| Plummer Terrier | |||||||
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | ||||||
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| Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) | |||||||
The Plummer Terrier is a working terrier, and like all working terriers, it is a composite animal.
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The Plummer Terrier is mostly made out of Jack Russell Terrier, with a strong dash of Beagle (added for nose, voice and coat color), and Bull Terrier (added for toughness and head size). A red Fell Terrier was mixed in to improve the overall appearance.
After a long period of inbreeding and culling, obvious genetic problems were worked out of the breed (they are as healthy as any today), but a new problem worked its way in—today's dogs are sometimes too big for truly tight underground work. Perhaps that is not a problem if you are developing a dog just for ratting, which was Brian Plummer's passion, whom the terrier was named after[1] That said, early dogs were smaller than today's dogs—a common problem in the world of working terriers.
The Plummer Terrier is a very attractive smooth-coated dog with a fiery red and white coat and head, a white collar at the neckline, or a full cape. The ears fold over like most terriers, and the nose and eye are typically black, and the jaw has a good scissors bite.[2]
A generally game working dog, the Plummer Terrier is not a Kennel Club breed, and most Plummer Terrier owners who work their dogs would prefer that this dog was not part of the Kennel Club.
While the Plummer Terrier generally breeds true in appearance, the standard is a working terrier standard, and the most common serious fault in this breed is cleft palates.
If salvation is to be had (at least for underground work), it is in the hands of genuine diggers and dedicated ratters that are trying to size down the breed and keep it working on a regular basis. However, care has to be taken in order to ensure the welfare of the breed is the main priority when breeding.
Though it is a bit early to say for certain, the Plummer Terrier appears to be a breed that has caught on in popularity among a segment of the working terrier set, and with increased restrictions on fox hunting in the UK, its popularity as a ratting dog is likely to increase.
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