The breeds · terrier
AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 302
Glen of Imaal Terrier.
UKC: a game working dog developed to destroy vermin, especially badger. FCI 302 utilization: like all terriers, hunted badgers and foxes and kept the rat population down; now a gentle family dog. RKC: developed as a badger hunter in the glen in County Wicklow; low to ground, fearless and tenacious. AKC standard: a medium-sized working terrier; when working active, agile, silent and dead game. FCI history: dog-wheel and dog-fighting work in the past. Wikipedia: bred for hunting vermin and general farm work; some Glens herd and drive sheep and cattle..
Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
AKC prints a minimum; UKC and FCI print only the maximum. Both-sex row; bitches run less per UKC and FCI.
Weight
The standards print 35 lb; the AKC page prints 32 to 40 lb and does not split by sex, so low/high span the page and center is the standards' 35. No source prints a bitch weight.
Coat
AKC, UKC and FCI agree.
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from the standard's coat (medium double coat = 3). No measured data.
How long they live, and what they cost
Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.
Median lifespan
McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. Small sample (40 deaths), so the interval is wide. UK population. Not in Teng et al. 2022. The AKC page 10 to 15 year band is not used here.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Exercise need
RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule (up to 1 hour = 60). RKC lists town or country as 'Country'.
Exercise need
AKC bands are not mapped to minutes; RKC supplies the minutes figure.
Energy
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Grooming load
RKC band mapped by the library rule (more than once a week = 3).
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
UKC, FCI, RKC and AKC agree on badger and vermin.
Primary game
Registry quarry statements.
Also used on
Registry quarry from FCI; the sport and farm lines are Wikipedia (editorial).
Search pattern
UKC, AKC and FCI agree: silent on the line. Whether the dog works alone or in a pack is not stated.
Field trial standard
The 1966 working-certificate history is the RKC page; no current test scoring read.
Water work
Single editorial source.
Cold water
Derived: weather-resistant double coat, but short-legged and water is not a stated job. Wikipedia (editorial) is the only water statement. No measured data.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known. Wikipedia (editorial) says Glen hip dysplasia is usually mild and rarely causes lameness; the OFA grades here are mostly mild too.
Elbow dysplasia
OFA's own breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock (owners and breeders submit films, and poor results are less likely to be submitted), so this is not the rate across all dogs of the breed; the true population rate is not known.
Most common disorders
Single editorial source; no VetCompass or club survey read.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
What to ask a breeder for
The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.
- USProgressive retinal atrophy (crd3)DNA · Wikipedia, Glen of Imaal Terrier (Internet Archive copy; editorial, cites secondary and some primary studies that were not read)
- USHip evaluationOFA or PennHIP · Wikipedia, Glen of Imaal Terrier (Internet Archive copy; editorial, cites secondary and some primary studies that were not read)
How to read this page
Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.
Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 9 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Glen, Wicklow Terrier, Irish Glen of Imaal Terrier
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour glen of imaal terrier, on the record.
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