The breeds · terrier
AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 73
Scottish Terrier.
UKC history: originated in the Highlands of Scotland; predators such as foxes, badgers, rats and other vermin competed with local hunters for scarce game, and Scotties were bred to go underground and flush or kill any such creature that went to ground. FCI 73: thick-set and of suitable size to go to ground, which would preclude dogs of excessive body weight. RKC: bred to go to ground after fox and badger and other vermin; independent to the point of stubbornness. UKC: today mostly family companions, but the instinct to dig and hunt is intact..
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 and UKC print one ideal (10 in); FCI prints a range, which sets low and high.
Weight
Both-sex row spanning AKC, UKC and FCI figures; AKC and UKC split by sex, FCI does not.
Coat
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; very short legs). 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
UK VetCompass-derived population; the AKC page 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 band 'up to 1 hour' mapped to 60 minutes.
Exercise need
AKC bands are not mapped to the library scale.
Energy
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Grooming load
RKC band 'every day' mapped to 4 on the 1 to 5 library scale.
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
UKC, FCI and RKC wording.
Primary game
UKC and RKC registry statements; Wikipedia editorial.
Search pattern
UKC wording; chest depth is described but no chest span is printed.
Field trial standard
Earthdog levels and scoring were not read.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Most common disorders
Editorial list from Wikipedia, no frequencies read.
What the studies found
Population-level findings, shown as a spread. Breed sets the odds; the parents set the dog.
Aggression, as studied
Registry standard wording; no C-BARQ breed mean is published in the papers read.
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. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Scottie, Aberdeen Terrier
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour scottish terrier, on the record.
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