The breeds · small game · feist
UKC Terrier
Mountain Feist.
UKC: Small tree dog; "an agile, active, small tree dog" (UKC). Developed in the rural South to hunt small game and eliminate vermin. Florida Sportsman (2021): Small treeing dog developed in the rural South as a low-maintenance dog to hunt small game and eliminate vermin; busy dog that needs a job..
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
Center is the midpoint of the standard range; the standard names no ideal height. Dogs under 12 or over 18 are an eliminating fault, penalized only to the degree size affects ability to work.
Weight
Center is the midpoint of the standard range; the standard gives no ideal weight. Outdoor Life sidebar for the Mountain Feist. Sits at the top of the UKC 12 to 30 lb range, which stays the recorded range. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Coat
Heat tolerance
Derived from the UKC coat description (short, dense, smooth = 4 on the ruled scale). No measured data.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
Agrees with the UKC history. Florida Sportsman restates the UKC history, so treat as partly derivative. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Primary game
Agrees with UKC. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Also used on
UKC history: "although they are also used to hunt raccoon, rabbits and more." Opossum is not named in the Mountain Feist standard (it is in the Treeing Feist standard).
Search pattern
The standard says "virtually silent" on track; it does not say whether the treed dog gives chop or bawl mouth. The UKC hunt rules require only that a dog bark to be declared treed. Treeing voice style is not sourced here. Fills part of the treeing-voice gap: the article says mouth on the trail varies by line and the dog barks or bays at the tree; it names no chop or bawl. UKC stays "virtually silent" on track. Origin claim by the Outdoor Life sidebar; UKC history gives a terrier/hound cross, not a mountain cur cross. Disagreement noted, UKC history not changed. Editorial views are shown beside the standard, labelled; where they disagree both stand (Chad, Oct 8 2026).
Field trial standard
Rules are written for feists in general (combined-entry hunts); not specific to this breed. Text from the UKC Feist Squirrel Hunt Honor Rules (rev. Sept 1 2022) and UKC Cur/Feist Hunt Test Evaluation Rules (FO30SQ 1-18).
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. 2 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Mountain Treeing Feist
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour mountain feist, on the record.
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