span,is it important.?

[Terrier Stuff 0]

my terrier is 18 inches around his chest his waist is 14

 

he goes down most holes and catches rabbits and rats but with alot he has to dig.Is he to large..??

 

I have heard you must be able to span your hands around the terrier waist but I have very small hands and I cant.

 

Please someone shed light on this matter..

[Terrier Stuff 0]

yeah I relise that

 

I just wantid to know if the span is important,because on one site it sais it must be 14 inches...??

Edited July 30, 2006 by Terrier Stuff

[ratkilla 35]

Terrier stuff nothing is a must just down to your own preferance, what works for you and makes you happy and if they had to be 14 inches then there would be alot of dead terriers :11:

[pointer28 1]

Span wouldn't be that important. Obviously you wouldn't expect something the size of a Labrador to go to ground, but a dog that's a little bit big in the chest will often get into a place that smaller dogs won't simply because he wants to.

 

It's amazing what the will to succeed can make people and animals do.

[nelson 0]

If your happy with the size of your dog and it does what you want then nothing else should really matter.

 

I like the smaller type of terrier,just my preference,but i know a lot of folk don't,thats up to them.

 

There could be a lot of disagreement here but in my experience, generally the smaller terrier can get where it needs to a bit quicker and if needs to can follow it's quarry better underground.

 

If its too small then it could perhaps have problems either holding its quarry there or bottling it up.

 

Like every one else has said though,if it is determined enough to get where it wants and does the job for you then why worry,i couldnt care less and neither should you,just my opinion mate,dont worry about it

[Guest grubygrafter]

my terrier is 18 inches around his chest his waist is 14

 

he goes down most holes and catches rabbits and rats but with alot he has to dig.Is he to large..??

 

I have heard you must be able to span your hands around the terrier waist but I have very small hands and I cant.

 

Please someone shed light on this matter..

 

the span is a general reference and in my opinion it is a good guidline. if the dog is to big then it is handycapped and will not get to a percentage . the bigger or broader the dog is the less he will get to

simple as that. in soil or sand a keen dog will dig up. but that same dog wont get if in roots rock etc.

 

the terrier should be spanned around the chest just behind the shoulders. and is only a guideline so some area's or people need slightly bigger or smaller. but if you cant span your dog around its waist. i suspect its on the big side

[Guest nitevision]

nelson,what do you mean by the smaller type,as in height,if so what height do you class as the smaller type,just curious,as i think my pup is gonna be pretty short in the leg and id like to think he will eventually have enough on him to keep his quarry where it is.

[nelson 0]

Best way to describe what i mean is in general conformation,they look to be in proportion alright but are perhaps on the small side.Not light boned,not stumpy little things,not dwarfes or minature or anything like that.

 

I only keep two terriers,a Border bitch,she's about 12" at the shoulder and a black bitch,she's about 13" at the shoulder.

 

Now the honest part,the border who is 8 year old now,will never mix it at all with her quarry although she has been dug to all her working life.She is seldom right up close to her Quarry,most times about 2 foot off,out of harms way and truth be known if she could get her fox to bolt i think she would rather that happen.

 

The black bitch will mix it from the start no matter what and although only a young bitch will not give any ground,or so far hasn't anyway,she seems to be that bit more a stronger type of worker.

 

The pair of them whistle through earths no problems at all and as i do a lot of my work solo :ph34r:

it suits me that i'm not having to mess about digging a couple of pilot holes to ease a big dog through(i had a large border dog who though as game as they come was a little too large).

 

I wouldn't knock big dogs though but through my own limited experience i prefer the smaller type however,i wouldn't try to breed a small terrier,just a game worker out of workers.

[Terrier Stuff 0]

Oh OK thanks

 

I can span him round the waist,and he gets down most holes

 

I like the bigger ones for foxes as I know a few who got killed by the fox who were really tiny.

 

Jake is 11 inches at the highest point of shoulder so is a shorty but has a wide chest..

Edited July 30, 2006 by Terrier Stuff

[hawkanddog 0]

My Patterdale is 17" at the shoulder and 22" round the chest, 16" waist. Think his line has a bit of staffie chucked in.

 

Think he's failed the spanning test then.

 

 

 

Told him he's on a diet :11:

[nelson 0]

Strong looking bugger though,i bet he don't take many prisoners

[hawkanddog 0]

My missus calls him the devil dog, 2st of muscle, he terrorises our 7 and half stone german shepherd

[PBurns 9]

An 11 inch dog with an 18 inch chest? The dog sounds like he is a 'pudding jack russell, or to be more technical about it, an achondroplastic dwarf. It's very common with some lines of jack russells. If the dog is working for you, fine, but an 18 inch chest is enormous for a working dog. With an achondoplastic dog, you are not getting a larger dog out of the deal -- you are just getting a small dog with a huge chest that is having to work very hard to get to where it is going. That sounds like what you are seeing from what you have said. It's not the dog's fault -- it's born that way. Enjoy the dog, and keep it working, but in the future achondroplasia is something best avoided.

 

And yes, chest size does matter -- a LOT. A dog with an 18 chest is going to have a hard time getting up to a fox in a tight earth -- no denying that. It ends up having to dig and push earth behind it which can result in it being "bottled" underground -- suffocation can then result. The good news is that f you are only digging a few times a year (as most folks seem to be) then it may not matter so much -- you just dig another hole or tunnel forward. The odds are with the dog -- it will likely die of old age before it is bottled, provided you are only digging a few times a year.

 

In my experience, the more you dig the more you value a dog that can get up to the quarry. The exact size of the hole or pipe changes from place to place and country to country, but the red fox is the same all over and has a chest of about 14". That's something to consider when getting a dog. A well-built working dog that is 12 inches tall will have a chest of 14 inches or so, and a 13" dog will have a chest of about 15 inches or so -- fine for work. A dog with an 18 inche chest is not just a little bit larger -- it's a whole lot larger, and that is why your dog is having a hard time getting to it.

 

 

Patrick

[patterdalepaul 0]

forget about spanning the waist because its irrelivent, the chest is what matters as this should be bigger, if its not then get your dog on a diet :11: as for size, i've seen small dogs that are'nt up to the job because they have'nt got the drive to get to there quarry and big dogs that will dig and chew there way to their quarry, it comes down to the dog itself. JMO

[valerio 32]

who cares,if a dog do his work it's the right size.I think it has a lot to do with the place you hunt my terrier is not spannable even with big hands but i've never had a problem with him in the two seasons i've hunted him.most of the jagdterriers my friends hunt are of the same size and they have no problems,I thik a small dog is a problem here cos it cant jump on the rocks