Early origins – The Black and Tan Terrier
The English Toy Terrier is Britain’s oldest native Toy breed and, along with its larger cousin the Manchester Terrier, traces its roots back to old English Black and Tan Terriers, working dogs that were particularly prized for their ability to hunt and dispatch small vermin such as rats. While the Terrier – or ‘Terrar’ as it was sometimes known – has been referenced as far back to Tudor times the ETT we know today is a more modern creation.
As with many Terrier breeds native to the UK, the English Toy Terrier traces its ancestors back to an earlier type of English Terrier, and then the Black and Tan Terriers of the early 19th Century.
Black and Tan Terriers were bred as working dogs with the focus being on breeding dogs fit for work as opposed to appearance, and their appearance varied greatly – workman-like, rough coated and smooth coated, with various descriptions of colour, markings, physical character, short legged and long legged and in size and weight. While Black and Tan Terriers were found in huntsman’s packs, it was the ability to hunt and dispatch small vermin and as ratters that the ancestors of the English Toy Terriers really came into their own.
The English Toy Terrier as a Sporting Dog – A Ratter in Victorian England
The rapid growth of cities during the industrial revolution (from c. 1760) was accompanied by poor housing, unsanitary conditions, disease, and vermin. The old Black and Tan Terriers played an important role in vermin control with their strong jaws and scissor bite proving to be a very efficient and effective means of dispatching the rat, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the sporting fraternity of the day.
The killing of rats in rat pits, often located in the back room or rear yard of Public Houses was a popular form of entertainment, particularly in England, in the early to mid 1800’s. It was also a favourite form of gambling with wagers laid on how quickly a dog could dispatch a set number of rats. London alone had at least 70 rat pits at the height of its appeal. Black and Tan Terriers, like Tiny The Wonder in the painting above, became a favourite in the London rat pits.
In the latter half of the reign of Queen Victoria, more modern opinions on animal welfare were becoming widespread and society began to turn away from the blood sports of the rat pit, plus there was increasing interest in a new and more genteel dog sport – the sport of exhibiting dogs.
From Rat Pits to Refinement – The Rise of the show Ring
“It was perhaps the emergence of showing that spurred the transformation of the rough black and tan of the mid 1800s into the more graceful dogs which went into the early show rings.” W. D Drury in his 1903 book “British dogs, their points, selection, and show preparation“.
The rapid expansion of showing dogs as a sport generated an increased interest in breeding dogs of quality worthy of exhibit. By around 1850, breeders were already experimenting by crossing old style Black & Tan Terriers with Whippets, Italian Greyhounds and other hounds to produce slimmer, smoother, and more refined Black and Tan Terriers, with more attention given to the development of the distinctive markings such as the pencilling, thumbprints, and kissing spots which still feature in the current breed standard for English Toy Terriers.
In 1873, The Kennel Club was formed in the UK – the first national kennel club in the world. Its purpose was to have a consistent set of rules for governing the popular new activities of dog showing and field trials.
The Kennel Club held it’s first show using that name the same year at The Crystal Palace, Sydenham with an entry of 975 dogs, divided into Sporting & Non-Sporting, held over four days.
The latter half of the 1800s brought rapid change in the dog world with the introduction of much needed order and regulation including the formation of the Kennel Club in 1873 with the development of its early Stud Books, in which there were no classification for Black and Tan Terriers. Instead, Black and Tans were included in a broad group for “Toy Terriers” with sub-groups based on coat type (e.g. smooth, rough-coated, etc.), from which many modern Terrier breeds come down from today.
This period also saw the development of detailed descriptions of dog breeds, and a “scale of points” judging system for each breed – the pre-cursors to our current breed standards.
The Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature) – today’s English Toy Terrier and the Toy Manchester Terrier
In 1880 the Kennel Club introduced a category specifically for The Black and Tan Terrier with a clear description of the breed.
Black and Tan Terriers continued to be shown through the late 1880s and 1890s under one breed standard with different weight limits set out for the smaller and larger dogs.
