Looking at a typical Border Terrier, one gets the impression that if nature were left to itself and dogs just bred naturally without man selecting the matings, the end result would be something very much along this dog’s lines. In fact he’s just the sort of dog one would expect to have his origins in the border between England and Scotland.

The Border was once known as the Reedwater or the Coquetdale Terrier, after the localities of his early days. His present name was adopted around 1880, probably because he was worked with the Border Foxhounds. But it was forty more years before the breed was recognised by the Kennel Club, in 1920.

The breed standard is terse and to the point; it outlines exactly the qualities that are required for a dog that is expected to go to ground after a fox. He needs a powerful pair of jaws, good bone but not heavy, and a chest that is not too wide for him to get out of any earth he enters. He also needs to have the stamina to keep up with a horse, in order that he will be there when he’s needed. He is basically a worker, but is perfectly capable of being an active member of a family, having a temperament that combines good nature with a terrier’s gameness.