Dandie Dinmont Terrier The Hunting Dog and Recommend Food

The Dandie Dinmont Terrier developed in the border country between England and Scotland. The first written report of this breed, in the early 1700's, described a mustard colored ratter and hunting dog used for otter and badger. They became popular and were renamed after Sir Walter Scott published the novel Guy Mannering in 1814. One character in the novel, Dandie Dinmont, owned a pack of pepper and mustard colored terriers. Sir Walter Scott described the dogs in such glowing terms that the pepper or mustard colored terriers of the north country became very popular throughout the British Empire. When the breed was registered in 1876 it bore the name Dandie Dinmont Terrier.

The first record of the Dandie Dinmont Terrier appears in the eighteenth century. The breed was probably the result of a cross between an old Scottish terrier and the Bedlington Terrier (and possibly the Otterhound). The breed gained widespread fame in Walter Scott's 1815 Guy Mannering, in which the hero, a farmer named Dandie Dinmont, kept a pack of Basset Terriers. The farmer's name was given to the breed, which has been known as the Dandie Dinmont Terrier ever since. Around 1820, a Scottish farmer named James Davidson selectively bred the Dandie. The first Dandie club was formed in 1875. An excellent ratter by profession, the Dandie is a loving pet.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier

This robust, lively, courageous, tireless dog has a strong personality. He is independent, tenacious, and sometimes stubborn. He is a loving, cheerful pet. The Dandie Dinmont hunts vermin (rodents, badger, polecat, weasel, etc.). He is also an excellent guard dog with a loud bark. Firm training is called for. The Dandie Dinmont can adapt to life as a house dog provided he gets long daily walks. Brushing two or three times per week is required. This breed should be professionally groomed two times per year.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier Physical Characteristics

Many Dandie Dinmont Terrier dog, such as the American Water Spaniel, have had their natural hunting instincts suppressed or altered to suit human needs. Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance, and behavior than any other domestic animal. Within the range of extremes, dogs generally share attributes with their wild ancestors, the wolves. Dandie Dinmont Terrier are predators and scavengers, possessing sharp teeth and strong jaws for attacking, holding, and tearing their food. Although selective breeding has changed the appearance of many breeds, all dogs retain basic traits from their distant ancestors. Like many other predatory mammals, the dog has powerful muscles, fused wristbones, a cardiovascular system that supports both sprinting and endurance, and teeth for catching and tearing. Compared to the bone structure of the human foot, dogs technically walk on their toes.

Different Dandie Dinmont Terrier breeds of dogs have different eye shapes and dimensions, and they also have different retina configurations. Dogs with long noses have a "visual streak" which runs across the width of the retina and gives them a very wide field of excellent vision, while those with short noses have an "area centralis" - a central patch with up to three times the density of nerve endings as the visual streak  giving them detailed sight much more like a human's. Some breeds, particularly the sighthounds, have a field of vision up to 270° (compared to 180° for humans), although broad-headed breeds with short noses have a much narrower field of vision, as low as 180°.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier

Dandie Dinmont Terrier Hearing:  
Dandie Dinmont Terrier breeds Dog detect sounds as low as the 16 to 20 Hz frequency range (compared to 20 to 70 Hz for humans) and above 45 kHz[22] (compared to 13 to 20 kHz for humans), and in addition have a degree of ear mobility that helps them to rapidly pinpoint the exact location of a sound. Eighteen or more muscles can tilt, rotate and raise or lower a dog's ear. Additionally, a dog can identify a sound's location much faster than a human can, as well as hear sounds up to four times the distance that humans are able to. Those with more natural ear shapes, like those of wild canids like the fox, generally hear better than those with the floppier ears of many domesticated species.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier Behavior and Intelligence: 

Many Dandie Dinmont Terrier dog can be trained to skillfully perform tasks not natural to canines, such as in this dog agility competition.Dogs are valued for their intelligence. This intelligence is expressed differently with different breeds and individuals, however. For example, Border Collies are noted for their ability to learn commands, while other breeds may not be so motivated towards obedience, but instead show their cleverness in devising ways to steal food or escape from a yard. Being highly adaptable animals themselves, dogs have learned to do many jobs as required by humans over the generations.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier are employed in various roles across the globe, proving invaluable assets in areas such as search-and-rescue; law enforcement (including attack dogs, sniffer dogs and tracking dogs); guards for livestock, people or property; herding; Arctic exploration sled-pullers; guiding the blind and acting as a pair of ears for the deaf; assisting with hunting, and a great many other roles which they may be trained to assume. Most dogs rarely have to deal with complex tasks and are unlikely to learn relatively complicated activities (such as opening doors) unaided. Some dogs (such as guide dogs for the visually impaired) are specially trained to recognize and avoid dangerous situations.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier

Dandie Dinmont Terrier Recommended Food

For the Dandie I recommend foods that have a blend of poultry, horse meat, fish, and potato carbohydrates. To get this blend you may have to mix two commercial foods together. You should avoid feeding a Dandie any blends that contain soy, yellow corn, or beet pulp. Native food supplies for this breed came from the rocky soil of the border country and consisted of meats from rodent, otter, badger, and poultry. Vegetable crops were cabbage, potato, and carrots.

Dandie Dinmont Terrier Breed Standard

Head: Solidly built, strong. Broad skull. Domed forehead. Deep, b muzzle. Strong jaws. Muscles covering the foreface are particularly well developed.
Ears: Set on low, hanging close to the cheeks. Length varies between 7.6 to 10.2 cm. Color must blend with coat color. Ears are dark in peppers and dark mustard in mustards.

Eyes: Large, round, wide set. Dark hazelnut color.
Body: Long and short. Very b, muscular neck. Ribs well sprung. Topline rather low at the shoulder. Both sides of backbone are well muscled.

Tail: Rather short (20 to 26 cm) (8-10 in), fairly thick at the root and tapering toward the tip. Carried in a curve like a scimitar.
Hair: Long, hard, giving a crisp texture. Hind legs are feathered. Undercoat is soft, like linen.

Coat: Pepper ranging from dark bluish black to silvery gray with legs ranging from rich tan to pale fawn. Mustard ranging from reddish brown to pale fawn with legs and feet of a darker shade than the head.
Size: 25 to 30 cm (9,8-11,8 in).
Weight: 8 to 11 kg (17,6 to 24,3 lb).

Posted in: Planet Dogs Breeders