The breeds · terrier
AKC Terrier · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 75
Skye Terrier.
AKC standard temperament: the typical working terrier capable of overtaking game and going to ground, displaying stamina, courage, strength and agility. UKC: valued as both a game working dog and a family pet; native to the north-western islands of Scotland. RKC: one of the original terriers of the Hebrides, used to hunt fox and badger so needed to be game and fearless; the modern Skye is larger, longer and more heavily coated than its ancestors; plays a part in the development of all the Scottish terrier breeds. AKC: the head hair veils forehead and eyes as protection from brush and briar. FCI 75: Group 3, Section 2, without working trial..
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 agree; FCI is a hair higher for the bitch. Left as a both-sex row spanning all three.
Weight
AKC page and Wikipedia differ; low and high span both. No standard prints a weight.
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 (long heavy double coat = 2). 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 'more than once a week' mapped to 3 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
AKC, UKC, RKC and FCI wording.
Primary game
RKC statement only; no second registry or non-registry source read for this breed's quarry.
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; one small case series as cited there.
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. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Skye
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour skye terrier, on the record.
Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.
Get the app