The breeds · terrier
AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 72
Norwich Terrier.
AKC standard: one of the smallest working terriers, a sturdy descendant of ratting companions, eager to dispatch small vermin alone or in a pack; a hardy hunt terrier. UKC: versatile, game and hardy, one of the smallest working terriers. FCI 72: used not only on fox and badger but on rats as well. RKC Terrier group: bred to pursue fox, badger, rat and otter above and below ground. Wikipedia: bred to hunt small rodents; fox-hunting terriers resembling the Norwich described since the 19th century; the breed's forebears were ratters..
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, UKC and FCI agree. Wikipedia repeats 'ideally not above 10 in (25 cm)'.
Weight
AKC and UKC agree.
Coat
Registries agree on coat; they differ on white markings.
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 weather-resistant 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 (45 deaths), so the interval is wide. UK population. Not in Teng et al. 2022. The AKC page 12 to 15 year band is not used here. Wikipedia repeats 14 years.
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).
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). A natural hard coat is what the standard asks for.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
AKC emphasises ratting and vermin; the FCI history adds fox and badger.
Primary game
Quarry named by the AKC standard and FCI history.
Also used on
Group text from RKC is the whole Terrier group, not Norwich-specific.
Search pattern
Pack or single work only; no source read prints voice or cry on the line.
Field trial standard
No test scoring or pass rate read.
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.
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 summarising studies that were not read here. Wikipedia also notes the RKC lists the breed as a vulnerable native breed (fewer than 300 births a year in 2018); the RKC page confirms 'vulnerable native breed: yes'.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
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. 8 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Norwich
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour norwich terrier, on the record.
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