In 1903, the Kennel Club finally recognised the smaller Black and Tan Terriers as a category in their own right and they were classified as “Black and Tan Terriers (Miniature)” – the first English Toy Terriers – although it would not be until 1924 that the larger Black and Tan Terriers were officially renamed the “Manchester Terrier”.
Despite the separation of the Black and Tan (Miniature) from Manchester Terriers, the two continued with very similar breed standards through the first half of the twentieth century, with the main differences being weight and height.
In the 1950s the breed standards for the Black and Tan (Miniature) and Manchester Terrier began to diverge and reflect the more distinctive traits of each breed. Around the same time, there was increasing discontent regarding the ambiguity of the Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature) naming of the breed.
In 1960, after lengthy negotiation, the UK Kennel Club finally approved a new name for the Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature): The English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan). And the UK breed standard was fully reviewed and still forms the basis of the breed standard as written today.
The English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan) still goes by this name today in the UK and around the world, although the American and Canadian Kennel Clubs classify the English Toy Terrier as the ‘Toy Manchester Terrier’.
The English toy Terrier through the 20th Century
The First and Second World Wars had a catastrophic impact on the newly popular sport of showing dogs but in between the wars, in March 1938, a group of Black and Tan enthusiasts met at Crufts and decided that the time was right to form a new society devoted specifically to the Black and Tan Terrier (Miniature). After some negotiation the KC agreed to register the “Miniature Black and Tan Terrier Club” which continues to thrive today as our very own Club, The English Toy Terrier (Black and Tan) Club, following the official change of the breed’s name by the Kennel Club on 1st April 1960.
Although the Second World War brought the canine world to a standstill, dog breeding and showing resumed fairly quickly after 1945, with the club taking many steps to consolidate and promote the breed. During the late 1940’s and 1950’s the breed was in an improving position with the number of new registrations rising to an average of around 170 per year.
Well known kennels were extending into the breed, joined by new kennels set up specifically to breed and/or show them. These included 1940s kennels which went on to secure a notable place in the breed history including Audetts, Maulenns, Ivycourt, Whiterails, and Colvend, and the emerging kennels of the 1950s and 1960s including Cherrycroft, Stealaway, Lenster, and Bordesley.
The top winning English Toy Terrier of all time, winner of 35 CCs. By All Gold Of Lenster x Lalagie of Lenster . Owned by Lal & Agnes Boud, bred by Mrs Eunice Roberts.
The 1990s and early 2000s saw a significant change in the ETT world. Many of the breed ‘stalwarts’ from the past retired from breeding, showing, and judging, and several of the best known ETT kennels either wound down or ceased to operate. This was accompanied by the emergence of several new ETT kennels and exhibitors who brought new thinking, new skills, and an infusion of new blood into the breed. Kennels which led the way during this period, and which played a significant part in improving the breed, included Brynlythe, Quinoa, Reeberrich, Amalek, Warwell, Randall Carr, Sharex, Eburacum and Witchstone.
Of these kennels, Witchstone continues to the present day and the kennel has produced many influential and top winning dogs, breeding and owning more than 40 UK Champions, including group winning and record-breaking dogs. The Witchstone kennel has been named the Top ETT kennel for the last 20+ years and has played a key role in the development of the breed in recent history.
English Toy Terriers Today – a vulnerable native breed
ETT registrations are still running at the long-term average of only 100 per year and the ETT remains the 10th most vulnerable native breed in the Kennel Club rankings. The ETT has never gained huge popularity, and it is unlikely that the numbers born will rise significantly, despite most breeders having long waiting lists. However, a clear sign of confidence in the future of the breed is evidenced by the emergence of several new kennels and breeders over the last ten years including Moretonia, Neerodan, Lasagesse, Nasabe, Edalene, Amalric, Spawood, Gillings and Ettology. And it is hugely encouraging that ETTs are making their mark in the showring, increasingly winning Group Places at Championship Shows and regularly winning Group Places, Best in Show and Best Puppy in Show at Open Shows. The efforts being put in by the current cadre of breeders suggests the future of this beautiful, elegant, vulnerable breed – the oldest surviving UK toy dog breed – remains secure.