About the Breed

Introduction to

The English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan)

Often called the “ETT” for short is Britain’s oldest native toy breed. They are on The Kennel Club’s vulnerable breed list with about 100 per year bred.

Appearance
Height at the withers: Males 25 – 30 cm, Females 25 – 30 cm
Average weight: Males 3 – 4 kg, Females 3 – 4 kg

Breed Standards

The English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan) have jet black glossy coat with chestnut tan markings including the distinctive Thumbprints on the front paws. They are elegant and well balance, their backs are slightly curved from behind the shoulder to the loin, but falls away to the base of the tail.

Chests are deep and narrow with well sprung ribs and a well cut up loin with slightly rounded buttocks. Back legs are strong and well-muscled with dainty feet with well arched toes and jet black nails. Their two middle toes on their front feet are slightly longer than their other toes and the back feet are more cat-like. Tails are thicker at the root, but taper to the tip being set low.

Their heads are long and narrow being quite wedge-shaped with a slight stop. Their forefaces taper gently which accentuates the wedge shape of their head. Their noses are always black and they have dark to black coloured eyes which are quite small and almond shaped being set obliquely on the face. They always have a sparkle in their eyes which adds to their alert, keen appearance.

Their ears are shaped like candle flames with slight points to the tips and are set high on the head being quite close together and thin to the touch. They have a strong jaw with a perfect scissor bite where their upper teeth neatly overlap their lower ones. Their necks are graceful and long held slightly arched and their shoulders are nicely laid back. Front legs are straight, fine-boned yet strong.

A Breed Standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics of the ETT Breed.

Health & Welfare

Help & Advice

The English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan)

You can expect an English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan) to live up to 15 years when properly cared for. They are generally a healthy breed but are known to suffer from a few health issues which are quite rare thanks to careful health screening by responsible breeders.

  • Patellar Luxation is a condition where the kneecap of the dog is not well secured, and has a tendency to dislocate. Vet screening of breeding stock is available.
  • Hereditary Deafness BAER testing for hereditary deafness within certain breed lines.
  • Juvenile Dilated Cardiomyopathy (an hereditary heart condition) a DNA screening test is available
  • Von Willebrand’s disease a bleeding disorder that causes poor clotting, and is similar to haemophilia, but can affect dogs of either sex a screening test is available.

Breed History

The ETT (Black & Tan) are intelligent and eager to please their owners, they are good natured and easy to train and make good family pets. Anyone wishing to share a home with one of these elegant and charming terriers would more than likely need to register their interest with a breeder and be put on a waiting list.

The ETT is on the UK Kennel Club’s list of vulnerable breeds and to widen the gene pool they have opened the stud book allowing the North American Toy Manchester Terrier to be re-registered as English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan) provided it is certified to be a Toy and not of the Standard variety.

  • 2010 – 136 puppies bred per year
  • 2011 – 95 puppies bred per year
  • 2012 – 126 puppies bred per year
  • 2013 – 115 puppies bred per year
  • 2014 –  94 puppies bred per year
  • 2015 – 78 puppies bred per year
  • 2016 – 102 puppies bred per year
  • 2017  –  84 pupiies bred per year
  • 2018  – 126 puppies bred per year
  • 2019 –  98 puppies bred
  • 2020 – 75 puppies bred
  • 2021  – 101 puppies bred