simply gets stuck in a narrow passage. That applies particularly to neutered and older dogs, in which the need for calories falls sooner than the appetite does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you choose a home-prepared ration, put it together with a veterinary nutritionist: balancing calcium, phosphorus and trace elements on your own is harder than it seems, and a mistake during growth strikes precisely at the joints. Boiled tubular bones are not given in any feeding regime \u2014 they split into sharp fragments. Sweets and food from the table are not up for discussion either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And a practical rule of routine: do not feed the dog immediately before intense exertion, and after work let him calm down and get his breath back first. Access to clean water must be constant, especially after work in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pros and cons of the breed <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1023\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach.jpg\" alt=\"Patterdale Terrier \u2014 Pros and Cons of the Breed\" class=\"wp-image-138584\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-330x220.jpg 330w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-615x410.jpg 615w, https:\/\/cdn.tvaryny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/patterdale-terrier-beach-860x574.jpg 860w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Pros (+)<\/th><th>Cons (\u2212)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody>\n<tr><td><strong>Compact size:<\/strong> convenient to carry about, to take on journeys, to keep in a small home.<\/td><td><strong>Need for exercise:<\/strong> without daily work for head and body he becomes destructive.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td><strong>Simple grooming:<\/strong> the coat needs no complicated trimming.<\/td><td><strong>Aggression to other dogs:<\/strong> males often clash with other dogs.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td><strong>Quick wits:<\/strong> learns fast when there is motivation.<\/td><td><strong>Hunting instinct:<\/strong> bolts after cats and small wildlife; incompatible with rodents.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td><strong>Devotion:<\/strong> attaches strongly to his own person.<\/td><td><strong>A tendency to dig under:<\/strong> an ordinary fence will not hold him.<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td><strong>Stamina:<\/strong> a true working dog with a large reserve of strength.<\/td><td><strong>Stubbornness:<\/strong> independence at work turns into independence at home.<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interesting facts about the breed <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Recognised, but not everywhere.<\/strong> The UKC recognised the breed on 1 January 1995, while the AKC and the British Kennel Club still do not have it on their lists today.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The name once belonged to another breed.<\/strong> In 1921 the name \u201cLakeland\u201d was introduced precisely in order to cover with it several local names, among which \u201cPatterdale\u201d was one; in a book of 1922 the same dog in a photograph is captioned with both names at once.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The dog is judged by touch.<\/strong> Feeling the rib cage with both hands is not an owners&#8217; custom but a judging procedure written into the UKC standard.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Scars are not a fault.<\/strong> The UKC standard calls the marks of working injuries honourable and forbids penalising them; teeth broken at work are not punished either.<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>A Bedlington in the pedigree.<\/strong> In the 1903 letter a stud dog by the name of Blondin, a \u201cdwarf pedigree Bedlington\u201d, is named as a dog that was widely used to improve the mountain terriers.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions about the breed (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Is a Patterdale suitable for a flat?<\/strong> Size is not what stands in the way; the owner&#8217;s way of life is. The dog needs several hours of activity a day, including work for the head. If that resource is missing, the breed will not suit whatever the floor area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Do they shed much?<\/strong> Moderately. Smooth-coated dogs shed seasonally; rough-coated and broken ones are stripped regularly, and then almost no hair is left in the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How are they with children?<\/strong> Usually fine, if the children respect the dog&#8217;s boundaries. Patterdales are glad to play and to run, but they will not put up with rough handling or pain, so for families with very small children the breed is not the best choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Video about the breed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Patterdale Terrier - Top 10 Facts\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P4uq4Qe4GCg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Patterdale Terrier is neither a sofa cushion nor a toy. It is a bundle of pure energy, steely muscle, and boundless courage, all packed into a compact\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[18445],"moimportance":[],"class_list":["post-138627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dogs-breeds","tag-decorative-dogs"],"views":48,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138629,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138627\/revisions\/138629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138627"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvaryny.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=138627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}